Carved in Stone

Can’t Put your Arms Around a Memory 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

a/n: The Sumerian words used in this chapter were taken from various notes on Mesopotamia
that I’ve taken over the years. I never bothered to write down the reference crap way back when,
so I can’t tell you exactly what texts (or who) they came from. For all I know I might have
screwed up when taking notes- some of the translations may not be perfect. In a million years
when I’m fluent in every language I’ll correct any mis-translations. Good deal? *dorky grin*

Also, the words Yami says to Solon are taken from The Book of the Dead. So unless modern
transcriptions are wrong, I’m 99% sure of their translation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Back at camp, David and Ryou carried the heavy tablet into David’s tent. Malik wanted
to help them, but Ryou wouldn’t let him. Malik’s little episode at the oasis had him a little
apprehensive.  Instead, Malik went off with David’s assistant Ramose to dig around in the sand
for artifacts. The site they were at had only revealed one ancient treasure so far, a kohl stick.
Kohl sticks were used to line the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, so the site was most likely a
typical Egyptian settlement. Nothing too spectacular. Malik was spending more time slathering
himself in coconut tanning oil laying out in the sun than he was digging. He’d grown up around
this kind of stuff, so it didn’t really trip his trigger. Ramose didn’t seem to mind Malik’s
lass, ss, it wasn’t like Malik actually had to do anything. This trip was more of a vacation for
him, rather than do work. He wasn’t getting paid, so why do anything?

            Meanwhile, Ryou watched his father work diligently transcribing the cuneiform written
on the stone tablet in one of the tents. Some of the symbols had been completely worn away, and
some just partially. It made transcription a very grueling process. Even though Ryou was
interested in learning what the tablets said, the transcription process was as boring as boring
could get.

“Father, would you be offended if I joined Malik outside?” Ryou ask politely.

David took off his eye glasses and set them down next to him. He rubbed his tired eyes.

“I don’t mind, son. Just don’t forget your sunscreen.”

“Smashing! Thank you father! I’ll see you later!” Ryou exclaimed as he ran out of the tent.

David nodded his head. “Take care of yourself, son.”

Ryou sprinted out of the tent and took off running. David sighed as he put his glasses back on.

“Ah yeah, back to work.”

He picked up his cuneiform reference book and began searching for a specific symbol he was
having trouble with.

“This is going to take forever.” He mused to himself as looked through the table of contents.

            Ryou found Malik sound asleep basking in the hot Egyptian. He was sprawled out on his
stomach on top of a white beach towel. Ryou walked over to where Malik was sleeping and
gently shook Malik’s shoulder.

“Hey baby, wake up, I could use a little company.”

Malik shifted around a little and started to mumble.

“Inanna barra!” [Be gone Inanna!]

Ryou raised an eyebrow and started to giggle as he crouched down next to Malik.

“Inanna?”

Malik clutched the white beach towel tightly between his fingers as his dream grew more
intense.

“Geme xul! [evil slave girl!] Maskim! [fiend!] Edin na zu! [Go to the desert!] he spat angrily.

sco scooted backwards a few inches and watched as Malik began to cry in his sleep.

“Inanna.......kanpa lu-gal Malik.” [Inanna, remember King Malik]

//What the hell is he saying?// Bakura cut into Ryou’s thoughts.

“Banana campa glueball Malik?” Ryou repeated incorrectly as Malik began to settle a little.

//Be serious, I should hurt you for being an idiot. I’ll wait until later for that though. Let’s listen
and see if he says anything else.” Bakura snapped back.

Ryou sat back in the sand. He watched as Malik continued to sleep restlessly under the hot sun.

***********************************************************

            Duke sat behind the bar twiddling his thumbs. The bartender he’d hired still hadn’t
shown up, and Duke was getting very bored. The bar was basically empty expect for Duke and
Jeree. It was only 6 o’ clock though, and most of the tavern’s patrons didn’t start showing up
until after 8' clock. Duke still had two more hours to burn until the night livened up. He traced
the mouth of his beer bottle with the tip of his finger. The friction from his finger moving around
the rim of the bottle made a high-pitched whistling noise. Duke lit up a Marlboro light and stated
up at the television on the wall.

