Happy Accidents

Bakura likes throwing writing utensils at people.

@sglily: Dx Stupid ff.net! Ugh...
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.: Chapter two - Bikinis and Free Drinks and Spiders, Oh My! :.

No... It couldn’t possibly be. It just couldn’t. Ryou hadn’t really even been paying much attention to the other, and hadn’t noticed him sit down at the desk that he knew Bakura would be at. But when he noticed it, it was only after he was about to snap at the guy for ruining personal property of his.

He continued to stand where he was, mind having come to a complete and utter screeching stop. This couldn’t be Bakura. This could not possibly be the man that he had to protect for however long. Maybe he was just joking – ‘Oh, God, please let him be joking!’

Ryou knew he was about to throw up.

Eyes darting back down to his poor plant which wouldn’t be able to be watered until it got a new pot, the effeminate male felt a tremor of anger scuttle down his spine. That... that...

DICKHEAD!

Dull? No, his life here clearly wouldn’t be dull but it would be very, very far from enjoyable as well! Hell, would it even be livable? Ryou was having doubts about his case for the first time. Sure, he had been worried, but he hadn’t realized that the man he was supposed to watch was going to act like a three year old having a temper tantrum! How dare he touch someone else’s things and break them without having even asked to mess with it beforehand! “Jerk,” he muttered, having met the other’s maliciously amused gaze with his own aggravated one. Bakura was going to make his life shit, wasn’t he? And all for fun on his part...

Ryou had to get rid of his anger, he knew he had to. Stress would cause him to mess up (and though he now royally hated having a case all to himself, pining for having to sit in a room and bounce ideas off of that terrible spitting man...), and he had to prove that he could hold his own, even against assholes. He was better than this, and he wouldn’t give Bakura the satisfaction of hurting him. But how could someone so handsome be so terrible...?

The young man nearly jumped straight out of his skin at a sudden shout from somewhere near him. “Bakura, you asshole!” – Well, clearly someone had the same thoughts as Ryou did. The boy couldn’t possibly imagine how many people wanted this man dead – “What did you do that for?!”

Bakura obviously was startled too, but he hid it much better than Ryou did. The latter turned, looking at a brunette woman standing a few feet behind him. She was pretty, but looked to be a tomboy. ‘She must be one if she’s working here.’

Growling, the larger male shot her a less-than-pleased look. He seemed as if he was about to hiss something at her, but his mouth remained closed. Fuck her for having power over him and using it. But he wouldn’t have had long to say much of anything anyway, because the girl spoke up again.

“Why is it you always have to be such a prick and go after the new people? God, I swear!” Stepping over to his desk, while Ryou’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly, she lifted her hand and smacked Bakura on the head, causing the older man to wince and bat her hand away. But he didn’t retort, nor did he attack her as Ryou would have expected. Instead, he remained seated, his hands on his desk clenching into tight fists, as if to keep himself from actually going after her, seething silently. But his eyes spoke loudly enough. They looked like a raging inferno.

Ignoring him, the cerulean-eyed girl moved back to Ryou, smiling warmly at him. It was amazing how quickly she had gone from (a little violently) angry to this. “Hi!” she beamed, extending her hand. “I’m Anzu!”

The slighter male smiled back a little awkwardly, though he felt as if he’d just been protected. Which he had. But that also might have been why he found it so strange in the first place... “I’m Ryou,” he answered, taking the hand. “And, thank you,” he added, more quietly. He really was grateful for having someone stick up for him. God, would he need it around here... His emerald orbs once more flicked to the furious-looking Bakura before going back to Anzu.

“No problem,” she responded, before brushing some hair out of her face. “Listen, don’t let that prick bother you, okay? If you ever have problems, come see me. I’ll be more than happy to help you out.” As she said this, she, too, shot a look at the aformentioned prick. Besides, all she had to do was say a few words to Seto, and Bakura would finally be canned. She would love nothing more than to see him packing his things and leaving, but she also enjoyed holding her revenge over his head, too. As long as he was a good little boy, he was safe. That is, until he slipped up again, big enough to get him tossed out on his ass.

