Here's the next chapter!

I'm not sure why I like to tease poor Malik and Yugi the way I do n_n; but it's probably just because how fun it is. That, and my roommate encourages them as a pairing LOL.

Not sure what will happen with this story, really, since it's total bs start toe end. I don't have a specific plot in mind just yet, but my stories tend to write themselves, so I won't force anything. I'll just let the characters work it out themselves.

(Btw, I'm posting this during my lunch hour, so I will go back and edit any typos later this evening after work!)

As always, I'm very grateful for any comments/reviews c:!

Chapter 2: Dinner with the Crazies

Yugi never imagined that living in this house was the way it seemed to be. The four all seemed to get along pretty well, and Yugi was amazed at how normal their interactions were. Yami Bakura and Yami Marik fought and teased one another in a way that reminded him of Duke and Tristan, and Marik and Ryou just quietly talked and corrected their yamies when necessary in a way that reminded him of himself with Atem. The four discussed their days and, if it weren't for Malik's occasional homicidal-maniac comment, it would be almost exactly like dinner with Atem and the rest.

The main thing he couldn't figure out was who was with whom. Marik and Ryou seemed to flirt at moments, and he was pretty sure the yamies were involved in some way, but they also seemed to be especially aware and attentive of their hikaries. It was possible that the four were all involved with one another in a sort of strange four-way-relationship, but Yugi chose not to think about it that hard.

Watching the four interact this closely was never something he'd been able to do before. It was fascinating—and entertaining.

"The food's perfect," Yugi smiled when Malik spooned more steamed vegetables and rice onto his plate upon noticing it was empty. What was up with Yami Marik suddenly being well-mannered? It made the hikari nervous, and he nodded an anxious thank-you at the yami, who just grunted and went back to stuffing his own face with his third serving of fried rice.

"Thank you, Yugi," Ryou giggled.

Marik watched his yami carefully throughout dinner. He couldn't figure out what was going on, either. It was rare that his yami was considerate of anyone at all besides the two of them (he even ignored Bakura half the time), so what was up with his bringing Yugi without breaking his limbs or something in the process? It was unusual for Malik to take an interest in anyone. Marik watched his yami eye Yugi when the hikari wasn't paying attention. Marik wasn't sure if it was a safe or healthy fixation, but it was a mystery he intended to solve, if nothing else but to satisfy his own curiosity.

Marik couldn't help but feeling at least a little jealous. He shared his yami with Ryou and Bakura on occasion, but for the most part Marik had Malik to himself. The thought of Malik being so interested in someone else, especially Atem's mini-me, made him turn a little green. Yugi was his friend, but Malik was his yami, and he'd always pick his darker half over his tiny peer.

"Another eggroll?" Ryou offered the plate to Yugi.

"Oh! Thanks!" Yugi moved to reach across the table (both their arms were too short to fully reach the other), but Bakura took one and handed it to the hikari, not even looking at him in the process. "…Thank you."

"Whatever."

"You need to eat more," Malik frowned.

Yugi blinked up at the blonde, sinking into his chair when they made eye contact. "Huh?"

Malik was staring down at him with a pair of flat and unamused eyes. "You're so skinny," he commented.

"Uh…"

"You're not as bad as the albinos, though," Malik admitted.

Bakura scowled. "Fuck you, Malik."

"Now, now," Ryou scolded. "You two behave yourselves in front of the guest."

The yamies both went back to eating. It was surprising to see how much control Ryou wielded. There was a time Yugi remembered back on when Ryou was helpless and abused, but now he was the one that usually controlled the situation and was most often babied and cared for.

Oh, the irony.

"So," Bakura interrupted Yugi's drifting thoughts and causing him to glance towards the yami, "no word from the ass?"

It was probably a bad thing that he didn't have to ask whom Bakura was referring to. "Nope." Yugi sighed and shook his head. "I suppose he's asleep, after all."

"I bet he is."

Bakura had always been an observant creature, and it hadn't taken much to figure out that something was going on with the Game Kings. Both of them were acting strangely, and it seemed blatantly obvious to him about what was going on. He kept the information to himself, mostly because he saw no reason in sharing or discussing it.

