Love Lies

More Than Just Words

            “I hope I’m not intruding on anything.” Mai grinned as she slipped through the
livingroom and into the kitchen. Tristan gaped at Duke with amazement.

“How’d you manage that!”

Duke grinned at Tristan as he took another swallow of his beer.

“Easy. When you’re hot, you’re hot.” he boasted.

Tristan shook his head in disbelief.

“Mai Valentine. Damn. Every guy I know has wanted to slip it to her at one point or another.”

A smug grin held fast across Duke’s face.

“Honestly, it wasn’t hard. Just tell her she’s pretty and buy her some sparkly stuff, and it’s a
done deal.”

Tristan rolled his eyes.

“Oh shut up. She can’t be that easy.”

“Give ‘er a try if you don’t believe me, I don’t mind. Mai and I have a pretty open relationship.”

Tristan couldn’t believe what had just come from Duke’s mouth.

“You’re shitting me, right?”

Duke looked at Tristan with complete sincerity.

“No, I’m serious. Go for it. It’s no big deal.”

Tristan was too stunned to say anything.

“Duke? Do want anything for breakfast?” Mai called out from the kitchen.

Duke grinned slyly as Tristan.

“Uh, yeah, I do. Come in here and I’ll tell you what I want.”

Mai walked in carrying her purse.

“I’m going tanning this morning, so I thought I’d pick us up something while I was out and
about.”

Duke motioned for her to join him on his lap.

“Mai, bab82218221;

Mai smiled brightly. She loved when Duke used pet names on her.

“Yeah Duke?” She purred as she wrapped her arms around him.

Duke kissed the tip of her nose playfully.

“Would you mind putting off tanning for a while and stay here with Tristan and I?”

Mai cocked her head curiously.

“Duke? Uh-why?”

Duke ran his hands over her shoulders and kissed lightly on her neck.

“You know baby, don’t you?” he said in one of those cutesy voices.

Mai wasn’t an idiot. Considering Duke had slipped his hand up her shirt, she pretty much got the
clue.

She looked at Tristan curiously.

“Aren’t you married to Isis Ishtar?”

Tristan laughed nervously.

“Ah......no....we’re not married. Just living together.”

Mai looked back at Duke and shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. I’m up for it. Question is, are you up for it, bad boy?”

Duke smiled at his golden haired prize on his lap. His emerald eyes flickered in the morning
light.

“You know I’m up for anything, sweetheart......”

Tristan got up and nervously fidgeted with his watch.

“Shit, you know.....I’d love to stay and well, you know. But I really gotta get to work.”

Mai shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re loss.”

“You should stop in at the bar tonight if your not busy. Joey Wheeler’s little sister turns 21
today, and we’re throwing a party for her.”

“Serenity’s 21 already? Damn. I’ll see if I can stop by. Bye!”

Tristan hurried down to his motorcycle.

“Isis, Isis, Isis” He repeated as he drove to work. He was trying as best as he could to keep his
hormones in check.

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

            Seto set down his coffee cup and looked up from his facts and figures.

“Wheeler, what would you say to skiing in Utah tomorrow? I own a few shares in a resort out
there. Interested in going?”

The blond, who’d been laying on the couch in Seto’s office snapping his bubble gum loudly
almost all evening, suddenly sat up and spoke.

“Utah? Where’s that?”

Seto tossed Joey a brochure and told him to read it.

Joey skimmed over the words and looked at the pictures.

“Whoa dude! I can’t afford this!”

Seto rolled his eyes.

“My treat. All you need to do is show up.”

Joey looked back at the cover of the brochure and shook his head.

“Looks nice there. Sure, I’ll go skiing.”

Just as the words left Joey’s mouth, the blond and the CEO heard a loud explosion from down
the hall.

Seto’s eyes got wide.

Joey was just as perplexed.

“What the hell was that?”

Seto stood up quickly.

“I better go look.”

“Right behind ‘ya” Joey nodded.

The hall was filled with the ominous smell of smoke.