At a small sound from Ryou’s direction, she shifted to follow his gaze. He was eyeing the spot on the carpet which had previously been clean, but now had some dirt on it, as did the corner of his desk. The poor guy... “Don’t worry,” she reassured, letting her hand brush against his shoulder in a friendly manner. “We’ll get that cleaned up and I even have an empty copy-paper box that you can put under that to prevent more mess.”

It was then that Ryou realized that he had a savior in this job that had, only moments ago, seemed like Hell itself. He smiled brightly at her, and nodded his head. If this woman just mothered him for a few days, he knew he would be safe. Safe from Bakura. But... only at work. He was free game when it came to personal hours, wasn’t he? Ryou tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “Thank you,” he repeated in a murmur, following her as she lead him around, showing him where everything was, and even introducing him to a few people.

Bakura, meanwhile, was still boiling in his hatred for Anzu Mazaki, wanting to do nothing more than pay her back for her little games. “Bakura, get me some coffee,” or “Bakura, would you be a dear and do this for me?” and even “Bakura, you wouldn’t mind running up to the seventh floor to deliver this, would you? The elevator’s broken, and I don’t know if I can make it in these heels...”

He had played with the thought of “accidentally” knocking the styrofoam cup on the edge of his desk onto her, but he had let it go in the end. Besides... as much as he hated to admit it, she did own his ass, metaphorically speaking. And that alone made Bakura want to murder a small animal. How had he fucked up so badly? Even when he was drunk, he figured that he had some sense of good judgement. Clearly that was not the case, however, considering where he was now, and had been for the past several weeks. He wished more than anything else that he could take that one night back. Just one fucking night. And sleeping with a co-worker... Well, that was enough to get Anzu fired, but since Bakura was well-known for being pushy and usually getting his way, the blame would automatically turn to him.

She probably wasn’t such a bad person in reality, if one liked bubbly women with fiery attitudes. They had gotten along rather well at one point. That changed, of course, after the “night of bad decisions”. Who the fuck was she to tell Bakura that she’d “had better”?! And of all the nights that he could have chosen to try new things, it had to be then. Not only did she have blackmail aimed at his job, but she also had some fucking nasty “fetish” stories that weren’t even true... not in the long-run. That, she would use to spread around the building, and he would never live it down.

Not to mention the fact that he really was on his last legs here. He had gotten many warnings in the past, and the head of the company was finally getting fed up and to the very end of his rope. The only reason he hadn’t fired Bakura after the first complaint was that the man was good at what he did when he actually did it. They had gotten better reviews for their columns and articles since the self-centered bastard had arrived, but that wouldn’t stop him from getting rid of the guy.

Bakura began to thump his forehead against the surface of his desk, knowing that his headache from the day before would probably return, but right now, he didn’t care. Maybe he had some strange head injury – a concussion or something, and would pass out and not have to remember any of this.

Not only had Anzu turned all bleeding-heart on the new kid – Ryou? That was such a girly name! – but she had also let the guy think that Bakura was a push-over. And that was the last thing he was. He would make sure that he got that point across when the brunette wasn’t around. He was silently thankful that she hadn’t told him to clean up the mess he’d made. That fucking bitch, she loved humiliating him... It wasn’t like he’d really even done anything bad, either! He’d just ruined a pot that was a damn eyesore to look at. Who the hell put plants on their desks, anyway? The kid must be a total fruit...

Not that he didn’t look the part or anything.

Grumbling irritably, Bakura lifted the cup of coffee to his lips, taking a large sip, attempting to ignore the searing ache that scalded its way down his throat as he did so. At least now his tongue would be numb so he wouldn’t have to taste the bile when he thought about what he’d done to that girl that night...

He was interrupted from his thoughts when a man from a few desks down rolled his chair over to Bakura. “Dude, I need to fill up five pages for the Summer Sports section, and I can’t get anything that someone isn’t already doing an article on!”

