[Malik quietly continues to pet the other boy as he thinks.
Ryou may have thought that Malik didn't see a difference between them, but that wasn't true. He knew this was Ryou, that this body was Ryou's, and that Bakura lived in the Ring.
It was true that he often saw Ryou as nothing but a vessel, and it'd taken a long time for him to grow past that visage, but the fact was he had. Even if he got annoyed, sometimes... When Ryou didn't do what he wanted, when he did something that would jeopardize his time with Bakura. It was still selfish of him in many ways, but Malik never really cared about being selfish.
He had come to the realization that as long as the spirit shared this body, he would have to share what little kindness he had to keep things the way he liked them. It wasn't just that; that duality between them reminded him and his other half. He still felt a strange pang of guilt for enabling it all, but it was so easily smothered by his own happiness, and his own gain, that he'd almost completely forgotten about it.
It's not that he didn't like Ryou. The boy's softness had grown on his cold exterior and slowly worn it away. He didn't mind having friends. He just liked to think himself better than them.
But despite all his charisma, and all his powers of persuasion, Malik utterly fails around Ryou, and he's pretty sure the boy barely tolerates him. He can never bring himself to be too kind unless it's necessary. He doesn't want to get too attached...
That similarity between the two of them might actually start to bother him.]
no subject
Ryou may have thought that Malik didn't see a difference between them, but that wasn't true. He knew this was Ryou, that this body was Ryou's, and that Bakura lived in the Ring.
It was true that he often saw Ryou as nothing but a vessel, and it'd taken a long time for him to grow past that visage, but the fact was he had. Even if he got annoyed, sometimes... When Ryou didn't do what he wanted, when he did something that would jeopardize his time with Bakura. It was still selfish of him in many ways, but Malik never really cared about being selfish.
He had come to the realization that as long as the spirit shared this body, he would have to share what little kindness he had to keep things the way he liked them. It wasn't just that; that duality between them reminded him and his other half. He still felt a strange pang of guilt for enabling it all, but it was so easily smothered by his own happiness, and his own gain, that he'd almost completely forgotten about it.
It's not that he didn't like Ryou. The boy's softness had grown on his cold exterior and slowly worn it away. He didn't mind having friends. He just liked to think himself better than them.
But despite all his charisma, and all his powers of persuasion, Malik utterly fails around Ryou, and he's pretty sure the boy barely tolerates him. He can never bring himself to be too kind unless it's necessary. He doesn't want to get too attached...
That similarity between the two of them might actually start to bother him.]
I still plan to get out of here, you know.