“Duke?” Jeree ask curiously as she poked her head out of the kitchen door.

“Yeah?” Duke responded as he turned around.

The bleach blond middle aged woman looked around the empty bar and looked at Duke
compassionately.

“I take it the new help you hired hasn’t shown up.” she stated sympathetically as she walked up
to Duke.

“Nope. She must have said ‘fuck it’ and found a better job.

Jeree patted Duke’s shoulder and grinned.

“Well Duke, you know what they say....you win a few, you lose a few. And if all else fails, bake
some brownies.”

Duke chuckled absently as he stared up at the television on the wall. Suddenly, he had an idea.

He looked back at Jeree with a mischievous grin.

“Do we have enough ingredients in back to make some brownies?”

The blue eyed woman nodded her head.

“I’m pretty sure we do, why do you ask?”

Duke got up off his chair and affectionately put his arm around the much older woman.

“Jeree, my dear, I think you should show me how to make brownies.”

Jeree smiled enthusiastically and nodded her head.

“I’d love to!” Jeree exclaimed as she pulled Duke into the kitchen.

**************************************************************

            Yami kissed Solon’s forehead lightly and smiled down at his young son.

“Thank you for bringing him here, Isis.” he smiled as he cuddled his baby boy.

Isis smiled sweetly and nodded her head.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted anything to do with him after the way things turned out.”

Yami traced his finger lightly along Solon’s lower lip and sighed.

“I’m sorry about that Isis. I had every intention of moving to Egypt with you, but things just got
out of hand.”

Isis looked down at her shoes to avoid eye contact with Yami.

“Yes, I know. I’m very sorry about my brothers actions. He and the tomb robber had no right to
treat you the way thy did.”

Yami patted Isis’s shoulder.

“You’re brother may not be as bad as you think. If it wasn’t for him sneaking me food, I
probably would have died. That Bakura is one twisted son of a bitch. He taught me a lesson
though, that’s for sure.”

Isis took a deep breath and continued to stare at her shoes.

“Malik......I haven’t talked to him in almost a year. Sometimes I want to call him and see how
he’s doing, but I never can find enough courage to even pick up the phone.”

“That’s a shame” Yami grimaced as he gently rocked his son in his arms.

Isis bowed her head.

“I miss Malik. I regret treating him so badly. I wish I could take back all the cruel things I said to
him before he moved out. I admit, I was out of line.”

Yami slowly got up off the couch. He was careful not to disturb his sleeping son.

“You should call him” Yami stated frankly in almost a whisper. He walked with Solon cradled
in his arms over to blue bassinet and laid him down carefully. Yami laid a blanket over the child
and kissed him on his little round nose.

“Tra en Nefer-ua” [Young and beautiful one] he whispered in ancient Egyptian against the baby
boy’s bronze skin. Solon let out a contented sigh as he drifted off to sleep.

Yami left his sleeping son and walked back over to Isis. He sat next to her on the couch and took
her hand.

“If you want, I can talk to Malik for you.” he smiled.

Isis raised an eyebrow.

“You? Talk to Malik? My brother.....Malik Ishtar. The same Malik that held you against your
will for an entire month and made you go through all sorts of terrible things. Are we talking
about the same Malik here?”

Yami chuckled lightly and nodded his head.

“Yes, we are, Isis. You must remember it was Marik that was part of Bakura’s scheme, not
Malik. Yugi is good friends with Ryou, so it won’t seem strange if I call over to their house and
ask to speak with Malik.”

Isis bit her lip nervously.

“Oh pharaoh, I don’t know.......I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. My brother doesn’t just
forgive and forget very easily.”

Yami picked the cordless phone up off the table and began to dial Ryou’s number.

“Let’s find out.” he smiled as he finished dialing.

Yami listened to the phone ring 4 times before the answering machine picked up.

As he was hanging up, Yugi walked into the living room and joined Yami and Isis. He was
licking an a chocolate ice cream cone he’d just made himself in the kitchen.

“Who was that?” He ask Yami curiously as he flopped down in a big.

Yami set the cordless phone down on the coffee table and sighed.

“I was trying to call Malik, but there was no answer.”

