Bakura leaned back into his chair and sighed. He didn’t really pay too much attention to where his students came from or whose family they belonged to. A student was a student no matter what to him, and he’d be damned before he played such political games with them. As much as he believed in that concept, much of the world thought differently which was a crying shame. “I see. So the boy himself has no talent then as far as I’m concerned. I do hope that Mia is broken out of that vicious cycle. A bright and talented girl like her doesn’t need to be held down by the greed and corruption of another. Let alone an entire family.” He was a bit unnerved to learn this news but he tried to control himself and not break the veil that he had made for himself over the centuries. Education and knowledge was more important to him than money itself, let alone those that wielded it to gain influence over others. They were, in his mind, weaker than the weak.

He simmered down a bit and started to carve the meat into pieces before taking on into his mouth and chewed. “Maybe I should have you guess where I live then? It sounds like nice feat for you to get the meal before it gets cold. But really, I live up to the north of the Purple district. A modest house, nothing too fancy up near the woods.” Bakura took several more bites of the roast, taking to it like a starving man at sea. Professor Markus was a bright mind, just as much as he was a pervert. Even he had known that for a long time now. Somehow he made his cousin look like a tamed gentleman by comparison. At least Dante didn’t use his position wrongfully or was a douche bag. He was just an idiot at times. A lot of times.

“Let me know if you want to do something a bit more, devious. I know a few things that will shrink his ego, in more ways than one…” Bakura left the statement as she would like to interpret it as while he feasted. “It’s really good, I might have to one up you because of it.”

It was strange for him to nearly slip her name when they were colleagues, so he wasn’t used to going without the formalities. “Alright, Taimi.” He was slightly uncomfortable at first but he suppose that it was a learning trait. “Sorry, force of habit.” He studied her for a bit but was puzzled by her recent behavior. He finished his meal and wiped at his mouth with a cloth provided. “Very well, I look forward to it then.”

—–

Tomorrow came and the day was at its near end as he was hard at work in his kitchen. Having been running around through the day at the markets, he came home with a variety of things soon filled his nigh empty home with delicious aromas of foods. Set at the table was a large garden salad, a pair of wine glasses and utensils; while he was over the fire cooking and marinating a couple of small chickens, bathing them in his own homemade herb sauce. Nearby there were also potatoes roasting on skewers which he was drizzling a bit of honey over when he heard the knock at the door. Carefully, he moved away from his cooking momentarily to greet her at the door and usher her inside. “Good eve, Taimi. Please have seat. Just finishing the last touches of dinner.”

There was a light laugh from her lips as she looked at Bakura. “I could always use my resources to find you. It wouldn’t be that hard.” She chuckled and gave a wink that she was just joking. She watched him enjoy her meal and smiled a bit more. “Trust me I’ll let you know. He keeps asking me out on dates and I keep turning him down. I just don’t have the time for an actual date with a creep just to satisfy him.” Not that she would have even if she did have the time which was clear from her voice. “I look forward to you cooking.”

A laugh left her lips and she shook her head. “It’s alright… Bakura… It is a little odd for me as well. I think I’ve spent the last ten years pinning titles to everyone.” She pushed another strand of hair back and nodded. “I look forward to it as well.”

–

Taimi was unusually nervous about it. Perhaps it was just because he was a high ranking professor like she was. She loved to read his work and it was the same the other way around. She put on the only dress in her attire. It was a long dark blue halter dress with gold detail. A detailed gold necklace with a ruby rose was around her neck like most Rosenites. Her red hair was in wild curls but contained unlike most of the time when she was working. Her fingers pinched and played with the skirt of her dress as he opened the door. “Good eve, Bakura.”

She rose her nose a bit and smelled the air. “It smells delicious I can’t wait.” She chuckled as she moved in and took a seat at the table. “Your home is just as big as mine is… Except I think I’ve filled mine to the maximum capacity for plants… For research.” She rubbed the back of her neck a bit. “So what are we having or is it a surprise?” She had a little basket with her and she pulled out two bottles of wine placing them on the table. “You’ll have to forgive my dress. I only have maybe one or two and my other one got ruined with alchemy powder…”

Bakura felt somewhat exhausted from not only the cooking itself, but the preparation in of itself. All the marinades and appetizers were homemade from scratch. Like alchemy, he took great lengths to make sure that they were done perfectly and precise. He wanted to make things for Taimi as comfortable as possible. It was merely a dinner between…friends. That last word made him chuckle as he considered that he really didn’t have other than her. Pressure was the last thing he wanted her to feel around here, especially after a certain professor that had yet to learn the meaning of no.

Once he had all the hard stuff figured out and executed, he had went to change into his more formal wears. A long sleeve green buttoned shirt and trousers tucked into black boots. His hair was just as neat as it had been for the last few days and it trailed behind him as he was quick to answer the door. When he had, he was honestly shocked to see her like she was now. But it was a good surprise, he felt as he smiled and welcomed her inside. “Promise it won’t be too long. The potatoes should be done shortly as well as the chickens. The salad is ready though if you’d like to begin with that. Just let me get the dressing for it.” He moved back into the kitchen for a moment and returned with a bottle of homemade red dressing. “This was probably the easiest of things I’d made tonight. Just needed olive oil, vinegar, some vegetables, salt and a pinch of brown sugar.” He was rather proud of himself and how the dinner was turning out.