"That settles it," Ryou smiled while passing Marik the bowl of rice. "Yugi will be sleeping here tonight."

Bakura growled, eyeing his other half. "You're not serious. He doesn't belong here!"

The hikari's eyes flattened and everyone at the table tensed a little. "Hush. Yugi is our friend, and he will stay here because he needs a place to sleep. I won't allow him go without a warm bed and a pillow."

Bakura snarled, turning to glare at Yugi with his grey-violet, boring eyes. "He's not my friend," the yami corrected.

Malik's hair bristled. "Watch it," he warned, his nose wrinkling.

Bakura snickered with some level of amusement at how the blonde was becoming so defensive so easily. "Or you'll what?"

"I'll rip off your arm and use it like a spoon, that's what."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Does it have to?"

"Gods! You're stranger tonight than usual! What's up with you?"

"I shouldn't have to explain myself. Leave the panda alone, Bakura, or I'll kill you myself."

"Hah! You can't kill me!"

"I already did it once," Malik snarled toothily.

Bakura's grey-violet eyes tightened. "Bastard…"

The blonde made a teasing expression and stuck out his abnormally-long tongue. "Old hag."

The thief's eyes tightened at Malik's unwanted nickname. The other yami loved pointing out that Bakura had long, silvery-white hair and pale skin and was ancient, so apparently that made him an old woman. "You don't have your bloody Rod anymore, remember?" Bakura reminded bitterly, and that was enough to make the other yami growl. "Now you're just a spiky-haired monkey with a hard left swing."

"You don't have your Ring, either," Malik hissed back. "One punch to the side of your head and you'll be in a coma so deep, not even Atem could bring you out of it!"

Yugi just sat wide-eyed at the table, unsure what was happening or how to respond to the conversation.

"Besides," Malik sat back and crossed his long arms, "you're just jealous because my panda's cuter than your kitten."

"That does it!" Bakura stood, preparing to stab the blonde yami, but his attack was quickly stifled by Ryou's hands on his arm.

"Bakura! Malik!" Ryou jerked at his yami to make him sit. "Stop it! Both of you behave! Goodness! You're such children sometimes!"

"…Why am I am panda?" Yugi murmured up at Malik, but the blonde didn't respond.

Yugi was too preoccupied with being confused about his new nickname to notice Marik was glowering at him from the other side of the table.

Dinner was turning into a fiasco, but that wasn't untypical. Malik and Bakura had a somewhat violent relationship, and if they weren't making out in the corner, they were probably trying to kill each other.

Just another friendly dinner at the apartment.

By the time dinner was finished, Yami Bakura had tried to shank Yami Marik about six times, and Ryou had to make them stop arguing another ten. It was a good thing Ryou was there to act as the medium to stop the fights or Yugi was sure the other three wouldn't last one night together.

All through dinner, Marik had remained fairly quiet.

Eager to feel useful, Yugi leapt to help them clear the table, but he found himself on the other side of Bakura's palm. "Don't bother," the pale yami mumbled, helping Malik grab the dishes. "Our deal is that the hikaries cook and the yamies do the dishes. You're a hikari, so that means you get off easy."

"But…I want to help."

"Well, tough shit," Bakura sniggered before grabbing the glass Yugi held so he could march back to the kitchen.

Yugi sighed. Feeling especially defeated and useless, the spiky-haired Game King meandered back towards the Living Room so he could flop onto their black couch. He didn't like feeling like a mooch, but the four weren't making it easy.

He tried calling his yami again, but again faced black-silence. Atem was apparently too busy to talk to him.

Atem might still be a little angry.

After Atem had returned from the Spirit Realm, the relationship between the Game Kings wasn't the same as before. Back in the day when Yugi believed Yami to be nothing more than an ancient spirit that resembled him, they were very involved. But now that he knew the truth—that is that they were in fact two halves of the same soul that was split when Atem sealed Zorc but were now developed enough to exist as separate entities—Yugi wasn't comfortable with continuing their previous relationship. It was too strange, and he'd decided to call off the relationship, which of course caused his yami a great deal of distress and frustration.

