Hey, guys! Here's chapter four a little early! This is because I was late posting chapter three, and because I finished my first semester of college. I just have exams to get through, and then I'm off! Anyway, hope you enjoy this. Malik and Bakura finally meet in this chapter, so the last third of it is basically just smut. Also, just as a side note, how many people reading this are LGBT? Just wondering. Anyway, enjoy!
CW: Intrusive thoughts, anxiety, dissociating, NSFW
Malik took a slow breath as he closed his apartment door behind him. The lock automatically clicked into place. This was fine. He was fine. This was okay. He could do this. He hadn't left the apartment in the three days since he had arrived in Domino, since he had seen Atem, even to eat, but this was fine. He was fine. This was okay. He just needed to get some groceries so he wasn't completely dependent on one room service order every day.
He had pulled on his baggiest jacket. It was comfortable and easy to feel like he was hidden away in as he waited for the elevator - almost like he was still curled up under his blankets, just staring at the wall. He had blacked out a lot. A few things were broken, but he could pay for them. He had asked to have his room cleaned while he was out anyway, so it wasn't like he was at risk of hurting himself on the shards. It was all in the bathroom anyway.
The receptionist that had checked him in gave him a wave as he left the apartment complex, and he returned it with a smile. This was fine. The sun outside blinded him a little when he stood under it. That's what three days of sitting in an entirely curtained hotel room does, even with every light at full blast. But he was fine. He made his way down the path.
He hadn't worn anything flashy like he normally would. His jeans practically burned his legs - he fucking hated wearing them. And his sneakers were a discounted trash heap, but nothing drew attention to him. Nothing but his hair. He kept his head down as he walked. This was okay. Most people would just assume that he had dyed it - it wasn't that uncommon of a thing in Japan. He stared down at the path. Plus this was a very tourist-y area of Domino.
He risked a glance up. No one was looking at him. Not a single person. He relaxed a little and took out his phone. He had to check where the nearest Ozeki store was - he had never bothered with groceries during Battle City. Expensive, elaborate menus in the best restaurants had been more his style. Not that it still wasn't, but going out every night simply wasn't practical.
He walked the five minutes to the store in silence, not quite thinking, not quite present. It was kind of nice. He grabbed a basket once he got inside. He didn't need too much - just enough to make a stir fry, and maybe some rice and cereal too. And soy milk. He needed some soy milk. He wandered through the meat aisle into the cereal shelves, right across from the frozen sweets. He could do this.
"Malik?"
Malik knew who it was before he turned. Ryou Bakura was the only Japanese native he had met in Battle City who had pronounced his name right. Still, his mouth went dry when he actually saw him. "Uh-"
"As-salamu alaykum." Ryou nodded. His Arabic was improving - his accent even sounded natural.
"I can speak Japanese just fine." He didn't mean to sound sharp. Yes, he did. He wanted to- wanted to- Fuck, his thoughts were just cutting off there. He didn't even know what he wanted to do. He just didn't want to be there. "How have you been?"
"Alright." Ryou had grown too. He had started testosterone, Malik could see, and cut his hair a little. His bangs were more pronounced, styled rather than just hanging limp around dark chocolate eyes. "And you?"
"I've been..." Malik trailed off. "Busy." It was one way to put it anyway. He had been. "I was working with my sister at the museum in Cairo."
"That sounds good." Ryou chewed his lip. He had that habit from Battle City. Malik remembered it annoying the hell out of him whenever Ryou had control - which happened far more often than he would have liked. "Why are you back?"
Malik hesitated. Get out. He could still get out. He could hurt him- no, he didn't want to hurt Ryou. That would cause a scene. "I don't know," he admitted. "Rishid said I needed to deal with things, and this seemed like the best place to come to terms with them." He didn't know why he said it. He hadn't seen Ryou in years. But he was easy to talk to.
"I see." Ryou nodded and fell silent.
