The Little merMarik (Yu-Gi-Oh! WA 2017)

20: Fluffy

So, I should've probably said something about the previous chapter and the next few: they're not going to follow what happens in the little mermaid, they're just gonna be some of my own additions.
Continuing!

"I found Bakura!" Tristan yelled and the group came over to the sandy beach. They ran down the dunes and performed CPR on him, and he began coughing water. His head hurt like buggary, and he shot up when realization struck him.

"Where's Marik?!" He panicked.

They group looked at each other and shrugged.

"Is he...gone?" Bakura looked at them with eyes they've never seen before: sad, pleading eyes. "Did he leave?"

"No wait, found him!" Yami pointed a few feet away from Bakura, farther away from anyone. Marik lay motionless, and flat on the sand. He didn't budge, and his breathing seemed ragged and unhealthy.
"Uh, guys...something seems off about Marik...."

"Well, duh!" Bakura scrambled to his tired feet. "He's a fish out of water! Literally!"
He ran to his side and felt his face. Everything about him felt dry and warm.

"Then why don't we, I don't know...put him back in the ocean?" Yugi asked with sarcasm.

"Because..." Bakura picked up Marik bridal style. "I can't let him go just yet."
He faced them with the unconscious Marik in his arms. "Let's get him back to the mansion. I still have questions."

They took him to the car and Bakura held Marik on his lap. He heard Marik's trembling, and he luckily found a bottle of water in the cup holder. "Drink," he knew Marik wasn't even entirely conscious, but it didn't matter. He didn't even know if it would work. But Marik obeyed.

Joey crossed his arms. "You could've at least asked for it, you know?"

"He needs it more than you do." Bakura spat.

***

Marik sat himself near the edge of the tub so he'd be closer to Bakura. "What do you want to know?"

"What happened. Beginning to end."

Marik took in a breath. "I lived with Ishizu and Odion, other merpeople, and they kept telling me not to collect human stuff, since father banned us from wandering the surface. He said it was too dangerous.
But I didn't listen. I collected all sorts of stuff, and eventually I heard....f-fireworks?"

"Yes." Bakura groaned, remembering that boat. "Fireworks."

"Well, I heard those, and went to investigate." He kind of hid his face when saying, "then I met you."

Bakura lifted up Marik's chin. "Then what happened?"

Marik couldn't help the blush that formed on his cheeks. "Well...then I rescued you, brought you to the shore, tried waking you up, and then sang to you."

Bakura sat in the edge of the tub, and looked Marik in the eyes. "So, to be clear, that was you?"

"Yeah." He twiddled his thumbs. "That was me."
Bakura asked for the rest of the story. "Then," Marik said. "Odion found your knife and gave it to me for my collection. Then Ishizu tattled on me and told father about everything, and he destroyed all my stuff! But I kept the knife safe." He crossed his arms. "I still hate her for that."

"How, exactly, did you become human?"

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, this Slendy guy took me to Melvin's lair, and he said that if I couldn't kiss you in three days of being human, I could stay human. But if I were to kiss you, I'd become a merman again. All of this in exchange for my voice."

Bakura secretly missed Marik's silent days. "Then what?"

"That's it. I came to the shore and you found me."

Bakura took a deep breath. "Are you telling me the truth, Marik?"

Marik nodded. "I am."

"Then would it be too much to ask, just to make sure..." He regretted his decision that he was gonna make. "Will you sing for me?"

Marik felt astonished. No one has ever asked him to sing! He especially didn't expect it from Bakura!

"Uh..." He shifted. "If I can remember the words..." He searched his memory, trying to figure out what he sang exactly.

Bakura quietly, under the impression that Marik couldn't hear him and was wrong like Donkey Kong Shmong, hummed the tune.

"Do you remember it, Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?"

"You called me gorgeous. Now I get to choose a suitable nickname."

Bakura grumbled. "Fine. Just...not in public."

"Okay, okay, fine." He pulled himself up a bit stoked his hair. "Fluffy."

Bakura listened as Marik started to sing again (and almost lost his hearing because of it). He shut his eyes and tried to remember. And he did. It all fit. Ever detail and scene Marik told Bakura made sense.
The eyes: check.
The hair: check.
The voice: sadly, check.

He lifts up Marik's chin with the side of his index finger, shutting him up and cutting off the tune in his song. "Alright; I believe you."

Something changed in Bakura's tone. It was a calm, yet foxy kind of tone that sent chills down Marik's spine. His touch was cold, but made him feel warm.
It hit Marik like a ton of bricks (which hurts a lot, actually).
He was going to kiss him.
Bakura hoisted Marik onto his lap, soaking his pants with the tub water. Marik wrapped his arm around his neck, and Bakura leaned in closer to his face.

But obviously not close enough, because Yami burst in through the door. "That mermaid chick wants to know where Marik is and she's kind of pissed o-" he looked at the two, who looked annoyed.
"Oh....um.........."

"Tell her that I'm busy." Marik spat.
Bakura found Marik's salty tone a little sexy.

Yami walked out the door, closing it behind him and whistling as if nothing happened.

"Now," Bakura placed his hands on Marik's hips, drawing him closer. "Where were we...?"

"She says she better see her brother or she'll stab a b*tch." Yami came back in again.

Marik groaned. "I'm coming, I'm coming..." He looked at Bakura. "Could you...?"

"Yes, yes, very well..." He shrugged, disappointed. He lifted Marik up and carried him out the door.