Chapter 13

The Mad Hatter offered Marik the spare bed so he could try and sleep off the effects of the catnip, which the lion happily took and curled up in, trying to calm down his body and his mind. He wasn't very tired but he figured he might as well try and get as much sleep as possible if he was to go and hunt down the Ringleader, especially considering that his feet were still killing from all the walking he had done.

When the blonde eventually did get to sleep, his dreams were plagued with images of his master, tormenting and torturing him in ways that he would never do usually, saying he didn't care about him at all and never had done. Marik wailed and screamed at him, begging him not to leave him behind. He awoke with a start, sitting up sharply with tears streaming down his face and the sun just peaking through the curtains.

Marik flopped back on the bed, panting heavily as if he'd just run a marathon. The whole thing had shaken him straight to the core. He never realised how much he cared for the Ringleader's affection and his praise. Thinking about it, the lion supposed he was always trying to gain the white-haired man's respect, and willingly obeyed every order given to him by the King. Sure, Bakura made fun of hims for it sometimes, but Marik argued that if it weren't for him Akefia would've strung him up by his balls from a tree and in a tutu if he hadn't interveened all those times.

"Marik~!" A call came with a knock on the door, and Malik's voice floated into the room. "I've got breakfast ready! Time to eat eat eat!"

The blonde groaned as he forced himself out of bed, picking up his shorts from the floor and quickly dressing. He shook his head, shaking the sleep out of his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair to mess it up again. It was strange logic that his hair was flatter when he woke up.

Once outside of his assigned room Marik immediately caught the delicious smell of bacon in the air. He fought not to drool while he walked into the cosy little kitchen (which was a strange shade of magenta-pink) and instead the lion sat down at the table by the place the Mad Hatter had set out for him.

"I figured you'd be like your dear King and prefer coffee to tea so I managed to yoink some from the March Hare." The blonde Hatter told him with a gleeful smile, shaking a jar of instant coffee in his grasp. "Plus I figured you'd need the caffeine if you're gonna go chasing after the Ringleader."

"He doesn't like being call King, y'know." Marik explained, yawning a thank you when the other tanned boy set down the mug of coffee in front of him. The bacon was still cooking under the grill and he couldn't wait.

"Oh I know! It's just really fun to call him King and watch him get annoyed." The Mad Hatter giggled, cracking two eggs into a frying pan. "The Hare does it all the time. And I mean all the time. One time he just completely snapped and whipped Baku like hell! He still has a mark on his ass I think and it was last month tha-" The blonde stopped in mid-ramble when he saw the annoyed and angry look on Marik's face. He bit his tongue, realising that he probably shouldn't have mentioned the two white-haired men when the feelings about them were still so raw. "Oh, I'm sorry Marik." He pouted, hoping to be forgiven.

Marik didn't say anything, and he just concentrated on trying not to break the cup in his hand because his grip was slowly tightening. The Mad Hatter was therefore silent as he dished out the eggs and bacon for his new friend. It was only when the plat was put out in front of him did the blonde lion notice the Malik-mirror was wearing nothing except a frilly pink and purple apron. He'd just taken a bite out of the chewy bacon and choked on it when a forceful laugh forced its way out. He coughed for a good minute or so while the Hatter whacked him on the back, and once he'd swallowed the meat properly Marik resumed snickering at the other blonde's attire.

"What's so funny?" The Mad Hatter asked innocently, slightly cocking his head to the side in an adorable manner.

"You're naked except for an apron," Marik replied, chuckling into his coffee as he took a drink. "And one of my friends looks exactly like you, and he wouldn't be caught dead in it."

"I bet Akefia would make him wear it." The Hatter retorted, sipping his own tea delicately, and Marik nearly spat back out the liquid in his mouth.

"Oh god, don't give him ideas!" He laughed, "It was bad enough when he put Bakura in hotpants and high heels."

"He told us about that! And showed us pictures!" The Mad Hatter giggled, "Your Bakura has a very nice butt! He's gotta wear hotpants more often."

Marik just about lost it with that. He howled with laughter, both imagining Malik in that apron and Bakura wearing hotpants and heels all the time. The two would probably manage to slaughter the whole circus should that idea ever even be mentioned to them. But as the Ringleader said, 'You can't spell slaughter without laughter'. He had to admit the whole idea sounded pretty fun.

After that the two tanned blondes ate in moderate and comfortable silence, occasionally making small talk but not much else. The Mad Hatter refrained from mentioning what happened the previous night while Marik stopped himself from thinking about it. However they both knew it was a problem they had to address sooner or later.

"The March Hare told me that Akefia went looking for you last night." The Hatter finally said, not looking Marik in the eye and instead staring down at the fresh mint tea in his cup. "Turns out Marchy knew you were here all along, but for once he respected someone's wishes and didn't tell your master you were here."

"Was he mad?" Marik dared to ask, like the one before him he couldn't make eye contact and instead stared out of the nearby window at the forest beyond the fence.

"Baku-Bunny or Akefia?"

"Akefia."

"I don't know. March Hare said he looked annoyed. And that he ranted on about..." The Mad Hatter cocked his head to the side thoughtfully for a second, "'Stupid animals who can't keep their paws off things that don't belong to them', or something like that."

Marik laughed softly. Typical of the Ringleader to think that. His rants concealed his love, so at least he knew that the man might be looking for him. "Where did he go?"

"He spent the night at the March Hare's but left before dawn." The blonde across from him explained, "As far as I know he's headed to Heartland City."

"Then that's where I need to go." Marik made a decision, even though he was still slightly hurt from before.

"Have you forgiven him then?"

The lion sighed, "No, but it won't do me any good to stay around here moping. He's my master at the end of the day, and I'd still kill for him."