Malik dug his toe into the sole of his shoe. He hated the silence, only filled by the odd chatter of other shoppers and the unsettling music. "Do you want to go for coffee?" He asked. "I need to finish shopping, and I assume you do too, but after that..." He trailed off again and shrugged. He had to focus on staying present, but he figured he owed Ryou at least a talk over some coffee.
Ryou raised an eyebrow, and it disappeared under his fringe. "No offence, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet."
Malik swallowed. Apologise. "I understand, honey." No, don't, he didn't do anything wrong. Except call him honey- that was too endearing- he shouldn't have said anything. Apologise- no, he was better than that. He tried to meet Ryou's gaze. "I'm not going to apologise." He didn't want to insult Ryou like that. "I don't think you'd want me to."
"It would seem a little empty," Ryou admitted, "after you got Bakura to stab me in the arm."
Malik winced. "That's fair." He couldn't blame him, but the back of his mind was just tugging at him, pulling him towards dissociating again. It would be easy to stab him- no. Fuck. "But I do wish someone had just decked me before it happened. Maybe you."
Ryou hummed. "That would have been nice." He looked amused, but Malik couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Ryou peered up at him. "So you regret it?"
Malik sighed. "Yeah. Very much so."
Ryou nodded. "That helps a little." He gave Malik a small grin. "Although if we meet up, I'd still be a little hesitant to go anywhere that has knives."
That was definitely a joke. Malik managed to crack a smile. "I saw Yugi and Atem a few days ago."
"Yugi rang soon after you left," Ryou admitted. "If he hadn't, I don't think I would have talked to you if I saw you." He grinned. "Anxiety makes it hard to deal with people when you're not expecting it."
Ryou had anxiety? Well it would make sense. "Yeah..." Malik flicked his tongue out over his lower lip. "They mentioned Bakura was back." Ryou's smile was already fading back to his initial wary expression. He fucked up, he fucked up, he had to get out. "Is there any way I could-?"
"I don't know." Ryou shook his head. He moved the basket in his left hand to his right. Maybe he was left-handed and wanted to hit Malik- he couldn't remember- no, no Ryou wouldn't- "Bakura's... not in a good place at the moment. I'd need to ask him if he's okay with seeing you."
Malik nodded. The pull was coming back again. Why did he ask? "I understand."
Ryou tried to smile. "If you give me your number, I can pass it on to him. He can text if he wants."
Malik hesitated. His heart pounded. "Yeah, sure." He pulled out his phone - he had gotten a new sim card for Japan and hadn't learned his number off yet. "Here you go."
Ryou quickly typed the number into his phone, hardly looking at his own screen. "Perfect." He gave Malik that half attempt at a smile again. "I need to go, but I'll pass it on. Okay?"
"Okay." Malik did his best to return it. "Thanks, ho- Ryou. I'll- I'll see you around." Get out. Get out now.
"Ma'al-salamah." Ryou gave him a tiny wave.
Malik did his best to keep his pace normal until he rounded into the next aisle. Once he was out of Ryou's sight, he set down his basket and speed-walked to the exit.
He was out of breath, almost gasping for air, when he got outside. He couldn't breathe. He needed to find a counsellor. Now. He fumbled for his phone and typed Domino counselling service into Google. He just clicked into the first option available and hit the call button.
"Hello, North East Counselling," a soft voice greeted. "How can I help you?"
"Hi," Malik forced out. "Do you take walk in appointments?"
"Yes, between two and four. Do you need an appointment?"
"Yes."
"Alright, well come down and we'll find a counsellor for you."
"Thanks." Malik hung up. Why did he do that? He was meant to wait on Sanaa to send him a number- it didn't matter. Maybe it would help. He checked the address before stuffing his phone into his pocket. By the docks. That was manageable. He just had to focus on breathing and not blacking out again.