Atem claimed to come back because he couldn't stand not having Yugi around. Even surrounded by all his old friends and being in heaven didn't seem to amount to anything if he couldn't have his snuggable mini-me, so Atem had returned. He'd said he'd brought back Bakura and Malik because he wanted Ryou and Marik to share a similar relationship with their own yamies.

The pharaoh was still pretty upset over it. Yugi felt bad, but until the whole weirdness factor was dealt with, he just couldn't be with his yami like they were before. They were still very close, and they each still depended on the other for so much, but Yugi had grown in the year since Atem's passing on and was more independent nowadays. Yami hadn't been expecting to come back to such an adult Yugi, and the two were still working on figuring out what their new relationship would be like.

He was probably refusing to talk to Yugi because of this very reason. Atem was stubborn and selfish, and until Yugi gave him what he wanted, he'd probably act like a child. Ignoring Yugi and leaving him like he had done at the store was probably just Atem's way of saying: "You said you can do things on your own now, so screw you."

Stupid Atem… He could be such a child sometimes. That hadn't changed at all. It appeared though Yugi had evolved in their year apart that Atem hadn't,

Not. At. All.

-Stupid Yami… Why is he always like this?-

Yugi released a short yelp into a pillow he'd pulled against his face to muffle the noise. It smelled like lilac and reminded him of where he was. There were bigger things to worry about tonight than Atem's drama: he was sleeping over at one of the most dangerous apartments in existence! After all, it wasn't longer than a year or two ago that Bakura and Malik had nearly destroyed the planet.

Bakura wasn't possessed by Zorc anymore, and that was at least a little comfort. He was more like the Thief King from Atem's memories now, and the most they had to worry about was Bakura's remnant vendetta against Atem. He knew now that it wasn't directly Atem's fault for what happened to his village in Kul'elna, but he still hated Atem's guts and would probably kill the other yami if he got the chance and it didn't mean his own demise.

But Yami Marik…well…he didn't really change at all. The biggest difference between him now and back then was that he was bigger now. He used to share Marik's body, so he didn't change size when he went all apeshit. But now he had his own flesh, and apparently that meant he had to be as massive on the outside as his personality made him out to be those years ago.

At 6'4", he towered over everyone in the group. As if that wasn't enough, he was still as insane and unstable as before, only now he didn't have his Millennium Rod, so his Shadow powers were mostly worthless, making him a huge beat-stick without the whole Shadow Realm ace. He was still scary as hell though, and not even Kaiba really messed with him. Of course, that might have to do with the time that Yami Marik snapped the CEO's left shin like it was a twig when he got especially irritated one evening. Kaiba would never again comment on the Egyptian's change is size, and the next time Malik told him to 'get on his knees', there was a good chance Kaiba would suck up his pride and just do as he was told or risk both legs getting snapped (as Malik had warned he'd do 'the next time Kaiba got prissy').

It was a good thing that Marik somehow controlled his yami, or everyone would be in trouble. Unlike Bakura, Yami Marik didn't care if he died, so the whole 'killing Atem will kill you' threat really didn't do much.

Bakura had also grown now that he had a new body. He was finally taller than Marik now, and was actually eye-level with Tristan. At 5'10" he was happier than before but still not tall enough to make valid threats at people like Seto Kaiba.

Neither Bakura nor Malik had their Millennium Items anymore. The items had been destroyed when Atem had gone to the afterlife, but when he'd returned, the items had as well. Atem, being the only one around, had hidden the rest of the items in a secret place. Bakura and Malik were reduced to mortals with bad attitudes and a mind-link to their other halves. Until they got their Millennium Ring and Rod back, they were helpless when compared to Yami Yugi, who still had his Millennium Puzzle.

