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"This is gibberish! It doesn't even mean anything!" Marik stood with his arms crossed over his chest, scowling. "That's not even a word! Ra, the scariest thing about this is the total grammatical abuse." A tan finger poked at the Halloween display meant to represent an Egyptian tomb. "What even is this?"
Bakura leaned back against the display, his customary smirk in place. "It's what modern society thinks about your home." He snorted. "Not even worth vandalizing."
The blonde Egyptian frowned at Bakura. "It's not my home. I don't think it ever was."
"Um, excuse me?" A confused-looking mummy, who'd long given up trying to scare them, gestured down the path. "You're supposed to keep moving?"
"Come on." Bakura grabbed Marik's hand and dragged him away from the display. "Let's find something else before you get all maudlin."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A group of girls screamed and clung to each other as a clown, wielding a chainsaw and, for some reason, wearing vampire fangs and more fake blood than necessary, jumped out from behind a wall. The clown stepped closer and the girls ran, still screaming.
Ryou, however, merely rolled his eyes and gave Ishtar a pointed look, making the other man snicker. The clown advanced, but Ryou waved him off. "Don't bother." He laced his fingers through Ishtar's and turned his back on the clown. "If he's a vampire clown, why does he need the chainsaw? That's just overkill."
"And not in the good way," Ishtar agreed, following Ryou. "I thought this was supposed to be frightening."
Bakura grinned at the epitaph on one of the tombstones. "Marik! This one is almost clever." Marik came over to where Bakura stood, leaning into him. Neither of them paid any attention to the other passing attendees or the actors pretending to be zombies rising from the graves. Marik rested his chin on Bakura's shoulder, reading it.
"What would your tombstone say?"
"Nothing, most likely. I doubt I'd even have one." He kissed Marik's hair, worried that he wasn't enjoying himself. "How about we get you a candied apple? Then maybe we can find Ishtar and Ryou."
Marik's lavender eyes lit up at the mention of a treat. "Maybe we can sneak up on them?" Bakura gave him a sharp grin and ushered him away from the fake graveyard, a new plan formulating. Maybe this night wouldn't be a total waste.
"I don't know much about human anatomy but I don't think you can stumble around without a brain." Ryou swatted at Ishtar for his comment. "What? It's true!"
"I know," Ryou whispered, pushing him away from the surgery scene. "But I think we're going to get kicked out." By now, the "doctor" and "patient" were glaring at them as they started to move on. "Wasn't there a corn maze? We could find Marik and Bakura and try that."
Ishtar's smile was full of wicked mischief. "Oh yes, let's find them."
Marik hummed as he sucked the caramel from his fingers. Bakura had been right in thinking the sweet would cheer him up. Now they were twisting through the corn maze, Bakura's flashlight illuminating the path. The other two had found them in line for the apple, Bakura purchasing a hot apple cider for Ryou along with Marik's treat. Ryou had suggested the maze and Bakura was quick to agree, though he voted that they split up. A little friendly competition on who could solve the maze faster, he said.
Bakura had no intention of solving the maze.
"I think we're going in circles." Marik tugged on Bakura's sleeve, trying to get him to halt. They could hear voices and giggling from deeper in the maze, but if Ryou or Ishtar were part of that noise, they couldn't tell.
The former spirit hissed at him to be quiet. "It's called backtracking." A couple passed them down another row of corn and Bakura crouched down. "Just stay close." He felt Marik's grip on his shirt tighten, but he didn't object, stepping quietly down the path.
"No, that's too mean." Ryou shook his head, his flashlight swaying across the path as they walked, holding hands. "Think of something else."
Ishtar pouted. "But it would scare them!"
Ryou stopped walking, turning to Ishtar, chin tilted up to look into his eyes. "It would, but Bakura would kill you for real and Marik would be a wreck. So no. What else can we do?"
The taller man squinted his eyes in thought. "...separate them? If we could get Marik without Bakura knowing where he went..."
"...he would probably still want to kill us but at least he'd be diverted by getting Marik back." Ryou nodded and squeezed Ishtar's hand, resuming their walk. "We have to be sneaky."
Ishtar's excited laughter echoed through the maze.
A warm hand clamped over Marik's mouth, silencing his startled cry as he was lifted off the ground and pulled back into the shadow-filled corn stalks. His feet kicked wildly, trying to bite at the hand over his mouth, eyes wide, pupils dilated in fear. He had to get free. He had to get Bakura. Bakura would help. Bakura would protect him. His assailant growled as his teeth sank into his finger, squeezing him tighter.
"Marik! Marik, stop. Stop. It's us." Ryou kept his voice down, waving his hands to get the struggling man's attention. He jumped back and dodged a vicious kick. "Calm down!" He grabbed Marik's ankles to hold his legs still. "It's us."
"Nafsi," Ishtar whispered into his ear. "Tanaffas." Slowly, Marik stopped fighting, eyes focusing on Ryou even while his heart still hammered in his chest. Ryou released his legs, but Ishtar retained his hold until Marik nodded, carefully setting him back on his feet. Ishtar shook his hand out and sucked his finger into his mouth, tasting blood. "Ya ibn el sharmouta."
The Egyptian's eyes flicked between them as he pressed a hand to his chest. "What in the fuck?! You almost gave me a heart attack. Why would you do that?!"
Ishtar smirked. "That's one down." Marik glowered at him as Ryou stifled a giggle.
