Epilogue

When they had finally got back from the zoo, Bakura and Marik had excused themselves- although excused was probably too polite a word for it. What that basically meant was they started making out on a couch until they realised they'd left 'equipment' upstairs, so would have to go to bed anyway, making things a lot less awkward for the other two, who were stuck in the kitchen as you had to go through the living room to get to the stairs.

Sometimes, Ryou wondered if his eyes would start bleeding from all the trauma.

He didn't mind that much, however, because with them busy it meant that Malik could go about completely ravishing him in the kitchen. And if anyone ever tells you that you cannot get heavy leaning against the kitchen counter, Ryou is fully eager to disagree- and trust me, both Ryou and Malik's hands knew all about it.

It was when they were in this slightly chilly, but deliciously compromising place that Ryou managed to freeze everything. Malik's hands were down his pants, his mouth attached to his neck, Ryou trying to take off Malik's shirt without making him remove his mouth (no easy feat) when all of a sudden, he blurted something out.

"Did you mind what room you got?"

Malik pulled back, eyes creased in confusion.

"What?"

"Well, it is the smallest one, and you never moved into Marik's, even after he moved into Bakura's, and-"

"Is this going anywhere?"

Malik started kissing along the underside of Ryou's jaw as the other continued talking, his mind rambling in embarrassment as he tried to choke out what he was trying to convey.

"You're the only one who doesn't have a chest of drawers, or a chair, 'cause it is too small-"

"Your point?"

Malik had got to the top of the jaw now, and started to move his way down the line of his neck, one thumb stroking a collar bone, the other still in the others rapidly tightening pants.

The next thing Ryou said was spoken in a rush, all the words melted together.

"And, well, you're the only one without a double bed, and so I was wondering that if you really didn't like it then you could always share mine with me 'cause it is bigger and you need more space and-"

He started in bemusement at the finger laid across his mouth, stopping him talking. Malik was trying very hard not the laugh at the other, until Ryou took his finger in his mouth, staring right at him as he was doing it, an obvious 'punishment' for laughing.

"Are you asking me to move in with you, Ryou?"

Ryou rolled his eyes- fool, it was clearly thinking, but he could see he was nervous too. They already lived together, but by agreeing to this, they were agreeing to much more. They stared at each other for a moment before Malik realised that if their yami's had done it, and had lasted this long, then there was no reason that they couldn't either. He'd worked too hard at this to let it fall to the side now, and as if telling Ryou this, he leant closer, pressing his body tightly against the others, squeezing slightly with his concealed hand, and bit the edge of Ryou's ear before whispering into it.

"Well then, I think you'd better take me to get better acquainted with you room."

Ryou mumbled a reply around Malik's finger.

"Just my room?"

"Well, maybe your bed too. And both those wont take long, so after that, I think I'd better get to know my new roommate better too… find out all of the things that make him… tick."

They kissed again then, their bodies causing a rising heat between them both, and they fumbled their way upstairs.

And afterwards, two couples lay spent under one roof, and although they were all too tired to move, they lay together, and slept through normal hours for the first time in what seemed like ever, and in the morning the clear sky was clouded over again, but when they noticed none of them would mind, because as long as Bakura had his face in Marik's neck and Malik could keep his hand on Ryou's skin, all four of them would be happy, and not even the fact that they had left fabulous skies and incredible sights behind them could put a dampener on that.

Domino was a far cry from Egypt, and Malik knew it. He groaned as he opened his eyes and heard the steady, persistent beat of the rain on his bedroom window. He shivered, and snuggled down under the duvet.

In the room across the hall, Bakura felt similar feelings when he woke up to hear the rain. As far as he was concerned, rain could go to the shadow realm, along with alarm clocks. Unfortunately for Bakura, he hadn't quite worked out how to send rain to the shadow realm, which was probably just as well for the rest of the world. Not that he really cared that much about the rest of the world, although he did have a new-found respect for the incredible things and places he had seen.

He sat up in bed and stretched, but not for long, because he was almost immediately shivering. He dived back under the covers, finding warmth from the body next to him, who had been woken up by Bakura as he stretched. He rolled his eyes as he burrowed his face in the others neck- he had preferred it when they were on holiday and it was much warmer.