Rolling his eyes, the fair-haired male took another sip of his drink, eyelids fluttering slightly at the pain. After swallowing, he sighed and waved his hand, wondering why these people were hired in the first place. What was this kid’s name anyway – Katsuya? Something like that... Though, Bakura had thought he’d heard several people call him “Jou”. “Just do volleyball.”

The blonde stared at him with deep amber eyes, as if he couldn’t quite understand how that would possibly fill up five pages. “Volleyball?” he repeated. “Who the hell would read five pages about volleyball?”

Bypassing the urge to slap his forehead, Bakura was busy muttering under his breath and making quite a few other signs that he was getting annoyed and wanted to be left alone. Then he suddenly came to look like an impatient boss who had to deal with a lame-brained employee. “What are you, a fucking idiot?” he asked, seeing the other change, his demeanor speaking about how he took those as fighting words. Which they were, but Bakura didn’t really wish to physically brawl the guy.

“Just go to the beach and get some girls in the tiniest bikinis and the biggest tits you can find to smack a ball around a few times. Snap pictures of them, and then enlarge them to fit on most of the page. No one’s going to read your retarded article, so you can write about a cow fucking a tractor and no one would notice. It’ll be a big hit for the guys who want to get their pants down, trust me.”

Deciding not to start up an argument over the other’s blatant rudeness, Jounouchi just sighed, scooting his chair back over to his area. He would have asked someone else for their opinion and help, but... Bakura, as much of an asshole he was, was damn good at his job when he actually did it. He knew what would sell, and what wouldn’t.

‘Too bad he’s so miserable to be around...’

---

By the time the mess was cleaned up, Ryou knew as much about Anzu as he did all of his friends combined. That girl could really talk! Not that he minded, of course. He much preferred that to having to speak about himself anyway. It was not so much that he hated what had happened, but – well, he really did, actually... but there just wasn’t much to say, so he tended to avoid the subject whenever possible. All he cared for was the here-and-now, and he didn’t like to look too far into the past or even the future. Either way though, he liked Anzu a great deal and he knew that she, if no one else, would at least be a good acquaintance and possibly good protection against Bakura. Though, thinking back on it, having her jump to his defense did make him seem like more of a wuss – not to mention that it would most likely make Bakura aggravated and fight harder...

He sighed.

What a great way to start out the first day, huh? But, well... who knew? Maybe the future would hold brighter things? Part of his mind doubted it, but he could always hope, right...?

Sitting down in the uncomfortable wheely chair, Ryou grabbed the papers that he had been given and began to actually do his job – both of them.

The day was passing much slower than was enjoyable, and it was boring as well. No bombs went off, no fires started – not that Bakura was expecting any of that to actually happen, mind you, but it would have been a nice change. But where noon found him was close to dozing off, not so much because it was boring, but considering he had gotten a less than desirable amount of sleep the night before...

Besides, he was almost done with his section of the magazine that was due to come out in a month. He just had to look over it and edit it – it was all pretty rough right now. Yawning, he glanced towards the window, watching the dull colors of the buildings around them. Then he realized, after a moment, that he couldn’t hear the droning of the city two stories below; only the sound of typing and shuffling of paper could be heard, as well as soft murmurs of conversation. Overall, the white noise did nothing to wake him up. Heaving a sigh, his pale eyes shifted and began scoping out the large room, slowly growing agitated with his predicament. He couldn’t take off early, and there was nothing to do! With a thump, his head hit the desk again, but he didn’t repeat the action. Instead, he lifted up on of his arms which had been hanging limply by his side, using it as a pillow for his head to lie on, his chin resting against it. With his other hand, Bakura began tapping a pen noisily against the wooden tabletop.

As he idly watched the pen move, his eyes focused on what was behind it, before the tapping slowly came to a pause, as the larger male found himself watching Ryou. The kid was so quiet and seemed to be all about business and getting his work done.

What a fag.

