fluffydeathdealer | [CAMPUS/IC] II

[This really is somehow both his worst and best idea ever. Kai doesn't like having Bakura in his room; far from it. He has to keep fighting the urge to make sure he isn't trying to pocket something. At the same time, teaching him Barrier and watching the small successes (but mostly failures) is amusing the absolute hell out of him.

It's only been a couple days, and today Kai's seated on the living room floor flipping through a different spellbook while he eats from a bowl of popcorn. The large brown leather book that contains the barrier spell is open on the coffee table in case Bakura needs it.

Again.]

You know, I'm thinking that if I get all the way up to Aeroga, I could probably make a pretty decent tornado if I threw some Darkness in there. Wouldn't that be fun.

[He's actually picturing a swirling mass of Shadows dancing around the island. That's...huh. Creepy.]

So how's it going over there? Managing anything decent yet?

[Why yes, Kai is taking advantage of this whole thing to be a pain, why do you ask?]

[Luckily for Kai, he has absolutely nothing that Bakura wants except knowledge. But that is proving difficult to grasp. The Ring's power is nothing like this. It's instinctive for him to know how to use it.

This? This is true magic, the kind that magicians would have learnt back in the days before magic left the world. It's tedious and slow, and his natural dislike of it is making him irritable.

Unfortunately, Kai's talking is not helping. Though the idea of a tornado of darkness is pleasing.]

Do you think you could control the tornado if you made it?

[A low growl. This is tiresome.]

I think you'd know if I was.

[Oh, he knows it's not helping. It's why he's doing it, after all. Kai doesn't bother looking up, skimming the page with his finger. Where was-

Ah.]

Probably, if I practice really, really hard. I mean, I can handle it in it's normal form, it's just if I put too much into it...

[Hey, maybe the school would land in Oz. That'd be better than some island in the middle of nowhere, right? Kai finally looks up at the growl, trying not to smirk. It only half works.]

Okay, try this. You saw what it looked like the other day; just imagine that in front of you, about the level of your head. Will the thing to be there. [That sounds ridiculously simple, and it is. It might actually work.] I only had the description in the book to go on.

[Now Kai does smirk, picking up a handful of popcorn.] Once you've got it up, I'll flick these off you. If they hit the barrier, congratulations! If they hit you, you're doing it wrong.

...you're having far too much fun with this.

[One of the many troubles is that Bakura is rarely a defensive player. Protecting things goes against his nature of loving destruction. It doesn't make it impossible, it just means that part of himself is driven against it.

A bigger one is the fact that Kai is being pretty good at riling him up right about now. His lips draw back into a snarl at the jibe-]

And how long did it take you to do it?

[-and he outright glowers at the popcorn. Seriously? ...well, it's better than pelting stones, he supposes.]

Fine. [Closing his eyes, he focuses, calling up the memory of the barrier Kai summoned. It was hardly difficult to remember. The troublesome part is if Kai starts talking, he's not sure he'll be able to focus on it. But in its' own way, isn't that an important part? The other Malik isn't going to avoid talking. Maybe this is necessary. He needs to learn.

It's like the Ring, in a way, only using his host's energy instead of the darkness within it. Focus, and will. It takes time, but he can feel it when the barrier appears. And boy, can he feel it. How much energy it takes is a shock. It drains more than most of his own spells, and those are done using magic that's dead. He lets go of it in surprise.]

What the hell?!

Yep~

[He's hurting over Karasu and any distraction from that is a good one...even ones that'll come back and bite him in the ass later. Frowning in thought, Kai considers the question, absently ticking something off on his fingers.]

To get to the point where I was able to hold off Ha Des? About a week.

[What he's not saying is that he'd never made a barrier that size before that day. It'd been more instinct that intent, trying to keep from getting flattened.] But then this spell is pretty close to magic I'm familiar with, so it helps.

[Kai decides to temporarily keep his snark to himself while Bakura works, simply playing with the popcorn in his hand while he watches. He can feel the magic himself, and it's almost tempting to try and mess with it, but he ignores it, waiting for...

And there it is. The expression on Bakura's face when Barrier activates is worth a snicker or ten...or maybe outright cackling. He's disappointed when it disappears before he gets a chance to throw the popcorn at him. Maybe next time!]

Problem?

[Just going to be eating the popcorn he's holding now.]

Hardly!

[Yes. Yes, there's a problem. But there's no way in hell he's lowering his pride to admit it. Not to Kai. Not to anyone. It's harder to bring it back after that, his mind unfocused and struggling to fix on the task, but he persists.

And finally, it reappears. He mentally curses at the energy drain, knowing he won't be able to hold it for more than a few seconds without practice. His host's energy reserves are too low and his concentration isn't good enough.]

[Oh, this is beautiful. He should have warned him, really. Not to be nice, but because knowing might help later on if (when) there's ever a fight and Bakura needs to use it.

He'll tell him eventually.

Maybe.]

When you can hold it steady for longer periods, I'll show you how to shape it. That's going to be fun, you won't believe the headache you'll get when it shatters.

[Well, he can at least warn him about that. Those headaches suck....and once the barrier's back up, Kai'll take the opportunity to flick some popcorn at the Creeper's head. Whether it goes through the barrier and hits him or just bounces off, causing an annoying echo of the impact, it'll be fun either way.]

[And this? This is Bakura with popcorn in his hair.]

...oi.