Bakura's leg jogged as he waited on the bench. The sky was turning grey as summer ended, but it was the first dark day. The cloudy days wouldn't set in for another few months. He checked his phone again. He was late. Maybe Malik had decided that Bakura wasn't worth it - that he wasn't worth seeing, or talking to again. Bakura wouldn't blame him.
Or maybe he was in an accident. A car had driven into his bus- no Malik wouldn't take the bus. A bus had driven into his car. Or motorbike. He had probably bought a motorbike specifically for his time in Japan, the fucking extravagant douchebag that he was. Or he could have swerved to avoid someone and crashed into something. He could be dead. No, he probably just decided Bakura wasn't worth his time.
"Hey."
Bakura's head jerked up. Malik was smiling, though he looked nervous. The top of his hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and the rest fluttered down around his face and shoulders. His jaw was broader, a little more like how he had described his father looking, but he was entirely clean shaven. His kohl lined his eyes, and they sparkled just the same as they had in Battle City. "Fuck, hi." Bakura stood up. "How are you?"
Malik's lip quirked up into an amused smile. "I'm good, honey."
"Honey?" Bakura's eyebrows arched. Honey. What the fuck, how gay had this guy actually turned out?
"Shut up." Malik's brow dipped a little, but the tiny wrinkles faded in a moment. "How about you?"
Fan-fucking-tastic now that Malik was there. But Bakura just returned his smile with a grin. "Pretty good." He knew Ryou had told Malik the opposite - that he was, in fact, pretty fucking awful - but that wasn't the case anymore. He was on a high and he fully intended to ride it out. "So, where do you want to go?"
Malik hummed. "Coffee?" He offered. "I know a good place down the road."
Bakura scoffed. "I know where you're talking about and it's bullshit. I'll take you to a good place."
Malik frowned. "There's nothing wrong with the coffee there."
"It's shit." Bakura grinned and slipped his hands into the pockets of his crimson hoodie. "Come on - trust the native."
"You're not even Japanese," Malik scoffed, but he allowed Bakura to lead him in the opposite direction to the one he had wanted to go in. "You look good."
"I'd hope so."
"I meant this body," Malik clarified. "It suits you more."
Bakura reached up and ran a hand through his hair. He had cut it recently, so it only hung a little past his chin, rather than its usual length at his shoulders. "Yeah?"
"Definitely."
He could feel Malik's gaze run up and down his body and smirked. "Well you grew up pretty nicely yourself." Bakura winked.
"I know." Malik grinned and adjusted the sleeves of his shirt. Of course the extra bastard wore a shirt to a coffee date.
Wait no. This wasn't a date. This was meant to be serious. Bakura's smile fell a little. "I tried to contact you when I came back," he mumbled, "but you'd changed your number. Ryou couldn't find you."
Malik looked away. "Yeah." He cleared his throat. "I went off the grid for a while. I didn't talk to a lot of people between that duel and up until about... two years ago." He shook his head. "And I didn't think you'd be back."
"You'd have contacted me if you did?" Bakura looked up at him. Lavender eyes shone out from behind a curtain of blond. He really loved those eyes.
"Without question."
Bakura scoffed. "I'd hope not. I was a fucking dickhead when you met me."
"And hardcore," Malik pointed out. "You stabbed yourself."
"And I ran in front of your bike." Bakura grinned. "And nearly got myself killed trying to save your dumb ass from the shadows."
"Yeah, well, I paid you back, didn't I?" Malik chuckled, nudging him.
Bakura managed to stop himself from jumping at the shiver that shot up his arm when Malik touched it. "Come on - we're in here." He led Malik inside a building so small that he was sure the other hadn't even noticed it. The walls were grey and tables with comfy chairs were dotted all around the shop.
A single A4-sized blackboard sat on the counter with the drinks menu, and a small selection of sweets were laid to rest underneath a glass case.
Bakura didn't even glance at the menu. "What'll you have?"
Malik chewed his lip. "Just a black coffee."