Ugh, could the guy be more boring? Then his eyes slid back to the pen in his hand. They shifted over to Ryou. The pen. Smirking, he flung it in the other’s direction, watching as it make contact directly with the other man’s head. Bull’s eye!

“Ow!”

Instead of acting like he hadn’t done it, which one would have expected him to, as Ryou’s head shot up as well as a bony hand which went straight for the pained spot, Bakura stared right into the other’s green eyes, as if daring him to say anything about it. Then an idea hit him, and he moved to grab his stack of articles. Why should he have to check his own work when Mr. Prim-and-Proper could do it for him? Besides, the guy was clearly an editor anyway. “Hey Fairy,” he said, waving his papers in front of him. He completely ignored that fact that Ryou had a name. “This needs to be looked over.” And he said it like he was expecting the other to actually do it without question.

Ryou, however, found the situation much less amusing. He had actually gotten a lot done though his stack of work had been piling up. He had mainly been placed in the spot of editor because he had gotten a major in English on the side of criminal justice. He most probably would have become a writer or something along those lines had he not taken up the profession that he had. After realizing that he was getting hungry, however, his mind had started to wander off as to what he should get for lunch. It was then that Bakura had broken his thoughts, not with words but with a damn pen. It was one thing to crack his plant’s pot, but now he was catapulting things at Ryou’s head, too? This couldn’t have been any more immature. Bakura had to be at least twenty-five! Why was he acting like a five-year-old? It really was too obvious as to why someone would want his neck.

After rubbing the afflicted spot on his skull, Ryou let his hand fall, glaring at Bakura as he got up. “Well, you didn’t have to throw something at me to get my attention,” he murmured, trying to keep a calm tone somehow, even though he as a little more than mildly ticked off. His anger had dispersed from earlier, but now it was back, full-force. But he was the bigger man of the two, obviously, since he was actually making an effort to be civil, especially as he walked over the blue-eyed male’s desk and moved to take the papers from his outstretched hand.

“I know I didn’t. But it’s so much more fun that way,” Bakura said smoothly, a cocky smirk resting upon his lips. It stayed that way until Ryou’s finger came into contact with one of his own. The kid froze, feeling more than a little awkward.

“Sorry,” he quickly said, eyes turning down to the carpet as his face was pumped full of blood, before he turned back to his own desk, sitting down and shutting up. He didn’t make anymore eye contact with the other, seeing as how he was a little mortified that he had done something that would be considered flirting by most people. And since Bakura had called him “Fairy”, Ryou felt that he was doomed from that moment on. He’d already been pegged as gay, and now he’d accidentally flirted with the man he loathed and was supposed to protect.

Bakura, though, had immediately moved to turn away, typing at his computer with his free hand, waiting to get the other one back, not even thanking Ryou for looking over his work for him. He hadn’t a clue that they had touched, his mind having already wandered away from his new plaything. But he swirled his chair around slightly, a frown set upon his brow, one raised, as he eyed the other. “The fuck are you sorry for?” Was he not going to edit Bakura’s articles or something? Or was he trying to “patch things up” between them, hoping that he would be safe from pestering? The thought made Bakura cringe. Oh, good God. Not another bleeding heart... The office already had at least two! The pale-eyed man wasn’t sure that he could stand another.

But his response had lightened Ryou’s worried quite a bit. Obviously Bakura hadn’t noticed, else he would have ruthlessly attacked him for it, but... Rolling his eyes, the agent shook his head. Was there any male on Earth as rude as the one in front of him? He honestly wasn’t sure there was. “Nevermind,” he murmured quietly, figuring it was best to just let the subject drop.

Reaching out to snatch a red pen, Ryou looked down at the stack in front of him. He had quite a few pages to get through, and maybe he could be done before lunch. The thought was enough to motivate him to start on them immediately.

