( i am the demon in your mind; )
Title: I Will Possess Your Heart
Characters: Ryou Bakura, [Yami no] Bakura, Bella Swan
Summary: Three's a crowd. One of them is going to have to leave.
Rating: PG
Notes: Nostalgia trip for Bella, feel free to just move along. ♥ Think of it as a Christmas present of sorts, Bella!!
When Bella teaches Ryou to dance, it all starts off exactly as she'd been expecting; he laughs nervously when she asks if he thinks he's got the steps down, he fumbles through the moves and trips and steps on her feet, stutters through embarrassed apologies and he can never manage to juggle having a conversation and focusing on where his feet are going at the same time. She ends up offering to take the lead so that he can get the general idea of how the dance goes (and she tells him that it doesn't matter even if he can only be led; she promises she'll dance with him if no one else will, and she'll be happy to take the lead).
Every now and then, he looks down, or he frowns and looks a little confused, and she gets the feeling that it's not to do with the dance; he scowls at himself in frustration, lost for a moment. She prompts him with his name, and his head snaps up; the look in his eyes is far-away for a second, as if he had forgotten where and who he is, as if he wasn't in his own body - but then he smiles and apologises, continues following her footsteps.
It's going alright to that point, once Ryou has gotten the hang of following Bella's movements. She even manages to dip him (he's unhealthily thin, far too light, she can feel his ribs sticking out under his shirt and he's so fragile) and swing him back up without any difficulties.
But then she twirls him.
When the boy is facing her again, there's a flash of red in his eyes, and she freezes.
Bakura smiles at her, thin and dangerous.
"Tsk tsk, Bella," he chides mockingly, his voice that childish, cruel sound that doesn't match with Ryou's pretty face at all. "We're dancing. Don't just stop so suddenly. Unless," he tugs her forward, and whether she wants to or not, she stumbles a step forward, follows his own movements back, and they're dancing again. He laughs coldly, maliciousness lacing his tone, "You'd rather I lead?"
"I'd rather not dance with you at all," she hisses, teeth gritted. She digs her fingernails into the hand that is holding her own and the arm her other hand is resting on.
"Dancing with my Landlord is dancing with me, Isabella," he teases, sharp teeth and narrow eyes. She glares right back at him, but he disregards her entirely; he looks down to where her nails are tearing into his skin. "You'd hurt his body, too?"
She immediately stops, thinking of Ryou, and Bakura catches the hesitation and the worry in her expression that immediately gives way to flat hatred.
"You're a real bastard, you know that?"
"Sticks and stones, mortal."
"We've talked about this before. Not for long, Akefia."
She'd heard it from Set once when they were talking about Bakura, she'd seen other gods call him that name over the years on the community - she didn't know what it meant, what the significance of it was, anything like that; she'd never gotten that information out of anyone, of who or what Bakura really was, but she'd seen his reaction to that name.
He snarls, and this time he's digging his sharp and jagged nails into her hand, her clothed waist. "You'll be lucky," he growls lowly, "if I even let him go to the damn wedding." He tries to put his cockiness back into place, but the grin is too strained, too feral. "But, then again, my precious Landlord will be checking 'Plus One'."
"Oh, did he get a girlfriend? That's good for him, he's a sweet guy."
She flinches as his nails dig in harder and knows she's crossing a line, but she also knows Bakura won't fuck this up, because Ryou isn't always as oblivious as everyone thinks; if something goes wrong (if he wakes up to a friend unconscious on the floor, again and again and again), he'll remember that there is that spirit he was stupid enough to trust, that little voice pushing in the back of his head, aren't I always here, Landlord? Don't I keep you safe? Listen… Listen to me, Landlord. Ryou. Put the ring on, I can help you, I'm the only one who can help you--
"I want to dance with Ryou," she says calmly, trying to keep her voice even, although she can't stop herself from glaring furiously.
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "What an annoying pest. And so greedy for my Landlord's attention."
My. Mine mine mine. He'll always have control over Ryou, whether that accursed ring is around the poor boy's neck or not, even if they're separated by a thousand miles. He'll always be closer to Ryou than she could ever be. (The thought disgusts her, and most of the time she'll reject it entirely, but sometimes she thinks for a brief instant that he really does own Ryou more than anyone ever could.)
Bella doesn't deign him with a response. She twirls him forcefully, praying with desperation as his eyes close and his face turns away from her, waiting for blue, not the brown or purple or flashes of bright red, and thankfully, when he comes back around, Ryou is blinking back at her, flushed and so confused. It takes her a second to meet his eyes, just out of the guilt of always keeping these meetings from him, of keeping Bakura from him when he has every right to know.
Bella?
Are you alright, Ryou?
… It's just-- … Mm, no, I'm okay! Let's keep going, okay?
She's careful not to twirl him again, and he doesn't mind; he says it gives him a headache anyway, and he smiles, soft and innocent. Isn’t that strange, Bella?