Yugi licked his ice cream cone again and laughed.

“Of course there was no answer, Yami. Malik and Ryou are in Egypt with Ryou’s father.”

“What? Why are they in Egypt?” Yami ask curiously.

Yugi nonchalantly continued eating his ice cream and glanced at Yami.

“They went there to find a way to trap your soul in the Millennium Puzzle forever so we don’t
have to hear your ‘heart of the cards’ speeches’ anymore.” the petite hikari answered seriously.

“WHAT!?!” Yami shrieked loudly.

Yugi put his finger up to his lips.

“Shhhh.......you’ll wake Solon, Yami!” he whispered in a slightly heightened voice.

Isis covered her mouth and chuckled at the pharaoh’s reaction to his hikari’s wisecrack. She
could tell Yugi was only joking.

“I’m kidding Yami, relax, jeez!” Yugi giggled playfully.

Yami didn’t seem as amused at Yugi’s witty little remark. He got up from the couch and went
into the kitchen without saying a word.

“I guess I hit a soft spot, eh Isis?” Yugi chuckled.

Even though Isis didn’t understand why Yami had reacted to Yugi’s comment like he did, she ll fll found it a little funny. Yugi got up out of his chair and sat next to Isis. He leaned over and
very quietly whispered in her ear.

“I think I pissed him off.” he smirked. “I’ll go talk to him and get his royal crankiness back in
here.”

Isis nodded her head.

Yugi excused himself and went into the kitchen to talk to his rather upset yami. Since Yugi had
been released from the psychiatric ward, he’d become a lot bolder. He’d learned not to hold his
feelings inside. His intrepidness wasn’t easy for Yami to deal with, and on occasion Yugi said
things that bothered Yami. The pharaoh incarnate didn’t care for arguing, so he’d leave the room
whenever Yugi’s comments would bother him.

Yugi walked into the kitchen and spotted Yami staring out the window by the sink. Yami didn’t
bother acknowledging Yugi’s entrance. He stood still with his hands in his pants pockets looking
outside.

“Yams? Did what I said out there upset you?” Yugi ask softly as he stood behind Yami.

The sulking pharaoh closed his eyes.

“Sometimes I wonder what you think of me, aibou.”

Yugi rolled his eyes and laughed.

“I was only joking back there, Yams, you should know that. Did you really think I would have
kept something like that from you if it were true? I love you too much to do something like that.”

Yami sighed as he turned to face Yugi. He tried to look Yugi in the eyes, but found it difficult.

“I know that. It’s just sometimes I wonder things. When you take a shot at me, it makes me
wonder if you even care how I feel, or if our love is even real.”

Yugi hesitated as he contemplated what Yami had just said. He felt his heart drop to the floor.

“Y-Yami.......you have doubts about how I feel for you? But....I love you with all my heart,
haven’t I proved that to you already?”

Yami shifted his weight from one foot to the other anxiously. He wasn’t sure how to respond to
Yugi’s reply. Something had changed inside Yami since his traumatic experience of being
‘Bakura’s bitch’ for a month, and he’d found himself second guessing everybody around him.
The constant nagging feeling that people were taking advantage of him hindered his trust. Even
though Yugi had proved time and time again that he loved Yami unconditionally, the thought
that Yugi was only using him crossed his mind sevetimetimes a day.

“Aibou.......I don’t know of any words to express what I want to say to you.”

Tears began to pool in Yugi’s violet eyes. He shook his head and grabbed Yami’s hand. Yugi
small fingers trembled as they linked with Yami’s. 

“Are you trying to say you don’t feel the same about me? Are you saying you don’t love me
anymore?”

Yami wiped a tear from Yugi’s cheek. He loved Yugi, he just didn’t believe that Yugi whole-heartedly loved him back.

“No aibou......that’s not what I said. I love you completely, there’s no doubt in my mind of that.”

Yugi’s hand continued to tremble, but he was able to hold back anymore tears. He rested his
cheek against yami’s chest.

“Than what are you trying to get at, Yami? I’m confused.” Yugi whimpered against Yami’s tear
stained white button-up shirt.

Yami took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wrapped his arms around Yugi and held him
close.