Several minutes of silence between them passed, as Bakura continued to punch in the keys, eyes watching the flat screen of the monitor. He really had nothing better to do than check his e-mail – the work one, anyway, since personal things like that were forbidden in the workplace – and blinked when he saw a new mail in his inbox. Apparently one of his idiotic coworkers was going out to party at a bar and celebrate the finishing of this month’s magazine (which had been increasingly more annoying to get done, because this was one of the worst seasons to write about – it was slow, and nothing really even started happening until Fall. Not to mention there was nothing exciting to take note of, either. He himself had nearly thirty pages worth of shit, but at least he’d put in his part). But idiotic though he was, he would probably end up buying drinks for everyone, if nothing more than the first few rounds. And a free night of drinking, especially on a Friday, was not something Bakura would pass up unless he had some actual plans. That and he would also be pretty damn glad when this issue blew over. But then he remembered that he had to go and interview some of the players of some just-starting-up baseball team, who not only sucked, but were sore losers at that. Of course, this wouldn’t be until next week, so for now, he figured he should spend his time the way he wanted. Hell, he’d probably need a good buzz just to get through the damn things...

“Hey Fairy,” he called again, adopting that as Ryou’s new name.

The kid bristled, burning eyes darting up through his white bangs to send a hateful look Bakura’s way. “My name’s Ryou.” If there was one thing that pissed him off more than another, it was disrespect like that. Ryou wasn’t usually one to fight back but some reason, this guy really was pushing his buttons. All of them. Hard. Frowning, he had to sink his nails into his palm, to keep himself calm.

‘No, Ryou, you idiot! You’re supposed to be protecting him, not wanting to kill him yourself! Don’t fall for the bait!’

But Bakura didn’t seem put off by this in the least. In fact, his expression looked more like ‘I’ve been here longer than you and you’re in my territory’. “I know your name,” he replied, waving his hand slightly. “You’ve said it, what, twice now?” Both of his hands continued up before he slipped them behind his head. He then leaned the chair back, trying to balance it against the wall, so that his legs dangled in the air. “You really need to improve your memory. You don’t want to go around repeating everything like a fucking parrot.”

The aggravation that had been pushed out of the immediate path sprang back again, and Ryou was livid with how he was being treated. ‘Know my name? You sure have a funny way of showing it! I bet your forgot and are trying to be an ass to cover it up!’ Inwardly, the smaller male wished he was eight years old again so that he could legally walk up to Bakura and punch him. Who knew? Maybe it would do him a little good! Maybe it would even make his obviously damaged brain quit malfunctioning and maybe put a little thoughtfulness into his head! Lord knows it would do the guy a lot of good. He was interrupted from his thoughts, however, by the object of dislike.

“Got any plans Friday night?” Bakura asked, that damned smirk never leaving his features. After all, it was always fun to get the newbie drunk and coax him into doing utterly ridiculous things. The office would have something to tease him about for at least a good week or two.

Ryou, however, was taken aback by the question. His mind raced, and he couldn’t really think too clear. What were Bakura’s motives? He had to have them – he was a bully and was continually proving that fact. But... Ryou also had to watch the guy... In the end, he would have to take up whatever offer there was, right? He could only hope that it wouldn’t be something completely and utterly horrible...

“I... don’t,” he finally answered, frowning a little, anger still bubbling within his chest. “Why do you ask?” It was obvious the larger male didn’t like him at all, so why was he asking Ryou if he had plans? Maybe because the lithe man was an easy target, or had been dubbed so (thanks to his job, he knew how to defend himself very well), and would walk right into some cruel joke. That sounded right up Bakura’s lane – do everything he possibly could to make Ryou want to kill himself.

“We’re having a small get-together at a bar on Friday. Wanna come?” Of course, he didn’t sound so much as if he were trying to be friendly. For the most part, his motives were unclear, and even though Ryou wanted nothing more than to hide away in his temporary home, away from the handsome monster Bakura, away from this bullying... he still knew, in the end, that he would answer yes. He wasn’t a very big drinker, but...

