Genie of the Puzzle

7: Trapped

Marik gasped for breath as he clung to the handle bars, running as fast as he possibly could on a device that worked similarly to a treadmill. "B-Bakura...." He panted. "I don't doubt your intelligence...most of the time...but...couldn't...couldn't we have waited for a real storm?"

With the wheel spinning under him as Marik ran, the device worked and created a spinning cloud above them, with lightning and all. It was all contained within a glass ball, so no serious uncontrollable damage could be done.
"Save your breath, Marik!" Bakura spoke up over the storm. "Faster!"

"Bossy frigging b*tch..." He frowned and picked up the pace. The storm grew stronger overhead, and Bakura placed the blue diamond in between the mouths of two brass snakes, so the storm could reveal in the hourglass the answer to the question he wished to ask.

"With the power of the sands of time..." Bakura leaned over to look more closely into the hourglass. "Reveal to me the one who can enter the Cave of Wonders...reveal, the diamond in the rough!"

The sand in the hourglass spun around and around, until they began to take color and position, forming a moving image of a guy that seemed familiar to someone they knew.
"Yes..." Bakura grinned.

"Prince Yugi...?" Marik panted, still surprised.

"No, this one is different. Besides, the prince is beside him...somehow." He turned toward Marik. "Even an idiot could tell the difference between the two!"

"Well, my bad!" Marik pouted. Before he could continue on his mini rampage, he accidentally let go of the handlebar, sending him crashing to his feet and moving along the wheel, spiraling out of control. He spun in circles, scared to move.

Bakura groaned when he looked over, knowing Marik was just acting like an idiot again. He walked over to a certain spot on the side, and when Marik let go and flung off the device, he caught him before he slammed into the wall.
As they stood in awkward silence, Bakura said, "We need to find him. And he, being in the position he is, has made it quite easy for us, hasn't he?"

Marik just nodded awkwardly, then Bakura set him down.

***

"Here, let me help you," Yami reached out his arm to Yugi as he climbed the latter. Yugi took it, and Yami pulled him up. When they reached the top, he stumbled a bit and fell into Yami's arms, laughing.

He looked up, seeing his eyes up close for the first time.
"Uh...I..." Yami stuttered, not sure what to think.

"I wanted to thank you for stopping that man..." Yugi said with a blush.

Yami just shrugged and walked farther, hoping to avoid an awkward eye-lock. "Don't mention it."

"...can't believe he's bein' somewhat modest for this kid..." Joey muttered, behind them. He pole vaulted across the gap between two buildings and tossed Yami the pole next.

"So, I take it that it's your first time in the marketplace?" Yami asked, pole vaulting across.

Yugi sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well," Yami flashed one of his signature grins, but his eyes sparkled with adoration. "You do kind of stand out."

Yugi hid his blush with his hood.

Yami didn't realize he'd been spacing out, just dreamily staring at Yugi from the other side. When he snapped out of it, he took a decently sized wooden plank and laid it flat for Yugi to walk across on it. "But um, you don't know how dangerous this city can be---"

Without time for Yami to realize it, Yugi had pole vaulted across too. He turned and Yugi grinned, tossing the pole to him. "I'm a fast learner."

Yami blinked, then he grinned at Joey. "Hey..." He gawked, impressed. He then said to Yugi, "It's amazing that you could do that, although that was pure luck."

"You just have to believe in the heart of the pole."
(It is late at night and I feel as if I have every right to do this.)

Joey rolled his eyes, only cleaning the two apples he managed to snag.
Yami took Yugi by the hand and led him into the little den they lived in. He would constantly tell him things like, "Watch your head," and "Be careful," and "Watch your step,".

Yugi, being the midget he is, didn't have to do much ducking, be he appreciated Yami's concern. "Is this where you live?" Yugi asked, curious.

"Yep. Just me and Joey. We come and go as we please."

"Sounds cool." He nodded, and Yami led him to the curtain.

"It's not much," Yami pulled the drapes aside. "But it's got a great view."

Yugi's smile faded. It was a great view...of the palace. He turned and sat down on the steps, holding his head in his hands. "It's nice, I guess."

"I bet it would be amazing to live in a palace, with servants and valets. It'll be better than this dump anyway..."

"yeah," Yugi frowned. "People will tell you where to go, how to dress..."

Yami seemed to trail off, talking of his own issues. "...here, you're always ducking the guards and scraping for food..."

Yugi had done the same. "...you're not free to make your own choices. You feel so..."

"...you're just..."

"Trapped." They both said in unison. When they realized it, they looked at each other and smiled, feeling comfort that someone understood what it was like to not be in any control of where your life took you.

Yami decided to break the awkward this time. "So," he snatched one of Joey's apples before he could take a bite. "Where're you from?"

"Doesn't matter." Yugi couldn't catch the apple when Yami tossed it to him; it just fell into his lap. He picked it up and held it in his hands, sighing. "I ran away, and I am not going back."

Yami took a bite of the only other apples and handed the rest to Joey, who was quite pissed off. Yami then asked, "So, why'd you run away?"

Yugi just sighed and looked up at Yami. "My grandfather's forcing me to get married."

"Oh." Yami looked down, upset that Yugi was upset. "That's...that's awful..."
Joey, who had tried to take Yugi's uneaten apple, was caught in the act. Yami scolded him. "Joey!"

Joey quickly sped away saying, "Nyeh!" And then proceeded to rant in that Brooklyn accent of his.

Yugi leaned over and whispered to Yami, "I don't speak hooligan...what's he saying?"

Yami stumbled on his words, which he usually doesn't do. But he managed to say, "Joey says...uh...'That's not fair.'"

Joey made a face.

"Oh, really?" Yugi grinned, then asked, "Does he have anything else to say?"

"He wishes there was something he could do to help." Yami nodded. "Yep. He totally said that."

Frustrated, the third wheel sat at the edge of the hole in the wall and groaned obnoxiously.

"Hm..." Yugi grinned, then said, "tell him that's very...sweet."

With the romantic air, sweet words, and beautiful sunset in the back Yami decided to take this opportunity. He leaned closer, close enough to feel Yugi's breath.
Their lips were only inches apart.

Okay, first off, here's my apology for a late update. School is a biatch. I hope to get a nice schedule worked out, which I keep telling myself (and I never do). But here is your update. Go crazy.