(Bakura is laughing behind his eyes.)
Characters: Ryou Bakura, [Yami no] Bakura, Bella Swan
Summary: Three's a crowd. One of them is going to have to leave.
Rating: PG
Notes: Nostalgia trip for Bella, feel free to just move along. ♥ Think of it as a Christmas present of sorts, Bella!!
When Bella teaches Ryou to dance, it all starts off exactly as she'd been expecting; he laughs nervously when she asks if he thinks he's got the steps down, he fumbles through the moves and trips and steps on her feet, stutters through embarrassed apologies and he can never manage to juggle having a conversation and focusing on where his feet are going at the same time. She ends up offering to take the lead so that he can get the general idea of how the dance goes (and she tells him that it doesn't matter even if he can only be led; she promises she'll dance with him if no one else will, and she'll be happy to take the lead).
Every now and then, he looks down, or he frowns and looks a little confused, and she gets the feeling that it's not to do with the dance; he scowls at himself in frustration, lost for a moment. She prompts him with his name, and his head snaps up; the look in his eyes is far-away for a second, as if he had forgotten where and who he is, as if he wasn't in his own body - but then he smiles and apologises, continues following her footsteps.
It's going alright to that point, once Ryou has gotten the hang of following Bella's movements. She even manages to dip him (he's unhealthily thin, far too light, she can feel his ribs sticking out under his shirt and he's so fragile) and swing him back up without any difficulties.
But then she twirls him.
When the boy is facing her again, there's a flash of red in his eyes, and she freezes.
Bakura smiles at her, thin and dangerous.
"Tsk tsk, Bella," he chides mockingly, his voice that childish, cruel sound that doesn't match with Ryou's pretty face at all. "We're dancing. Don't just stop so suddenly. Unless," he tugs her forward, and whether she wants to or not, she stumbles a step forward, follows his own movements back, and they're dancing again. He laughs coldly, maliciousness lacing his tone, "You'd rather I lead?"
"I'd rather not dance with you at all," she hisses, teeth gritted. She digs her fingernails into the hand that is holding her own and the arm her other hand is resting on.
"Dancing with my Landlord is dancing with me, Isabella," he teases, sharp teeth and narrow eyes. She glares right back at him, but he disregards her entirely; he looks down to where her nails are tearing into his skin. "You'd hurt his body, too?"
She immediately stops, thinking of Ryou, and Bakura catches the hesitation and the worry in her expression that immediately gives way to flat hatred.
"You're a real bastard, you know that?"
"Sticks and stones, mortal."
"We've talked about this before. Not for long, Akefia."
She'd heard it from Set once when they were talking about Bakura, she'd seen other gods call him that name over the years on the community - she didn't know what it meant, what the significance of it was, anything like that; she'd never gotten that information out of anyone, of who or what Bakura really was, but she'd seen his reaction to that name.
He snarls, and this time he's digging his sharp and jagged nails into her hand, her clothed waist. "You'll be lucky," he growls lowly, "if I even let him go to the damn wedding." He tries to put his cockiness back into place, but the grin is too strained, too feral. "But, then again, my precious Landlord will be checking 'Plus One'."
"Oh, did he get a girlfriend? That's good for him, he's a sweet guy."
She flinches as his nails dig in harder and knows she's crossing a line, but she also knows Bakura won't fuck this up, because Ryou isn't always as oblivious as everyone thinks; if something goes wrong (if he wakes up to a friend unconscious on the floor, again and again and again), he'll remember that there is that spirit he was stupid enough to trust, that little voice pushing in the back of his head, aren't I always here, Landlord? Don't I keep you safe? Listen… Listen to me, Landlord. Ryou. Put the ring on, I can help you, I'm the only one who can help you--
"I want to dance with Ryou," she says calmly, trying to keep her voice even, although she can't stop herself from glaring furiously.
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "What an annoying pest. And so greedy for my Landlord's attention."
My. Mine mine mine. He'll always have control over Ryou, whether that accursed ring is around the poor boy's neck or not, even if they're separated by a thousand miles. He'll always be closer to Ryou than she could ever be. (The thought disgusts her, and most of the time she'll reject it entirely, but sometimes she thinks for a brief instant that he really does own Ryou more than anyone ever could.)
Bella doesn't deign him with a response. She twirls him forcefully, praying with desperation as his eyes close and his face turns away from her, waiting for blue, not the brown or purple or flashes of bright red, and thankfully, when he comes back around, Ryou is blinking back at her, flushed and so confused. It takes her a second to meet his eyes, just out of the guilt of always keeping these meetings from him, of keeping Bakura from him when he has every right to know.
Bella?
Are you alright, Ryou?
… It's just-- … Mm, no, I'm okay! Let's keep going, okay?
She's careful not to twirl him again, and he doesn't mind; he says it gives him a headache anyway, and he smiles, soft and innocent. Isn’t that strange, Bella?
(Bakura is laughing behind his eyes.)