"This is boring. We wanted to scare you guys." He smiled sweetly and stretched up to kiss Marik's cheek. "Now it's Bakura's turn."
"Where the fuck are they?" Bakura muttered as he stalked farther down the path. He stopped suddenly, pretending to scratch the back of his head, expecting Marik to bump into him, a little trick of his own to get them to touch without being obvious about it. When no contact came, he frowned and turned to look over his shoulder, frown deepening when he didn't see Marik behind him. "Marik? Marik?" He didn't dare raise his voice in case the others were nearby, taking a few steps back. "Bloody hell, Marik." He shone his flashlight down the trail and into the corn. "Alright, Marik, that's enough." Bakura stomped back the way he'd come, searching for the missing man. "I told you not to get separated from me."
Almost an hour later, Bakura still hadn't found Marik nor Ryou and Ishtar for that matter. He'd almost gotten trampled by squealing girls as they ran through the maze and interrupted a few amorous couples tucked away in some of the darker corners. Bakura's initial frustration had turned into anger but now that was fading into something sharper, something that stole his voice and made his hand shake, the light wavering along the ground.
People didn't just disappear. He knew this. He knew it. Yet Marik never had patience and if he'd been hiding to scare Bakura, it would have happened by now. If he'd gotten lost, Bakura would have heard him calling his name. Bakura dragged his hand down his face. They had never been good guys, whatever that meant, and there had always been a small part of him that feared some small time crime lord Marik had bested would strike for revenge. He'd let his guard down, not thinking that they could be attacked enjoying a stupid harvest festival. His hand slid into his pocket and fisted the handle of the switchblade he always carried. If Marik had been taken, if he was hurt...
Bakura swallowed and resumed walking. The Shadow Realm would look like a trip to Disney if any harm came to Marik.
Ryou crept into the clearing, hair and clothes disheveled from cutting through the corn. "He's coming. And he is not happy." Marik chewed on his lip, giving Ryou a worried look. "Nu-unh. You gotta follow through with it now." He shooed the other man back into his hiding spot, Ishtar already well concealed. "Toss me your jacket." Marik grumbled but did it, Ryou pulling it into his arms and folding to the ground. He didn't need any prompting to bring tears on and sat on the ground, face hidden in the jacket, sniffling.
Bakura crashed through the cornstalks a few moments later, stopping short to find Ryou. "Ryou!" He rushed over to his former host, kneeling down in front of him. "What happened? Where's Ishtar?" Nothing made any sense. Ishtar would never leave Ryou's side, not in public where Ryou was his calming influence. "What's in your..." His question trailed off as Ryou lifted his tear-stained face, allowing Bakura to see Marik's jacket cradled in his arms.
"I-I c-can't fi-ind A-asadi. We wer-re walking and, and s-something grabbed-d him a-and-" A fresh wave of tears choked off his words, Bakura wrapping his arms around the Brit. "I f-found Ma-arik's coat and I-I th-ought you w-were near but..."
"Sshh. Sshh, I'm here now." Bakura's heart was firmly lodged in his throat as he stroked Ryou's hair. "You're safe. I won't let anything hurt you." The words were almost more to reassure himself than Ryou, the other man tucking his face against Bakura's chest and crying. Bakura's mind raced. Could someone have grabbed Ishtar, confusing him for Marik? But if something had attacked Ishtar, everyone surely would have heard it. The blade in the lining of Ishtar's coat put Bakura's to shame. Unless he didn't fight back because he thought it was part of the maze... Bakura's stomach turned to lead. They could both be gone and now Ryou depended on him for protection and didn't he have a bang up history of doing that. He closed his eyes, tucking his face against Ryou's hair, scared in a way he hadn't been for a very long time, hands trembling. "I'll find them. I-"
Warm hands fell gently on Bakura's back. "Boo."
Bakura was on his feet in a flash, one hand securely on Ryou, keeping him against his back, the other pulling out his knife, as he wheeled on the owner of the hands, eyes blazing. "Touch him and I'll be wearing your intestines as... as..." He blinked rapidly at Marik who threw his hands up and took several hasty steps back. "MARIK!" He turned sharply as Ryou was pulled from his grasp, staring at Ishtar who draped himself over Ryou's shoulders. "...what?"
Marik cautiously approached, fingers circling the wrist to the hand holding the knife, guiding it down and to the side. "Appears they had the same idea to scare us. I'm sorry." His other hand cupped Bakura's cheek, dropping his head forward to rest their foreheads together. "Don't be mad."
"Yeah, it was just a bit of fun," Ryou piped up. "No one got hurt for real."
"They could if you wanted," Ishtar offered, huffing as Ryou elbowed his ribs.
Bakura stood in silence, crashing from the emotions that had surged through him. He breathed deeply, Marik's own calm breathing guiding him, until he felt his heartbeat return to something more normal. He shook off Marik's hold, pocketing his knife. "You? Owe me the best blowjob ever." He pulled away from Marik and his lazy grin to glare at the other two. "And you two? Are in so much trouble. I'll get revenge."
Ishtar tipped his head back and laughed. "Sure you will, iksu. Sure you will."
Ryou handed Marik back his jacket and he tugged it on, shifting on his feet. "Can we go home yet? I'm cold now."
The morning after Halloween, Ryou, Marik, and Bakura were awoken by Ishtar's roar from the kitchen. "IKSUUUUUUU! Where is our candy?!"
Tucked beside Marik in their bed, Bakura chuckled and went back to sleep.