Yu-Gi-Oh ship headcanons!

08: Tendershipping Oneshot

A/N: This will be cross-posted on my AO3 so if you see it on there then that's also me
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"Bakura." A soft voice speaks up, breaking the pure silence that the two had been basking in since Ryou had started working on the final sketches of his diorama for Yugi (the boy had asked him to make a 3D playing board for a game he was creating). What the host of the ring could want with Bakura right now? It was hard to tell.

Up until that point, the spirit had been floating aimlessly around Ryou's bedroom, doing God knows what. The ring host hadn't looked at him for nearly an hour now. It was a surprise that Bakura was even still out here in his spirit form like this and not just hiding within the millennium ring, he does that a lot less these days though. Turning head head to look at Ryou at his desk, the older man raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" He asks. It's short and straight to the point like usual just without the very obviously irritated edge he would have had in responding to his host had this been two years ago. Whether he had just gotten better at hiding his annoyance with Ryou or if he genuinely didn't mind talking to him as much as still up for debate.

What comes out of his host's mouth next, the ex-thief king could have never predicted. "Why do you give me nicknames that have to do with bats like "batty boy" and "baby bat"? I mean, I understand why you call me "landlord" but those two stump me a little..."

Bakura swears he's never laughed harder in all his 3,000 years of life.

"BWAHAHA-! You're only questioning that now, dear landlord? I've been calling you those names for half a year now." Arms clutched around his torso, Bakura was now hovering right next to Ryou giggling like a madman with a stupid grin. Heck, there were even a few tears to be seen from how much he was laughing! The younger could be so accidentally entertaining at times and he loved it.

This reaction caused the diorama maker to glance back up from his work once more and raise an eyebrow at him. "What? It was a genuine question." If only he knew that it was obvious and was what made this entire ordeal even funnier.

Once Bakura calmed down, he wiped a few tears from the corners of his eyes and looked at Ryou, smirking in amusement. "It's 'cause you look like a bat to me, specifically a baby one." Answers Bakura and what he had said should been obvious, especially when you have friends like Joey who get compared to a dog on the daily. Even then, the ring host still seems confused.

Ryou cocks his head to the side, deep brown eyes widening a little as he stares at Bakura. "I do?" He asks. "I'm usually compared to a bunny by girls or even Joey and Tristan when they're teasing me." 

That much was true, this guy was often compared to a bunny by others. Something about his hair, Bakura couldn't really remember at the moment. Placing a hand under his chin and giving Ryou a once over, the older one nodded. "I guess so. I can kind of see it but..." Trailing off, he uses his hand to take his host's own chin into his head and the other tenses up, opening his mouth to tell Bakura not the hurt him but is effectively shut up as nothing happens and all the spirit does is tilt it upwards a little while leaning in closer. Ryou feels his breath hitch and his heart rate pick up at the increasing lack of distance between them, whether from fear or otherwise is hard to tell.

"Like I said before, you look like a baby bat to me. Especially when you do that stupid wide eyed thing like you're doing now." Bakura takes his hand off his own chin and pinches Ryou's cheek with it, causing the other to wince in shock at the suddenness of it. "Stop that. You're making me feel things I can't understand and I don't like it." He says with a pout (although it kind of looked more like a scowl coming from Bakura's face, he's dealt with the spirit long enough to masterfully interpret the other's expressions).

That catches Ryou's attention very quickly as he grows confused. What did Bakura mean by that? A facial expression Ryou makes causes feelings within him that the other didn't understand...? The ex-thief king was well acquainted with emotions such as rage and suffering so it couldn't be them, the mood didn't fit with those feelings either so it wouldn't make sense if it made Bakura feel pissed. Observing the older male for a little bit in order to try and find some hints, Ryou doesn't realise that he's still wearing that "stupid wide eyed" expression Bakura had mentioned earlier and staring at him too while doing that so the bearer of the millennium ring is completely caught off guard by the blush that makes its way onto Bakura's cheeks. He didn't even know Bakura could do that.

In his surprise, Ryou wastes no time in pointing it out as he lets go of the tools in his hands and lifts one up to point at the man currently holding him. "Are you blushing...?"

The spirit of the ring reacts to the immediately, removing his hands from Ryou and jumping away from from, as if they had never been close like that in the first place. Bakura's hands are in the air, looking at his host in shock. The other can't help but be reminded of a scared cat. "Fuck no! It's just warm in here!" Is Bakura's excuse.

Ryou frowns childishly at the denial. "Liar! I saw that!" Exclaims the younger, still pointing at his counterpart.  He knows what he saw and they were in broad daylight too, Bakura had definitely blushed.

Shaking his head, Bakura narrows his eyes at his host. "Did not." He says matter of factly, despite it not being a fact, arms crossed against his chest as he now sat on Ryou's bed, staring at him from the other side of the room.

When Bakura denies the claim that he had blushed for the second time in such a serious way, Ryou is slightly worried that he's pushing his luck. Then again, he already took a gamble in keeping the guy here even after all that he's done so, prodding the spirit a little more over something like this was probably fine and besides, Bakura was more docile these days. "Did too." Ryou responds, staring straight at the other once more. He wouldn't give up until Bakura admitted it. It was a miracle that he was still alive considering he was just as stubborn as the spirit of the ring given how Ryou had been treated for that trait of his in the past but perhaps that was the reason why the other had chosen him as his permanent host.

Now wasn't the time to think about that though as Bakura turned his head away from Ryou with a huff. "Just get on with your diorama. Yugi is counting on you to finish that by the end of this month, remember?" In other words he had a little under twelve days left.

With a sigh, Ryou leaves their little argument at that. Bakura had a point, this had to be finished soon, he couldn't afford to slack off. "Fine..." Is all that he says while turning back around to focus on his diorama for Yugi. He would be lying if he said that Bakura blushing like that didn't keep replaying in his mind though, it was kind of cute. Perhaps he'd get lucky enough to see it again in the future, now that would be a treat.