They followed the thick black cloud right to Mokuba’s bedroom. The smell of burning plastic
hung heavy in the air.

Seto glared at the open door.

“I should have guessed. MOKUBA! Where are you!”

“Sorry Seto! I accidently fell asleep smoking a ci-oops........” Mokuba covered his mouth with
his hand. The frenzy from putting out the fire in his room caused him to accidently slip.

Seto shook his head with disappointment as he stepped inside. The fire had been put out, but
right next to Mokuba’s bed was a smoldering lump of plastic that was formerly a television.

“A cigarette perhaps? Mokuba, you know the rules! You’re not going to be smoking while
you’re living under my roof! You could have burned the entire building down because of your
stupidity!”

Mokuba glared up at his big brother. Hefed fed up to make himself look bigger than he actually
was.

“You’re roof? It’s part mine too, you can’t make all the rules!”

Seto was visibly thrown back by Mokuba’s response, but he didn’t allow it to hold him back
from responding harshly.

“You’ve got it too good, kid. When I was you’re age I wasn’t even allowed to leave the library
for 18 hours a day! Someday you’re attitude’s going to come back and bite you on the ass.” 

Mokuba grinned snidely at his fuming older brother.

“Oooh......I’m so scared.”

As the smoke cleared the room, Joey stepped out. He listened to the Kaiba brothers argue back
and forth.

He’d heard enough arguing in his life, so he walked to his room.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.” He mused to himself as he slipped between the
fresh scented black satin sheets. As he drifted to sleep, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d
forgotten something.

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

            Ryou walked downstairs and saw Malik sleeping on the couch. He noticed the tipped
over bottle of hand lotion and the crumpled up tissue on the floor, and figured out what put
Malik to sleep. Ryou made a sour face as he kicked the soiled tissue under the couch.

Being as quiet as a mouse, Ryou sat on the opposite end of the couch and turned on the
television. He set the volume just loud enough for him to hear.

//Ryou, you should make a play for Malik.// Bakura whispered to him through his mind..

Ryou looked at the sleeping Egyptian and smiled.

//No chance of that happening. Malik’s way out of my league.//

//What makes him better thau? Hu? He’s not the son of Ra.// Bakura scoffed.

Ryou shrugged.

//It just wouldn’t work. Malik’s my only real friend, and I don’t want to screw that up and end up
with nothing.//

//Whether you like it or not, I want Marik; you and Malik should just go along with it. Imagine
the possibilities.// Bakura responded selfishly.

Ryou grinned as he went back to watching tv.

//Lovely. I have a stuck up yami.//

Bakura laughed at Ryou’s remark.

//Stuck up? Stuck up what? Is there something you’d like.....stuck up you?//

Ryou wasn’t used to Bakura being so chatty. Sure he was a little, well, criminally insane and
evil, but the fear Ryou once had of the spirit wasn’t as strong now. It was like he was different
somehow. He bit his lip as he recalled Bakura’s lust laden raspy moans during their encounter in
his soul roBakuBakura sounded so sexy when he was being subdued. No wonder Marik liked
screwing him senseless.

He made the sexiest growling noises too.......

//Ryou!//

//Yes Bakura?//

//You didn’t close your side of our mind link.......I heard every word of what you thought just
now.//

Ryou’s cheeks burned red.

//Oh, uh......how do I shut it off?//

//I’m not saying// Bakura chuckled. Ryou had never heard Bakura do that before. It sounded evil,
but yet it was more light hearted, almost playful. Bakura? Playful? He must be making up for his
lost child hood.

//Hey now! Pfffft...lost childhood.// he grumbled.

Ryou had no clue how to block his mind link with his darker half, so he just wenck tck to
watching television.

He was starting to doze off when he felt somebody touch his arm.

“Ryou? Are you awake?” Malik ask quietly.

Ryou yawned as he sat up and looked at his friend.

“Huh? Uh..yes, I guess so. What do you want?”

Malik cleared his throat. He sat up slowly and folded his hands.

“Uh Ryou....I was thinking.....um...uhhhhh.....”

“Yes? You were thinking?” Ryou prodded.

