DH: Hey guys!

OW: This is for the Christmas contest at the YGO-Magazine!

DH: Fingers crossed that we'll win.

OW: We own nothing!

-DDLDHoW-

Bakura huffed and pulled his jacket tighter around him. "I thought Morocco was supposed to be warm."

Marik looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "It's Christmas," he said. "What else do you expect?" He took a bite out of the bread laid out on the table in front of them.

"Something warmer," Ryou mumbled.

"It is warm." Marik shrugged. "For winter."

Ryou and Bakura were both wearing jeans, t-shirts and two jackets each that they had bought after arriving in Morocco for a holiday that Marik had planned as a Christmas present to them.

Marik, the smug bastard, was wearing a skirt that faded from light purple to blue with square-shaped sequins, a pair of light purple converse boots, a darker purple t-shirt with the print of a mouse using its tail as a moustache and a black, zip-up hoodie with white stripes on the pockets and hood and small, white mice prints everywhere else on it. It wasn't even a thick hoodie.

Bakura rolled his eyes and glared at the bread. "You need to eat, Kura." Ryou slid a plate of bread over to him.

"I want a breakfast that has meat. Not bread."

"Well this is traditional Moroccan breakfast," Marik pointed out. The birds behind them chirped.

Bakura's eye twitched. "I don't care. It's not breakfast."

Ryou and Marik sighed. Their boyfriend was always in a bad mood in the morning. It was never a good time to wake him. He usually got better after eating and drinking some coffee, but the breakfasts in Morocco weren't what he was hoping for.

"Eat," Marik insisted. He pushed a piece of bread up to Bakura's mouth. Bakura snatched the bread from Marik's hand and threw it behind him. It landed in the pool a few steps away from where they were sitting.

Ryou frowned at Bakura. "Bakura, someone needs to take that out."

"Yeah, but it isn't me." Bakura shrugged. The birds chirped again and his eye twitched.

The bad thing about the riad that they were staying in was the lack of a roof in the courtyard, so the bird were able to land right outside their rooms and start singing at half five.

And Bakura could never get back to sleep when he was woken. A crow cawed behind him. "Stupid birds." He threw another piece of bread over his shoulder.

"Bakura!"

The cawing stopped and they heard a splash. Marik's eyes widened.

"No way," Bakura muttered. They looked to the pool to see the bird floundering.

The three all leapt up and darted over. Marik reached out to try and pull the crow in. Ryou and Bakura held onto him to make sure that he didn't fall in himself, since the Egyptian couldn't swim.

But the pool was wide, too wide for them to reach the middle in time. The bird stopped struggling.

Marik went limp in the arms of his boyfriends. "No..."

Bakura's eyes were wide. Ryou gently held Marik closer. "It's okay, Mar. It wasn't your fault." Marik didn't reply.

He pulled away from Ryou and walked towards his room. They heard the bolt slide into place. Ryou frowned at Bakura. "You know how he feels about things like this, Kura."

"It was an accident!" Bakura protested. He ran a hand through his hair, clenching his fist. "Dammit! Nine times out of ten, I wouldn't have made that hit!"

Ryou sighed and kissed Bakura's cheek. "It wasn't your fault. He just needs to calm down."

Bakura growled and walked away. Ryou watched as he left the riad. He sighed and walked up to their room, knocking on the door. "Marik..." No answer. "Marik, please. Let me in."

No answer.

Ryou sighed. "It wasn't your fault, Mar."

There was a pause. Ryou heard the bolt slide out of place and he opened the door. Marik stood on the inside. All of the lights were on, even the bathroom ones.

Ryou stepped into the room and closed the door. Marik sat on the foot of the bed, which faced the door. "I couldn't save it..."

"None of us could." Ryou sat beside the older boy, placing his hand over Marik's. "It wasn't your fault."

"If I hadn't tried to get Bakura to eat something-"

"He needed to eat," Ryou insisted. "He was just too stubborn."

Marik shook his head, swallowing. "It was my fault."

Ryou's grip on his hand tightened. "Marik, it wasn't your fault." His voice was still soft, but it held a firm note. "And you're nothing like your father."

Marik flinched. Ryou knew that it had been on his mind. "How can you say that?" Marik whispered.

Ryou cupped Marik's cheek. "You didn't do anything to the bird; it was just bad luck," Ryou murmured. "Your father did horrible things that no one should have to go through for his own gain." He shook his head. "You'll never be like him."

Marik's eyes slid closed. "Thanks, Ryou," he mumbled.

Ryou smiled softly at him. "There's no need to thank me."

"Where's Bakura?" Marik asked, opening his eyes.

Ryou hesitated. "He... ran off. He'll be back soon." A second later, they heard a knock on the door.

Ryou pushed it open, expecting it to be one of the riad staff.

Instead, Bakura stood there panting slightly with a cardboard box in his hands.

Ryou frowned at him. "Where did you go?"

"Market," Bakura muttered. "Ran there and back."

"Why?" Marik tilted his head.

Bakura held out the box. Marik hesitated before taking it and opening it. Inside were three small kittens, scrawny and confused looking.

One was pure white with one blue eye and one green eye that was curled up in the corner.

The second was a tortoiseshell with soft brown eyes that nudged the white cat lightly when Marik opened the box.

The third was coal black and a bit bigger than the others with bright amber eyes that placed his front paws on Marik's hand, trying to climb out.

"Where did you get them?" Ryou asked softly.

"There was a person selling them," Bakura replied. "Didn't seem right to just leave them there. I got some food and stuff as well."

Marik looked up at him. "Why?"

Bakura shrugged. He kicked at the ground and looked away. "You were upset about the bird so I thought that if we saved these kittens, you might feel a bit better."

Marik smiled. He placed the box beside him on the bed and pulled Bakura into a hug.

"Thank you," he murmured. Bakura gave a noncommittal grunt but Marik could see a slight blush on his cheeks. He chuckled and pulled Ryou into the hug as well.

Ryou smiled and rested his head on Marik's shoulder. "What are you going to name them?"

"I think we should all have one," Marik said.

Ryou nodded in agreement. "Good idea." They turned to the box again. Ryou took out the white cat and smiled. "Amelia," he decided. Bakura rolled his eyes at the name. Ryou pouted at him. "I think it suits her."

"How do you even know it's a girl?"

"Trust me." Ryou scratched Amelia behind the ears. "It's a girl."

Bakura took out the tortoiseshell and tilted his head at it. It batted his nose with a paw. "Touzoku."

"Isn't that your old name?"

Bakura shrugged. "So?"

Marik chuckled, shaking his head. Ryou smiled. "It suits."

Marik turned to the final cat and took him out of the box. The cat held his gaze. "Crow," he decided after a minute.

Bakura looked down. Ryou gently squeezed Marik's shoulder. "I'm sorry," the former muttered.

Marik smiled at them. "It's not your fault," he replied. "We know you have terrible aim anyway so it couldn't have been on purpose."

Ryou giggled as Bakura's cheeks flushed. "I don't have horrible aim!"

"Yes you do." Marik grinned and place Crow on the ground. He padded over to the couch and jumped onto it, shortly followed by Touzoku and Amelia.

Bakura rolled his eyes. Marik pulled him onto his lap and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. When they pulled apart, Marik pressed a kiss to Ryou's lips. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything," Ryou mumbled.

"You calmed me down," Marik pointed out. "And I wasn't saying thanks for the cats. Just... thanks. For everything."

The two shared a look before smiling at their boyfriend. "You're welcome, Mar."

-DDLDHoW-

DH: Hope you enjoyed!

OW: See you next time, Killer Queens!