"Classy." Bakura snorted. "Grab a table and I'll get us drinks." He wandered over to the counter and ordered as Malik dropped into one of the seats. When he returned with their order, Malik was watching him. "What?"
"Is that a hot chocolate?" Malik's eyebrows arched.
Bakura rolled his eyes and set Malik's coffee down on the table. "I don't like coffee much. I just drink it if I need to work late." He sat down in the bigger of the two remaining armchairs and pulled up his legs so they were curled under him. Malik tilted his head. "What now?"
"It's just..." Malik's brow furrowed this time. "Interesting."
"My hot chocolate?" Bakura blew on the top of it to help it cool faster. "If it makes it better, I like cinnamon on it too."
"That does make it better," Malik admitted, "but it wasn't what I was talking about." He took a sip of his coffee without blowing the top, and the only thing that Bakura could think was that it was big dick energy. He had been reading too many memes. "I think I've seen you show more emotion in the past twenty minutes than in the entirety of the time we interacted back when you were in the ring."
Bakura looked down at his hot chocolate. That's the anxiety, love, he wanted to say, but he didn't think Malik would take that kind of joke very well and he also had to mind calling Malik love. Yeah, he called everyone love, but still. "Yeah," he finally said, "well my range of emotions then was pretty much just vengeful to particularly sardonic."
Malik nodded. "I think I was the same with the Rod," he mumbled. "Well, not the same, but- but similar."
"They corrupt everyone over time." Bakura shook his head and took a sip of his chocolate. Then winced. How the fuck did Malik drink his coffee so soon? It was still too hot. "So what've you been up to, love?"
It was just an attempt to change the topic from the Items before it sent Bakura down - and a little bit of payback for Malik calling him honey - but it worked. They ended up sitting in the coffee shop, chatting and bickering for the better part of an hour.
Once Malik paid ("Fuck you - I found the place, you pay."), they wandered out to the street again. It was still relatively early afternoon. Bakura rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. "Do you want to come back to my place for a bit?" He asked. "Well it's Ryou's place, but he's gone for the day."
"Yeah?" Malik raised his eyebrows. "He won't mind?"
"Nah." Bakura shrugged. He could throw any of Ryou's stray clothes into the hamper. As long as Ryou didn't think Malik saw the apartment as a mess, he'd be okay. Probably. Honestly, Bakura didn't really care. No, he did. He didn't want to see Ryou cry again. He paused and chewed his lip. No, Ryou wouldn't mind. He mightn't be ecstatic, but he wouldn't mind. "Come on - it's only a few minutes away."
"We could just get a taxi," Malik pointed out.
"Oh fuck you and your taxis," Bakura huffed and grabbed his hand, pulling him down the street. "It'll do you good to walk, Ishtar." That only led to another argument that lasted until they were back at the apartment.
"All I'm saying is that you spend your money on way too many unnecessary things," Bakura snorted, pushing open the door. Ryou must have cleaned up before he left for work.
"You weren't complaining when you asked for the suite in Battle City," Malik laughed. "I don't even get why you needed a suite."
"Yeah, fuck you."
"I mean-" Malik paused. "If you want to."
Bakura paused. Half of the things Malik had done were big dick energy, and now he wanted to see if it were just energy. "Want to see my room?"
"Sure." Malik grinned and followed him across the living room to his room.
Cables were still a little out of place, largely in a mound in the far left corner that Bakura didn't like to acknowledge, but he had actually cleaned that morning. Partially because he had been procrastinating work, partially because he was anxious about meeting Malik, and also somewhat because he had been feeling particularly slutty.
Still, it wasn't exactly tidy. Bakura turned to Malik. "Sorry about the mess-" Malik pushed him up against the wall and kissed him hard. Bakura groaned, hooking his arms around Malik's neck. Fuck yes. This had been exactly what he'd wanted to happen when he was cleaning. He pulled Malik closer, groaning as the other sucked at his lip. Their teeth clicked awkwardly and Bakura pulled back with a small grimace.