Marik took a deep breath.

//I can’t do it, I’m sorry// he thought, hoping Marik would hear him.

“I was thinking of asking you if you’d want to go Marilyn Ma-..”

 Ryou cut Malik off mid- sentence, already knowing what Malik was going to ask.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll go, sounds like fun.”

“Really? You’ll go? I didn’t think you’d be into that kind of music.”

Ryou snickered as he reached for the remote for the tv.

“I’m not a big fan, but I have a feeling Bakura would enjoy the show.”

Malik sudden grew serious.

“What makes you say that?”

Ryou bit his lip as he flipped through the channels.

“Well, it’s hard to explain. You see, when I was upstairs, he and I ....uh......” Ryou’s cheeks
turned five shades of red. Since Bakura allowed him to remember what they did, he found
himself feeling a bit shy.

Malik sat back and looked at Ryou, pondering his reaction.

“Ryou? Can I ask you something......uh......personal?”

“I guess” Ryou responded, trying to pay more attention to the tv.

“Have you ever.......you know......had any sort of contact with Bakura?”

Marik accentuated the word contact in hopes Ryou would read between the lines.

Ryou nodded his head.

“Well, we keep in touch, a little, I guess.”

That wasn’t the answer Malik was looking for. He sat back, a little disappointed, and watched
tv.

Ryou absently watched the images on the screen. His mind replayed the events in his soul room.
He found it a little strange that suddenly the spirit of the ring decided to start talking to him
again. Remembering Bakura was capable of reading his every thought, Ryou decided to try to
put those thoughts aside until he’d figured out the whole mind link thing. He didn’t want to
upset Bakura, for obvious reasons. Bakura’s sneaky underhandedness was one of his best, and
worst attributes.

Ryou rested his head on the arm of the sofa and closed his eyes. He could feel Malik shifting
around on the other end of the couch.

“Shit, what time is it? I should probably call my sister.” Malik said out of nowhere.

Ryou picked up the phone and handed it to Malik.

“Go ahead,” he squinted to read the time illuminated on the VCR, “It’s 10:45.”

“Oh, good. It’s still early.” he mused as he dialed his number.

//WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!// Isis’s voice screamed through the receiver.

Malik held the phone a few inches from his ear and glanced nervously over at Ryou.

“Sister?” he spoke into the phone cautiously.

//Oh Malik, it’s just you.//

“Yeah, just me. I’m calling to tell you I’m staying at Ryou’s tonight. Hey, Are you okay?”

//Yes. I’m fine now thank you. Tristan isn’t home yet, and he hasn’t called or anything. We had a
fight before he left this morning and I don’t know what to think.” Isis poured out to her younger
brother.

Malik groaned into the receiver.

“Damn it sis, I told you to kick him out.”

//I can’t do that Malik. You know that.//

“ I know, I know. Okay, well, I’ll see you around. I might not be home for a few days.”

//Going somewhere with Ryou?// Isis ask.

A firm “yes.” was all he answered.

//Okay. Thanks for calling. Please take care......little brother.//

Malik looked at Ryou and made a face, causing Ryou to laugh. Malik rolled his eyes.

“Ha ha, so funny I forgot to laugh. Bye now.”

Malik turned off the phone and handed it to Ryou.

Ryou placed it back on the charger, knowing if he accidently forgot to put it there, the damn
thing would be dead by morning.

Malik sat up, letting the fuzzy red blanket fall loosely around his waist. He rested his elbow on
his knee and propped his chin up with his hand.

“Her and Tristan are driving me nuts. I wish I could afford to move out.”

Ryou shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

“So move in with me. I’m sure Marik would like that.”

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

Am I the only person who thinks of Duke(Otogi to those of you who are privileged enough to see
the un-dubs*grin*) when I see fuzzy red dice hanging from somebody’s rearview mirror? I
know. I’m weird. LOL

.

I have something special planned for the next chapter, but there’s a bit of tweeking that needs to
be done first. I hope to have something up by this weekend though. If I don’t, Happy Easter!