"Sit still, both of you!" Malik snapped, Bakura and Atem fidgeting as he attempted to disinfect and bandage their wounds, "you exist a few thousand years and apparently you think you're invincible..." he muttered, shaking his head.
"It's cold!" Bakura hissed, pulling away. Atem was being less vocal, largely out of pride, but still visibly flinching at the sting of the bactine and digging his fingers into the arm of the couch.
"Honestly, how did I end up with two ancient Egyptian idiots for boyfriends?" Malik sighed, "There. All bandaged up, you can stop being babies now."
"Is that any way to talk to a pharaoh?" Atem challenged, teasing.
"What's a pharaoh to a non-believer?" Bakura quipped and Malik snickered in response. Atem fake-pouted, not catching the reference.
"Alright now. The takeaway here is don't go picking fights with people bigger than you," Malik grinned smugly, enjoying being the tallest of the trio, "You don't have shadow game powers anymore, and most people aren't going to play by your rules." Bakura muttered that he only got hurt trying to stop Atem from getting his ass kicked.
"Those men were harassing that woman, though! Surely you can't have expected me not to step in?" Atem frowned, indignantly, planting his hands on his hips.
"No, and that's why we love you." Bakura sighed, running the fingers of his uninjured hand through the pharaoh's hair. It was coarse and feathery, and Atem leaned into his hand like a cat getting scratched behind the ears.
"At least you picked up the incense and flowers," Malik sank onto the couch on the other side of Atem and joined Bakura in playing with his hair, softly shaking his head. If he had been there... well, he wasn't sure things would have gone much differently. He could've held off one boyfriend, but not two.
"Oh! Right, that..." Atem jolted up, "Are... are we still going to go?" he looked at Bakura expectantly, as did Malik. Ultimately, it was his call.
"I..." Bakura furrowed his brow, "I want to go. Before I change my mind." The other two nodded soberly.
"Well, we should get cleaned up before we head out." Malik said, getting to his feet. The other two followed suit, Bakura trailing a bit behind. After changing into clean clothes - a loose-fitting boatneck shirt for Bakura that covered his bandage without being too tight and a dark-colored button up for Atem - and making sure they had everything they needed, they set out from their apartment.
Since the trio lived in Domino - and since Atem and Bakura had spent the most recent years in their memory inhabiting modern Japanese teens - they had adopted some cultural customs, as well. When Atem had joined the relationship, he had suggested - perhaps partly out of guilt - purchasing a marker stone in the cemetery for the people of Kul Elna. Bakura had gone back and forth on the idea for a long time before agreeing. While the other two wanted it to be his decision alone, Malik had suggested that it might be a good thing to do. This, however, was the first time they were all visiting together. Bakura had chosen the date: the anniversary of his - or rather, his and Zorc's - final match with the pharaoh. It was the only concrete date he had, but it still seemed somehow fitting.
The walk there was quiet, an unspoken tension in the air. Malik and Atem couldn't help but keep glancing at Bakura, who kept his head down to avoid their gaze. The trip only took about fifteen minutes, but it felt like an hour. Once they reached the torii gate at the entrance, they paused, the weight of the moment settling in on them.
"Well, this is it." said Malik, "Are you ready?" he looked to Bakura.
"As ready as I can be..." Bakura nodded, hesitating before hiking up the stone steps beyond the gate. Atem and Malik were right behind him.
After entering the cemetery proper, Atem picked up a bucket and ladle from an area near the temple. The cemetery was silent, the chirping of birds and cicadas seeming to halt once they stepped inside. They wound their way through the rows of stones, the marker they were looking for in the far left corner, in the shade of a large Japanese maple. There were only a few weeds growing in the cracks, but moss was beginning to form on the stones from the lack of light.
Putting a pair of gardening gloves on, Malik started pulling the weeds while Atem filled the bucket with water. Bakura stood somewhat numbly under the tree, caught between dissociation and a torrent of emotions.
Witnessing Atem - a pharaoh, the person he once hated more than anyone in the world - on his knees, pouring water on the marker stone and meticulously scrubbing it clean of moss and dirt, was what broke him. He collapsed to his knees, breath hitching in a stifled sob as he began to cry. Malik immediately stopped his weeding and wrapped his arms around Bakura. No words, just holding him, forehead pressed into the mess of white hair. Atem continued to clean, sad eyes drifting toward his boyfriends. He could not imagine what the thief king must be feeling right now.
Once he had finished scraping off the last traces of dirt, Atem placed a few sticks of incense in a simple censer on the stone's base and lit them. The smell of musty earth and spice wafted through the air as Malik consoled Bakura, seeing the child who had lost his entire village and not the thief king who defied the gods. Bakura recognized the scent. Frankincense. Something used to cleanse the bodies of the dead in ancient Egypt, a luxury his people had never been given. Atem had deliberately chosen it for the people of Kul Elna, wanting to give them some small shred of the rites they should have received thousands of years ago. He ladeled a scoop of water from the bucket and poured it over the stone - he'd had Yugi and Ryou explain and re-explain the proper practice to him beforehand to make sure he did it correctly.
After taking a moment to compose himself, Bakura gently set the bouquet of white chrysanthemums and red spider lilies next to the incense. In Hindu and Buddhist belief, the spider lilies were supposed to help guide souls to the next life, and while Egyptian beliefs were different, he hoped the sentiment carried. The three knelt in front of the stone and placed their palms together, offering up prayers for the dead. While he wasn't sure the people of Kul Elna could even still make it through the Duat to the afterlife, he wanted to hope. If he and Atem could be pulled back into this world after passing, then anything was possible. As he pondered, he felt a hand on each shoulder. Malik and Atem had finished their offerings and were looking at him softly.
"Thank you," He mumbled into their shoulders as he pulled them close in a hug, "I'm... I'm glad we came." They stayed like that, embracing, for a long time. There was pain there, there always would be, but as long as Bakura had love like this, he would be able to persist.
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