Malik just used the chance to attack Bakura's neck with a swarm of kisses and bites. It made blood rush to Bakura's already hardening dick, turning it to fucking granite.
"Holy fuck, yes-" Bakura's head fell back and he moved his arms away from Malik's neck to give him more access to his throat. Instead, he hooked his fingers into Malik's belt loops and pulled his hips closer.
Malik's fingers dug into his sides as their crotches pressed together. Bakura groaned louder and rolled his hips. Malik bit the side of his neck, hard. Bakura fumbled for his belt through a haze of lust, struggling to unbuckle it. He didn't try to even touch Malik's shirt.
"I hope you have lube, honey" Malik commented, pressing his hips against Bakura's again, "because I honestly did not plan for this."
Bakura huffed. "Bottom drawer." He pulled Malik's belt away. "Condoms too."
Malik nodded and nipped Bakura's neck once more before pulling back. "Strip."
"Isn't that meant to be your job?" Bakura complained, but he pulled off his shirt as Malik walked over to the chest of drawers.
Malik hummed and pulled out the lube and a box of condoms after double checking he had the right size. "It's more fun to see you do it." He smirked and turned in time to see Bakura kicking his jeans away to the cable corner. "Bed."
"You know," Bakura drawled as he loped over to the bed and sat down, "you could stop ordering me around and do something."
"Where's the fun in that?" Malik smirked and pulled down his own pants. His legs finally stopped burning as he stepped out of them. Bakura pulled Malik down onto his lap and kissed him again, and Malik pushed him down onto the mattress. "Scoot up a little."
Bakura rolled his eyes but wiggled up on the bed. Malik pulled down Bakura's boxers and kissed down his chest as he coated his fingers in lube. Bakura hummed in appreciation, but it wasn't like when his neck was being sucked, and Malik wanted him screaming.
He ran his tongue up Bakura's cock. "How are we doing this?"
"Fuck!" Bakura gripped the sheets in his fists. "I don't care as long as you fucking fuck me already."
Malik snorted. "We've hardly been at it five minutes." He traced a finger around Bakura's entrance and pushed it in as he swallowed the other's cock down to the base.
"Oh, gods!" Bakura's hips hitched up, and Malik had to hold them steady with his free hand. Bakura's legs began to shake as Malik added a second finger, scissored them a bit, and then a third finger. "Fuck, you're-" He had to resist the urge to grab Malik's hair. "You're good at this-" He bit his lip as Malik gave a hard suck before pulling away.
"Thanks." He smirked and pushed the loose bits of his hair away from his face with the palm of his hand. "You ready?"
"I've been fucking ready for the past two hours."
Malik snorted and tore one of the condom wrappers open. "Then how did it take us this long to get here?"
"Because you're pompous and wanted to go for coffee," Bakura reminded him, propping himself up on his elbows to watch as Malik rolled the condom down over his cock. Definitely not just big dick energy, anyway.
Malik leaned in and kissed Bakura's neck as he pressed into him. Bakura couldn't help himself this time - he grabbed the back of Malik's head and held him there to make sure he didn't stop biting his throat, holy fuck.
"Fuck," Malik hissed as Bakura purposely clenched around him. "Fuck, you're so tight-" Malik stilled for a second to allow Bakura to adjust, despite every instinct screaming at him to jackhammer into Bakura until he came. "Good?" Bakura groaned and nodded, holding him closer. "Can I move yet?"
"If you don't move, I'm going to fucking smother y-" Malik snapped his hips forward, and Bakura threw back his head with a loud moan. "Fuck!"
"You were saying?" Malik chuckled.
"Shut up and fuck me," Bakura growled. He moved his hands to grab Malik's ass, pushing him to go faster and harder with every thrust. It didn't take him long to find Bakura's prostate, and Malik slammed into it hard enough to make Bakura scream.