“If you could only live the book of my life, aibou, you’d understand. We used to be so close, but
after all that’s happened, I just can’t seem to get back to where I was before.”

Yugi wrapped his arms around Yami’s waist and rubbed the small of Yami’s back with his
hands.

“If our relationship is going to work out, you need to talk to me, Yami. You can’t talk in riddles.
You have to tell me things straight up.”

Yami gently kissed Yugi’s forehead. He tipped Yugi’s chin up with his finger and gathered the
courage to look into Yugi’s moist eyes.

“Aibou......promise you’ll never leave me?”

Yugi nodded his head.

“I promise Yami, I’ll never leave you.”

An obscure smile spread across Yami’s face. He ran his fingers through Yugi’s tri-colored hair.

“I need to hear you say that more. After what happened to me I don’t always find it easy to
trust.”

Yugi wiped the remaining tears from his eyes with his sleeve and took a deep breath.

“I think we need to get away for a while Yami, just you and me.”

Yami cocked his head.

“Where would you like to go?”Yami ask curiously.

Yugi shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know, maybe we can fly to California and get married or something?”

Yami’s eyes shot open as big as saucers.

“Are you serious?!?”

Yugi covered his mouth and chuckled.

“Not really, but it’s the thought that counts, right?”

Yami rolled his eyes and messed up Yugi’s hair.

“You need a spanking, aibou. It’s not nice to trick your yami.”

Yugi giggled as he leaned up and placed a kiss on Yami’s cheek.

“Aibou’s like spankings from their yami’s.”

Yami wagged his eyebrows and laughed.

“Maybe tonight.....if you want.”

“IF I want? Duh, Yami, of course I want! Hey, I just had a great idea! We should go with Isis
back to Egypt! It would be a nice little vacation for us, and you’d get to spend more Solon!”

Yugi suggested excitedly.

Yami cocked his head and thought about what Yugi had just said.didndidn’t sound half bad.

“I like how you think, aibou. Let’s do it, let’s go to Egypt.”

Yugi smiled brightly and threw his arms around Yami.

“Let’s go tell Isis! This is gonna rock!”

**************************************************

            Duke sniffed the pan of fresh brownies and licked his chops as Jeree pulled them out of
the oven. He couldn’t wait to try one, especially since he’d slipped his own special ingredient
into the mix prior to baking.

“Damn Jer, they smell awesome! When can I have one?” Duke ask as Jeree set the hot pan down
on a cooling rack.

“After I cut them.” she smiled as she pulled a knife out of the drawer.

Duke was practically salivating on the cook’s shoulder as she cut the brownies into squares.

Once she finished slicing through the fresh baked treat, she grabbed a napkin off the counter and
handed one to Duke.

The raven haired dice master quickly ate his “special” brownie. He looked at Jeree curiously
when he realized she wasn’t taking one for herself.

“Oh my god Jeree, these are the best! Aren’t you going to have one?”

Jeree shook her head and laughed.

“No thanks, Duke. You think I didn’t see what you added to the batter? I’ll never be able to do
my job back here stoned out of my brain!” 

Duke grabbed another brownie out of the pan and grinned.

“Than you won’t mind if I take these up front with me, right?”

“I don’t mind at all, just save me one for after work, okay?”

Duke kissed Jeree on the cheek and grabbed the pan of brownies.

“Of course I’ll save you one, sweetheart. It’s the least I can do for the best cook around.”

 

            After eating half the brownies, Duke kicked back behind the bar and started reading the
newspaper.

He was startled from his reading when somebody came running into the bar.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! Please don’t fire me! I really need this job!” Serenity pleaded as she
approached Duke.

Duke looked up from the newspaper. His eyes were glossy and he was wearing a big grin. He
laid the newspaper on the bar and started to giggle.

“Did you ever notice how people always die in alphabetical order? Isn’t that weird?” he
mentioned as he pointed at the obituaries.

Serenity looked at Duke like he was wacked out.

“Are you okay, Duke?” she ask curiously, taking a second to glance at the half eaten pan of
brownies.

“Better than ever, babe. You hungry? I have some special brownies that taste absolutely great!”