Promise Me Nothing

Chapter One: Marik

I pushed open the door to the flat, grinning triumphantly. Tossing Bakura a glance, I swept my arms apart. “Well?” I said, looking for his reaction. “Two-bedded, one bathroom. It’s perfect, right?”

“Sure.” Bakura surveyed the flat, moving my arm out of his face. “Where the hell’d you get the money, anyway?”

“Oh, fluffy, don’t worry about that. After all, this is our new HQ—HQ means ‘head-quarters.’”

“I know what head-quarters means, Marik.” Bakura scowled, shifting on his feet. “Why does it have to be a flat?” Dropping a suitcase on the floor behind me, he took a tentative step forward, suddenly recoiling as his nose scrunched up.

“To defeat the Pharaoh, of course!” I plopped onto the ratty couch, stretching pout my feet and kicking off my shoes. “Oh, you’ll get used to the cat piss smell. There’ll be more soon, so it’s fine.”

“Why will there be more?” Bakura asked, gagging and adjusting his collar before sitting beside me.

“Because you still have to mark everywhere.” I roughly patted his head, the white hair floofing happily around my fingers.

Bakura ducked away from my touch, pushing me away when I tried to come nearer. “I’m not a bloody cat, Marik, and I don’t see why I should stay here with you either. Ryou’s place works just fine for me.”

“But Bakura,” I whined, propelling myself into his lap, staring up at him and fluttering my eyelashes, “we need an HQ. Please? Pretty please?”

He bit the inside of his lip, pulling it in whilst his face tinged pink. “Why should I—“

“With a cherry on top?” I wrapped my arms around his leg, bouncing up and down.

Bakura sighed very slowly, looking away. He looked back, eyes glancing over mine before quickly moving away. “Fine,” he muttered.

“Yay!” I shot into a sitting pose, grabbing him into a tight hug, squeezing his host’s frail body. “I’ve already got a great plan, too!”

“Oh, joy,” Bakura mumbled, grimacing