The only other person that knew where the other six golden items were was Yugi, because Atem told him pretty much everything he asked. This didn't make it past either yami, and both of them were working to come up with ways of worming the information from the pint-sized Game King in the Living Room. Both were warned by Ryou to behave and not to torment their guest, but Yugi was alone. Isolated from the rest of the Happy Herd, he was almost completely helpless. He might have grown emotionally and psychologically over the last year, and may be more independent than before, but either of the yamies could break his neck just as easily as they could have before, and without Atem there to protect him, Yugi was nothing short of a lamb ready to be sheared.

Ryou couldn't protect him forever.

The only question now was which yami would get the information first.

"You look upset about something."

Yugi poked his eyes around the pillow he still clenched to so he could look up at a gently smiling Ryou. The other hikari was out of that frilly apron at least, but he still looked adorable. "It's Atem," Yugi sighed. He sat up and moved to allow the white-haired boy to sit beside him on the couch.

Ryou kept that gentle smile, nodding to let him know he was listening. "I assumed as much. You've both been somewhat distant from one another ever since he got back. Is it because of what we learned?"

Yugi nodded. "It's just too weird, is all," he breathed, staring at the floor again and hugging the couch pillow to his small frame. "I mean, I love Yami, but…I don't think I could be with him like before. Not now, anyways. But he's still my friend, and I wish he'd understand how I felt. He's so selfish sometimes…"

"He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes," Ryou giggled, making Yugi smile a little. "But I think it'll all work out. He's dating, at least."

"He does it just to make me jealous, I think."

"Does it work?"

"A little, I guess… But I'd rather be friends now, so…not as much as he'd like it to."

"Well, maybe you should date, too," Ryou suggested.

Yugi hugged the pillow closer. Date? Him? He'd never really been very dateable. Even now he was too shy to ask any girl out. The only people he'd liked in the past were his yami and Tea, but she loved Atem, not him. Yugi was still hoping that his growth spurt would come soon and he'd be as fit and as slender as his yami, but he wasn't sure that would happen at all. Thinking about being stuck this small for forever was dizzying, though, so Yugi pretended like a growth spurt was due any day now to make himself feel better. "I don't think so," the teenager mumbled into the pillow.

"Aw. Well, why not?"

"I don't really like anybody."

"What about Joey?"

Yugi flashed red. "He's seeing—"

"Oh… Mai," Ryou frowned. "Right… I forgot about her. …She's in Europe now, right?"

Yugi nodded. "They date long-distance since she's always on the move."

"I don't see how they work it out, but I suppose if they're happy, that's all that matters."

"Yup," the Game King sighed.

"I'm not helping very much, am I?" Ryou laughed nervously. "Well, cheer up, Yugi. I'm sure you will find someone."

"You have Bakura, I guess," Yugi commented.

Ryou flashed red and laughed, waving his hands in the air. "Well…sort of… I…suppose… I mean…"

"Oh… Sorry… I just…assumed…"

Ryou smiled and looked away, staring at nothing particular as he allowed his mind to drift. "Bakura and I have a strange relationship. He feels guilt for what he did to me before under the influence of that Zorc fellow, so he's trying especially hard to make up for it now by being nice to me and protecting me and all that good stuff. I've forgiven him for what happened, but…we're not quite…involved… Not just yet. I adore him, though. Oh goodness, how I adore him. He's so marvelous and takes such good care of me, but I believe he has a deeper connection to Marik than to me. Perhaps someday… But, at the moment, we're just friends. Very good friends. It's certainly better than before, though! No more waking up starving or injured or dirty for me!"

Yugi smiled, glad he hadn't made a massive faux-pas by bringing it up. "That's definitely an improvement. You two just get along so well. I figured you'd have hooked up by now. It's almost been a year since they all came back."

"Yes. But Bakura's guilt doesn't allow him to bring himself too close to me, I don't think." Ryou was still smiling, but Yugi could sense the weight in his voice. He wanted so badly for Bakura to allow himself to open up, but the Thief King was an emotionally distant and untrusting person by nature, and taming him would take longer than ten months to do.

"What about Marik and Malik?" Yugi had to know. The chance to ask had shown itself and he was taking it. "Are they involved? I can't really tell what their relationship is like."