[Lifting a hand, he tugs it out of his hair and pops it into his mouth, chewing on it grouchily as he focuses on trying to keep the shield up. It keeps stopping, a side-effect of his lapsing concentration.]

Can you at least use something less sticky?

[Bingo. Kai snickers, setting the book he's reading aside to pull the popcorn bowl into his lap.]

What, you're not hungry?

[Though he's eating what he threw at him, so obviously...

Oh no. No Bakura, you did not just ask him that while he's in this mood and trying to teach you magic. Kai smirks, and holds up both hands. A small ice sphere materializes in one, while a ball of flame crackles to life in the other.]

Would either of these work?

[He's not really going to toss one of those at him, right?]

. . .

You know... If you throw those flames at me, Ryou is going to hate you forever.

[The comment is irritated, if casual. But since he didn't say anything about the ice, it can be considered permission. He supposes it's good for practice... to be put in a semi-dangerous situation to force him to take it seriously.]

...The popcorn's fine.

[At least he can eat that.]

Yeah, I kind of like Ryou not hating me...still can't believe he didn't completely flip out at me over the- but anyway.

[Let's not think about that, it just leads to him thinking about Karasu, and wasn't the whole point of this to not think about her? The flame disappears and Kai grabs another handful of popcorn, eying the ice sphere. Hm.]

If I try throwing this now I might crack your head open. So popcorn it is, then!

[Here, have a handful!

...Which is immediately followed by the ice sphere, but at least Kai shrunk it to the size of a marble before he threw it.]

-!

[The shield deflects the popcorn well enough, but the miniature ice sphere has the unfortunate timing of following up just as Bakura has lapsed the shield, thinking the mild onslaught was over.]

Ow-!

[You little shit, he's just going to grab that marble of ice and throw it right back at you!]

[Kai's so busy cracking up laughing that he nearly misses the marble being thrown back. A barrier of his own pops up just in time to deflect it, leaving it to bounce off and roll away toward the kitchen.]

Hey!

[Well, at least Bakura blocked the popcorn.]

Good job! Want a cookie or a gold star? I can put the sticker on your shirt.

[He's just going to sit here grinning, because success.]

[Oh you jerk, blocking it like that! Well, at least he managed to block something. That's progress. The question is, can he do it again?]

Kh... Gold star? What the hell do you think I am, a five year old?!

[And he isn't even commenting on the fact that he threw it back like a petulant child. Three thousand years old... and yet he still acts like a brattish kid sometimes. He even looks like the age of his body right now, arms folded over his chest and stubbornly glowering.]

[Hey, it was instinct! Sue him.]

Pretty much. I'll make you a chart and for every time you manage the barrier, you get another star! You'll feel so accomplished at the end of your lessons.

[He shouldn't be saying that, but come on. Glancing down, Kai moves the popcorn off to the side because he knows he'll forget it at some point and spill it everywhere. Waste of good food.]

The way you look right now, actually...Well. Maybe you should be big brother after all, having a sulking fit.

I am not sulking!

[He totally is. He's positively grouchy in response to the ribbing. The relatives joke, however, makes him flounder and pout. What the hell, Kai, stop taking his jokes and turning them around on him!]

Don't even joke about that! We could pass for siblings as it is!

Are so.

[Awe, but it's so much fun to drive him up a wall.]

Who's joking? I adopted Ryou, might as well adopt you too. After all, it's not like family has to get along all the time.

[He might be serious Bakura, have fun with that.]

...o-oi. I can't tell if you're joking or just insane!

[Seriously, he's not the family type. Not even close.]

I don't have a single sibling instinct in me, unless you count the instinct to tease you relentlessly.

[These days, it might be a little of both.]

I'm serious! Welcome to the family, big brother!

[Snickering, Kai tosses another handful of popcorn at him, not giving a damn whether he blocks it or throws it back.]

Eh, I think I'm getting used to that.

[He's too confused to block it, and the popcorn tangles in his hair. Grabbing a bit of it, he tosses it at him.]

I don't think I'll ever understand you... you swing from hating me to tolerating me, and now you're adopting me.

What a weird kid you are!

[Well, he guesses it's better than the son thing. Though he'd just been getting used to that.]

That's a good look for you. [Smiiirk. Oh wait, popcorn in his collar. He'll just pick that out and eat it.

...Oh Light, Bakura cooties.]

Good to know I'm doing my job well!

[And if Kai had any inkling at all that that had been a thing, he'd be back to hating Bakura in an instant, just for getting all that information out of him.]

...

[Snicker.]

Even though that was in my hair, you're just eating it? What are you, a monkey?

[Wait, was Kai deliberately trying to throw him off as to his intentions?]

I'm trying to build up a resistance to your bullshit. Consuming bits of you might be the only way.

[He's so proud that he said that with a straight face. Even better is the fact that it's followed by him grabbing his spellbook again to seemingly go back to whatever he was looking at before.]

...!

[What- huh- what?! ...the sad part is that he's actually thinking Kai might be serious. He's given his darkness to people before...]

I don't think that'd work from just my host's body.

[Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh. Kai half-glances up, eyeing him through the strands of hair that fell in his face. Ugh, he hates that. He raises an eyebrow at Bakura, not even sure if he can see it.]

You'd be surprised what tricks you can pick up when you screw around with things better left alone.

[Aaaand back to his 'reading'.]

[CAMPUS/IC] II

4/22/14 or somewhere around there

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