Marik wrapped an arm loosely around Bakura, and the two went slowly back to sleep, the cold banished by their body heat.

It was Ryou who got up first, as usual. There are some things that never change, no matter what else does. He was still the only one not really affected by the cold, and he always got up first to go downstairs in whatever he wore to sleep in to switch the heating on so the house was warm when the others were ready to rise up from sleep.

He was a considerate boy like that.

When questioned as to why he didn't feel the cold, he simply smiled and reminded them that he was British, therefore used to bad weather, of which they had now had first hand experience, since it was the main type of weather around in the country, and they should really stop asking silly questions and put a jumper on if it was that bad.

As the house slowly warmed up, Ryou padded back upstairs to get dressed, pulling off his over-sized tee-shirt that was emblazoned with a yellow-skinned American cartoon character. He loved the fact that no one knew where his shirts were from, and he loved how eccentric they were, and he liked the way a certain someone's eyes watched him as he took them off, too.

But back to Ryou.

Now he had changed, he went to cook breakfast.

As he walked down the corridor, he saw the door that now lead to the junk room, and turned on his heels, jogging back to his own room. He poked the bulge on the other half of his bed, and pulled back the covers to see Malik, the blondes his hair stuck up at all angles and his eyes still puffy from sleep.

He looked completely adorable.

Not that you'd tell him that.

Not many people would dare. Trying to take over the world gives you a reputation like that.

He grinned sleepily at Ryou, who kissed him good morning before pulling the covers off him ruthlessly. In retaliation to this cruel game play, Malik pulled Ryou down on top of him, holding his wrists and nuzzling his neck, threatening to bite. Ryou rolled, pulling him with him, falling off the bed with a loud thump.

Someone hit the wall in the next room along.

"Shut the fuck up!"

The pair exchanged amused glances with each other before they made their way downstairs, and chatted softly in the kitchen whilst Ryou started cooking. Soon, woken by the noise and roused by the smells coming from the kitchen, Marik and Bakura shuffled down, both of them looking tired, but better than they had the day before- they were getting over the jet lag quickly.

As breakfast was made, a temporary feeling of serenity fell across the group. Bakura had his elbows on the table and was resting his head on his hands, a sleepy look gracing his face as he daydreamed about the feeling of hot desert wind on his cheeks, something he hadn't realised he had missed. Marik was still partially asleep, leaning back on his chair with his eyes half closed, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he watched Bakura, and Malik had his hands on the back of his head absentmindedly, watching Ryou with a grin of his own, who was moving around the small kitchen with ease, singing under his breath.

"Home, where my thought's escaping;
Home, where my music's playing;
Home, where my love lies waiting
S-i-l-e-n-t-l-y for me"

Ryou's voice was breathy and often lapsing into humming, and every now and then he would glance over at Malik and catch his eye, making both their smiles grow.

The spell of quiet was, for once, not broken when the food was served.

The food was eaten in the normal barbaric fashion, but they were all quiet, and although just as messy as ever, Bakura and Malik refrained themselves from glaring at each other and Marik didn't decided to do something absurd that Ryou would have to spend hours cleaning up afterwards. The reason for this Ryou never understood- probably, it was the jet lag making everyone act better, but he liked to think that they simply decided to spend one morning of normality after the hectic few weeks they had had.

Ryou sighed, content.

Just another morning in the Bakura-Ishtar household.

--

Authorial Comment

I think my subconscious had a lot to do with this story, so it should be obvious that this is a completely stupid piece of writing. But whatever. I really hope you guys out there have enjoyed this, and I apologise for the extreme length of time it has taken for me to write it all down.

Now.

Thanks? They go to mystralwind and Silenced Shadows, the two who have made me feel the need to finish this story. To ambersharae, whose early reviews pushed me to writing more, to ApplePsyche for her Pratchett comment, to Jibakurei and AnimeLoverAngel for their loyalty, to everyone that put on their favourites or reviewed this little piece of crack fic and, as always, to my delicious editor who swore that it would never be finished.

Ciao. And a very merry Christmas to you all. :)