"Well, sort of. They're little whores, I think," Ryou giggled. "Bakura and Marik are involved, but I think they they're both involved with Marik's yami, too. Yami Marik is a bit of a free spirit though, far more so than my own yami. I don't think he can belong to just anyone, but I know Marik cares a great deal for him.

"Even though Malik caused Marik a lot of trouble, and murdered their father, I think Marik knows that Malik is his responsibility. After all, he's not like Atem or Bakura. Yami Marik was born of Marik's pain and anger and spite. He's not wholly responsible for his past actions because he was insane, but now he has more mental stability. From what I understand, Atem gave Malik a conscience, so now he can be held at least a little responsible for his actions, but Marik is still responsible for Malik's creation and that makes him at least a bit accountable for his yami's past and present actions, so he keeps a close eye on Malik. And Malik is very protective of Marik. Now that he can actually think, he's changed from viewing Marik as the 'weaker half' to just his 'other half'."

"So they're sort of like how Atem and I are," Yugi thought aloud.

"Something like that. It's all pretty confusing to me," Ryou laughed. "I've thought a good deal about it, myself, but it's really anyone's guess. Think about it too hard and you'll give yourself a headache, haha! We're all such strange creatures!"

So it was starting to sound like Bakura and Marik were a pair with the occasional whore-time with the insane blonde yami, while Ryou yearned for Bakura but got the cold shoulder.

And Yugi thought his relationship problems were bad…

Poor Ryou. He deserved someone too. It didn't seem fair at all.

"Sounds complicated," Yugi smiled, making the other hikari laugh.

"Yes. Yes, it is rather complex, I suppose. It's a pickle! But I don't mind. I love all three of my insane roommates! They sure make life entertaining!"

"Yeah. It doesn't look like you'd ever get bored!"

"Nope! Not ever!"

The hikaries laughed, not noticing Malik walk into the room. The giant leaned over the back of the couch, lowering his spiky head between them. "What's so funny?"

Yugi screamed and fell off the couch in surprise. Ryou screamed too but he just slapped the yami's shoulder and scolded him. "Don't scare us like that!"

"What did I do?" Malik leaned over a little further to tilt his head down at Yugi, whom was in an uncomfortable position, tangled between the couch and coffee table. "What a little spazz," he snickered before reaching down to pick the hikari up by his arm with a single hand. Yugi yelped and squirmed. "Chill," Malik grunted, "or you'll pop your arm out of socket." He dropped the now still, but whimpering, Game King on the couch where he'd been sitting before, and Ryou just gave him a brown glare. "…What?"

"We're still teaching him proper manners," Ryou apologized once he'd made sure his guest wasn't injured.

Yugi rotated his arm to make sure nothing was out of place. "It's all right. He was just trying to be helpful." He looked up and beamed a shy smile at the blonde yami, causing Malik to freeze in place. "Thank you."

"…You're…welcome….?"

Ryou glanced between the two, arching a pale eyebrow at the strange moment. Before he could come to any decision about the interaction, Bakura and Marik had entered the room.

"Malik, what are you doing?" Marik's hands perched upon his small hips and he gave his yami a studying glare.

"Nothing! I swear! Gods, I can't do anything around here without people being suspicious!"

"I heard yelling," Marik frowned. "What did you do?"

"I can't help it if these two are pussies!"

Bakura snickered, coming around the couch to sit between Ryou and Yugi. He glanced at his hikari, who just smiled in that timid way he always did, looking cute and pink. "He scare you?"

Ryou shook his head. "It was nothing, really. He didn't mean to. Just caught us off-guard is all."

He turned to glance at Yugi, who took a second to stare at the strange color of Bakura's new eyes. He wasn't used to seeing Bakura without Ryou's dark brown irises. The grey-violet made him a bit less intimidating. Bakura frowned upon noticing how fixated Yugi was getting on his face. "What?" he snarled.

"Ope! Nothing! Sorry!"

Bakura grunted and sank in the couch, yawning groggily. He'd had a long day of being Kaiba's bitch at work and he was feeling the need for a hot shower to loosen his muscles and stress.

