Alone Together

9: Mango, pizza, and oversized pajamas

"Mariku." Melvin told himself over and over again in the shower, so he could get used to it and start responding to it. "Why did I tell him that?"

It did sound pretty badass, but it was more centered around Marik's name. So he didn't care for it all too much.
He's actually received lots of nicknames in his life. "Yami Marik" (which made him gag. Who was he, Bakura?), "Kek" (sounds like someone coughing something up), "Malik" (wasn't he that guy who left One Direction?), and so on and so forth.

Still, it was almost like this name was a fake I.D. Melvin made it his personal objective:
Don't let Ryou find out who you really are.

Ryou didn't know, not about the institution or anything before. When he looked at Melvin, he saw him. If his past would come back to ruin his reputation once again, he wasn't sure how he could live that down.

Most of the shower time was spent inspecting Ryou's shampoo. Apparently, it said that it was for soft curls or waves. Ryou's hair was semi-straight, but...

Melvin just said, "Screw it." and lathered it up in his hair, unsure of the results.

It did smell wonderful, though.
Like...
He looked at the bottle.
"Mango."

Finally, after getting clean, he stepped out of the shower and tied a towel around his waist. After tonight, and what Bakura said to him, he didn't even want to look at himself. He wished he was anyone else—he wished he could be the person that Ryou was seeing: a confident man, who grabbed asses and was charming and could make just about anyone melt under his fingertips. A man without baggage.

Melvin's wet hair lay officially flat on his shoulders, but for once he didn't care. He didn't care that his arms felt weak and his legs wobbly. No shits were given about the fact he smelled like mango. No damns were given either when he realized that his cape was-

"CAPEY!" He shrieked, remembering it was still on his bed in his apartment, along with his favorite knife and hair gel.
Melvin slid his back down the door, feeling a lump in his throat and moisture in his eyes.

Okay. Maybe he gave a little bit of a damn.

A knock on the door followed after Melvin's agonizing screech. "Mariku!? Are you alright!?"

Ryou's voice, even in a bit of a panic, was still soft and actually comforting in a way.

"...why wouldn't I be?"

He could hear Ryou shuffling his feet on the carpet behind the door. "I don't know...you yelled out and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I mean if you need any help I can-"

"I got it."

He heard Ryou let out a sigh. "Alright."
There were some footsteps afterward, starting loud but fading until they were almost silent.

Melvin huffed and took off the towel, reaching for the robe and putting it on. Then the footsteps came speeding back, and Ryou asked, "Quick question. Have you eaten anything  this evening?"

A bag of chips and a large order of devastation and betrayal wasn't very filling.
"Not really."

"Then would you mind if I ordered a pizza? I know it's late, but I haven't eaten supper yet, and I thought, 'well, since I have company'..." Melvin could hear the smile in Ryou's voice.

"Sounds good."

"Great!" Ryou replied with a little too much enthusiasm. "Any topping preferences?"

"Pepperoni. Sausage. Bacon."

Ryou giggled. "Well, lots of protein is good for you. Do you mind if we split a large?"

"No."

"Alright. I'll place the order once I get your clothes out of the dryer!"
Then it sounded like he skipped away.

Melvin tied up his robe, finally realized that it was somewhat small on him, seeing that it only went mid thigh.
"Everything he has is really small...isn't it?"

So, nothing fit quite right, but Melvin still put it on and left the bathroom to explore the apartment.

He found Ryou in the laundry room, which was also the storage room. Boxes of stuff lay unpacked and off to the side, while on the other side, by the washing machine, Ryou folded the clothes from the dryer.

"Oh! Hello." He said, looking up. "Your clothes are nice and warm, if you'd like to wear them now."

Melvin noticed that Ryou had already changed into pajamas; a silky blue top and bottoms, with white buttons down the front of his shirt.

Ryou looked down, realizing he was staring. "You like them?" he teased, then remembered, "Maybe I have a spare set you can wear?" He stood up and moved to the other side of the room, rummaging through a box of clothes and pulled out a black button up with matching pants.

"My mum got me this, thinking I'd get bigger and fit into them, eventually." Melvin's ears perked up to the sound of Ryou's laugh. Ryou held out the clothes. "If they fit, you can have them. Consider it a 'get well' present."

"I'm not sick."

"Well, call it a 'please get un-sad' gift." He grinned, holding it out for him.

Reluctantly, Melvin took them, and Ryou lead him to a door on the wall right beside the living room. He opened it up to reveal a moderately sized room, with walls painted white. Inside, there was one window that gave a nice city view, if you drew the dark blue curtains away. There was a dresser and a closet, and a mattress on the floor.

"This is the guest room...kind of." Ryou said, opening the door a little more. "I don't ever really have guests. But I tried to clean it up a bit, still haven't gotten to the dust yet. But I can—"

"I like dust." Melvin cut him off.

Ryou offered a gentle smile. "Okay. I'm glad, then." He handed him his clothes, still warm. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll let you know when the pizza's here."

Melvin put his clothes on the bed and laid his pajamas out.

"Oh, and, Mariku?"

Melvin turned to face him. "Hm?"

"I forgive you for...this morning."

Melvin sneered—the only smile he could bring to himself the entire evening. "I'm not sorry."

"I know." Ryou chuckled softly. "I still forgive you, though."

Melvin watched Ryou close the door behind him, leaving him without much to do except try on the pajamas and draw the curtains, so he could lie on his bed in the dark.

Ryou was the only good thing that happened to him tonight.
And the most confusing.