Domino wasn't bad on acceptance, but neighbours didn't like to hear anyone screaming. But on the other hand, Malik's cock felt amazing inside him, and it was hard to hold back. Bakura grabbed the pillow from behind his head and stuffed it over his face to muffle himself, at least a little bit. Malik pulled it away. "Don't you dare," he growled, grazing his teeth over Bakura's lower lip.
Bakura opened his mouth to say something - whether it was a comeback or a plead, he hadn't quite decided yet - but another thrust had him pressing his forehead to Malik's shoulder and moaning through gritted teeth. "N-Neighbours," he managed to force out.
Malik kissed him again. "They're going to get quite a show then." His voice was breathy now, and Bakura could feel his groin tightening. Malik's thrusts grew more frantic.
Bakura had to grab his arm. "Fuck- slow down-" He moaned. "I'm not-" He didn't want to cum yet.
Malik paused. "You're not-?" He prompted.
Bakura huffed and twisted. Malik pulled out so Bakura could turn onto his knees and brace himself against the wall. It'd reduce the intensity a little to make it more bearable, and maybe he'd be able to mute himself a little more like this. At least he wouldn't have the constant urge to kiss Malik.
Malik added a little more lube before easing into Bakura again and wrapping his arms around his waist. His lips ghosted Bakura's neck, and the smaller man shivered. "Didn't think you'd like getting this close." His chest pressed up against Bakura's back.
Fuck. No, he still wanted to kiss Malik. Even more, actually. "Why wouldn't I?" He snorted.
Malik slammed into him and Bakura tried to choke back a moan. This was a mistake. The angle was even better now, holy fuck that felt amazing. "You don't like cuddling."
"Fuck you," Bakura gasped.
Malik snorted. "I think you'll find I'm the one fucking you." His hips slapped against Bakura's ass again, as though to emphasise his words. Bakura whined, his head falling back onto Malik's shoulder. The new rhythm was a little easier to hold off with, if only because Malik couldn't move quite as fast.
After a few minutes, Malik reached his hand down and wrapped it around Bakura's cock, and Bakura bucked back, body begging for more, more- "More, fuck!" More pleasure, more movement, more Malik.
Malik's other hand wandered down to tease Bakura's balls as he jerked his cock. He had to slow down to manage the action, but the blowjob, the anticipation, the build from nothing but jerking himself off for the past few months, the hand that wasn't his around his cock while he was being fucked, proved too much and Bakura screamed Malik's name as he came over his hand.
Once he was done, Malik pulled out and let Bakura lie back down again before he resumed. Bakura usually didn't like being fucked after he came, but he didn't mind this time, pulling Malik closer and kissing him until the other tensed and spilled into the condom, mouth wide in a long moan and eyes squeezed shut.
Once he had ridden out his orgasm, Malik quickly pulled out again and disposed of the condom before returning to the bed. He pulled off his shirt before climbing in with Bakura.
Bakura watched him for a second. "You okay?"
Malik nodded. "Yeah. My back's just a little itchy." His arms wound around Bakura, and the other nestled into him. "So you do like cuddling now?"
"Oh fuck off." Bakura yawned. "You started this."
"You're the one getting into it." Bakura lazily swatted at him. Malik paused, chewing his lip. "Should we go before Ryou comes back?"
Bakura paused to think about it. Normally, his anxiety would be acting up - about Ryou coming home to find anyone he was with there. He didn't like to mix his sexual life with his... Ryou life. "Nah," he decided, closing his eyes again. No rush of fear followed the statement. "He won't be home until late. We're fine."
Malik rested his chin on top of Bakura's head. "You're such a cuddle slut."
"Am not," Bakura muttered, even though he absolutely was. "I'm just an all-round slut."
"That includes cuddles," Malik snickered. Bakura was too tired to argue with him, and honestly, something else as well. His chest felt warm. Malik yawned and kissed the top of his head. "Sleep well, honey."
Hope y'all enjoyed. Please review, and I'll see you on Wednesday.