The yami had been hired for his knowledge of thievery and now worked as a Security Officer at KaibaCorp five days a week. He helped Mokuba set up a stronger security system and was now training the dumbass guards how to not be epic fail with security. Since he'd started working there, KaibaCorp had managed to avoid more than 50% of its past security violations, and the number was only rising. If the brunette CEO had a good side, Bakura was certainly on it, and the Thief King was paid well enough that he could support himself and his hikari without any difficulty. Ryou worked anyways, because he liked staying busy. He was taking classes at a local college and worked as a part-time baker and florist in his spare time.

Marik was working on getting his GED and planned on taking entrance exams for college so he could attend classes with Ryou. In the meantime, he studied with his sister and worked at the museum with her as a guide.

Malik, of course, didn't work and refused to go to school. The majority of his days was spent either following Marik or Bakura around, or sitting at the house watching Soap Operas, Discovery Health, and Spike TV while trying to hold in the urge from raping the neighbor's cat again.

"Someone looks pooped," Ryou commented gently.

Bakura grunted and rubbed at one of his eyes. "Yeah, well, blame the brunette nazi with the dragon fetish. Kaiba runs me hard." Malik snickered and the white-haired yami shot him a daring glance. "Shut the hell up."

"You guys are cute when you fight," Yami Marik chuckled. He leaned against the back of the couch, perching his arms and resting his head in them. "I think you should date, personally. The sexual tension is—"

"Thank you, Malik!" Bakura snarled, slapping at the other to make Malik remove himself from the couch's spine. "Now shut the hell up! No one wants to hear your stupid opinions about my sex life!"

"I bet Yugi does," the blonde smirked, causing Yugi's face to flush red. "Look at him. He's so curious about it that you might just kill him unless you talk about it."

Confused by how he was suddenly brought into the conversation, Yugi blinked and pointed at himself while the other teenagers eyed him. "Who? Me? I… Um…. I mean… …What?"

Malik laughed, ignoring Marik when the smaller teen slapped at his arm. "That face! Oh gods! It's so priceless!" the yami burst. Yugi just kept staring wide-eyed and confused. "Has anyone told you that you're fucking adorable?"

Everyone's eyes shot towards Malik in shock.

Yugi just turned a shade redder while the other three gawked at the blonde.

"Allllll riiiiight…" Bakura stood, giving Ryou a pat on the head before he walked out of the Living Room and made his way towards the hall where Yugi presumed the white-haired thief stayed. "On that note, I'm off. No one turn the water on – I'm grabbing a shower."

"I need to get ready for bed soon too," Marik sighed. "I have to be at the museum early tomorrow."

"All right, then." Ryou giggled when Malik hugged his neck from behind, giving the other hikari a squeeze and wishing him good night before wandering back down the same hall Bakura had vanished into. "And you, Yugi?"

"Huh?"

"When do you need to go to sleep?"

"Oh." Still recovering from the confusion of the previous conversation, Yugi tried to recollect his thoughts and focus on his plans for the following day. It was going to be Sunday, so… "I don't have anything specific in mind yet," he replied quietly. "So…I guess whenever you guys go to sleep, I will too."

"I go to bed around nine-thirty. Is that too early?"

Yugi shook his head.

"Okay," Ryou smiled. "You can stay with me tonight."

What? Stay with Ryou? As in…sleep in his bed?

Yugi turned a shade redder, and Yami Marik tilted his head at the hikari's change in color. "Okay," he nodded sheepishly.

"You can use some of my jammies. They might be a little big on you, though…"

"Let him use one of my shirts," offered Malik. Both the hikaries looked up at him. He was leaning against the couch again, grinning toothily. "He's a shrimp, so they'd be huge on him."

Sleeping in Ryou's bed while wearing Yami Marik's shirt.

What a weird night.

Poor Yugi x3! I love pairing him with Yami Marik, in pretty much any of the blonde's forms. He's more likeable in Questionable Existence, I think, but he's pretty hilarious so far in this story LOL!

Let me know what you think so far. I'm really uncertain where this story will go, but I d have a plot in mind for the next one or two chapters!