“Dumbass Mako is probably going to be the one paying for the drinks.” The sneer refused to leave Bakura’s lips, especially at wracking up someone else’s bill by indulging himself in the wonderful stress-reliever known as alcohol. At least, it wouldn’t have left had he not noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. Said blue orbs turned to one of his shoes, which had moved to rest on the edge of his desk. It took him a slow-motion millisecond to realize what it was and he threw his arms back, palms flat against the wall, bracing him there while he kicked his foot out, flinging the horrible thing off of his shoe and causing it to be launched into the air.

“Jesus-fucking-Christ!” he shouted, staring wide-eyed at the biggest fucking spider he had even seen in person his entire life. It was larger than his hand and it was covered completely in black, bristly hair. It was also currently scurrying across the floor and turning around the corner into the hallway, before sliding its way under the door of the women’s restroom. “Fuck!” Bakura continued, is heart racing at a hundred miles per hour, unbelieving that a fucking tarantula had gotten into their building and to the third floor. He was still too startled to really think very much on that subject, much less care about the looks he was being given.

It was then that the same young-looking blonde from before came rushing over to his desk and slammed both of his hands down on it, causing the paler of the two to twitch at the loud sound.

“Bakura! Did you see a tarantula around here?” As if the guy screamed randomly about nothing and flailed wildly for shits and giggles.

Giving the brown-eyed man an incredulous look, it became clear that realization was dawning on the older male’s face. “What the fuck, Katsuya!” He couldn’t give the time to wonder if that really was the guy’s name or not. “Don’t fucking bring your big-ass, fucked up pets here!” Clearly, he was still very much disturbed by what had just happened. “I swear to fucking God, you’re lucky I don’t kill you! Or better yet, get your ass fired, then kill you!”

The blonde shook his head, shaggy hair swinging around his face. “You know I wouldn’t do it unless I had to!” he pleaded. “My friend gave it to me to take care of, and it’s been acting sick! So I brought it in – just for today! But it got out of its cage, and–“

A horrified shriek from the women’s restroom cut him off effectively, and it was followed by a loud, muffled thud. Jounouchi paled considerably, before he bolted down the hall, throwing open the restroom door. This caused a new round of screaming and yet another thud, which didn’t stop at just one.

Ryou, who had been startled out of his wits by the sudden strange fit Bakura went into, now could hardly stop himself from laughing at the scene. Little Miss Muffet! What a fitting nickname for Bakura that would make! He couldn’t really keep his mouth pressed tightly together anymore as the blonde man came darting out of the restroom, a roll of toilet paper following shortly after him, aimed at his head but instead only bounced off of his back. With one hand he was covering his head, his arm having turned red from being hit with God-only-knew-what by the female who was currently screaming at him from the doorway. The other one held the struggling arachnid against his chest until he was back at his desk, dumping it into the plastic container on the floor next to his feet. He was panting, and the spider was clearly upset as it clawed uselessly at the sides.

“Jesus, I feel like I’m in a fucking sitcom,” Bakura grumbled angrily, a rough shudder running through him at the memory of how fucking close that... that thing had been to getting on his clothes. He shot a glare at Ryou, who had tears streaming down his face, remembering the expression on tough-guy Bakura as he hollered like a little girl. Well, okay, slightly deeper than a little girl, but still! Priceless! Any agitation he still had from the previous conversations fluttered out of his mouth as he chuckled, feeling his spirits brighten amazingly. And boy, did he need a good laugh after how the day had been going...

“Shut the fuck up!” the dull-eyed man barked, standing up out of his chair and leaning over his desk, baring his teeth at the younger male. But Ryou was hardly affected right now, though he did cover his mouth with his hand to stifle himself a little.

When he finally calmed down, Ryou’s eyes were sparkling brightly, filled to the brim with amusement. He wondered vaguely if he should hold the other’s arachnophobia against him later, but he instantly felt guilt over it. He wouldn’t sink to Bakura’s level. But nonetheless, it didn’t stop him from enjoying himself for now. And so, with pleased expression, he spoke.

“I’ll be sure to free up my Friday for you.”

.: Chapter end :.