He gathered their plates and added the salad to both before handing Taimi hers. After that, he popped the cork out of the bottle and added some of the dressing to it before taking to one of the bottles of wine. “Fortunately most of my home is clean. It’s the study I really have to worry about. In comparison, I barely spend any time in the other rooms of the house, with the exception of the kitchen, of course. I reach the point where I have to tear myself away to get a bite to eat.”

After pouring their glasses, he went to go fetch the rest of the dinner but halted for a moment and looked back at her. “No need to apologize at all. I’m surprised that you went all out just for a friendly dinner. If it means anything, you look…stunning.” He took another look once more before he went back to his task. In a matter of moments, the roasted chicken and potatoes were brought out on skewers and settled onto serving plates while he started to carve them. “I tend to experiment with my cooking in the way I do with the rest of my work. I can tell you that it took a many good attempts before I learned what works and what doesn’t.” He fluidly added them onto their plates with care before he took his seat across from hers. He slipped out a smile, still not used to seeing her look this…beautiful. Not that she wasn’t already; on the contrary, she typically was but this night was different. But then again, they had seen each other only at work or in the library. Perhaps this was as foreign for her as it was for him. That brought some comfort to him.

“Had to make sure that you got your money’s worth, you did won the bet after all.”

Bakura rose his wine glass towards her, “I hope you enjoy it, Taimi.”

Taimi listened to his onslaught of dishes and honestly felt herself getting hungry. “It sounds absolutely wonderful… I can actually smell honey in the air too. I am excited to try your cooking.” She took her plate as he handed it to her when they sat down. “Are you saying my home isn’t clean?” She sounded serious for a moment before she started to laugh. “It’s more like a jungle. I’ll have to have you over so you can see it for yourself.”

After a few seconds of laughter, she stopped and shook her head. “I remember to feed myself because of Kashii.” She paused for a moment and smirked. “Kashii is my white tiger. I found him when he was a cub while I was on an expedition into Laeto for ingredients. He was hurt most likely by tribal members and his mother was dead… So I took him home with me. He is just the sweetest thing and he reminds me to eat by dragging in bowls and plates into my study. I think I have a stack of them now in front of my desk.” She chuckled more.

She took her wine glass and paused after she heard his words. Her cheeks flushed a bit and she sounded a bit nervous. “Can’t really be all that stunning think I still have powder on my arms some where.” She looked pleasantly surprised at dinner as he brought it in. “Oh, that does look as good as it smells!”

There was a smirk on her face for a small moment. “Yeah but you also got to eat my lunch the other day because you looked starved so… You still owe me.” She joked with him as she laughed. “No, this looks wonderful all of it.” She held her wine glass up towards him and nodded before taking a sip and starting to eat.

“So I wouldn’t have been entirely dressed up for not the fact that the last time I wore my other dress I decided to make a last minute change to one of my alchemy projects.” She sat in between bites while trying to be polite and not talk with her mouth full. “I had been asked to present projects in front of my mother and aunts… so when I showed up I was covered in enchanting dust and alchemy powder. It ended up staining it pretty badly. This is the dress I wore to my sister’s wedding and I didn’t want to show up… in my school robes?”

Obviously, she was trying not to sit in silence as she kept looking up at him and becoming shy every once in a while. It was hard to talk about small things. “This is a really wonderful dinner Bakura. I’m enjoying it a lot. The wine is actually complimenting it a lot for something we didn’t plan.”

Bakura smirked at her as he finished prepping their plates, “Maybe…” He followed in laughing with her as he had merely pictured that she was working even while at home. “No, just that I tend to keep my work in the study. Everything else doesn’t need anything work in cleaning other than the occasional dusting, I suppose. One of those times was very recent, being a few hours before he started dinner. One would wonder why he just didn’t get a small house since he really only spent time in one or two rooms.

“Hm, I wouldn’t think of a tiger as being sweet, but I can see that he would be for you.” The thought of her and a large carnivore was certainly a sight for the ages, in his mind. He sat down and started to gather the potatoes and letting the aromas slipped into his nose. It was heavenly. “The poor thing would have been lost without you.”

Coming back out, he genuinely shrugged at her and shook his head. He was being honest- she was gorgeous when with that powder on her. Such little details wouldn’t change his mind. “You still do though. Afraid you won’t be able to change my mind there.” Bakura wasn’t trying to flatter her or had an ulterior motive and she would know that. After all, he had only ever been honest with her for as long as they knew the other.

“Thank you.”

He looked appleased that she was satisfied with how the meal turned out. But the demon looked to her with a pondering look when she mentioned that he still owed her. “Hey, I recall that being an offering!” He chuckled again as he took to a piece of the potato and moaned softly as his taste buds were rewarded for his hard work. “We’ll have to hash at those details out later, because I think you are just using me as your private cook.” He chuckled before taking more into his meal. Had Bakura realized that she would have been busy today, he would have suggested another night then, but it all turn out alright for her. “The Courts meeting, I presume? Heard about those things before, but then again, who hasn’t here?” He brought up a piece of the chicken and savored it in his mouth. It was worth the wait. “What on earth were you showing them that caused you to be covered in that? Had he not plopped more food into his mouth, he would have been laughing at the thought. But he was able to suppress it and finish swallowing before taking a couple of sips from the wine. “I am grateful that you put much thought into dressing up, but you didn’t need to. Honest, you could have came here in any thing and I would have still appreciate the company.” He would have continued on but then he heard the door open and as soon as he saw him, he couldn’t help but to groan.

A tall elf like being was there with that white hair and blue eyes that made him think of his uncle, only without the proper mannerisms. “Hey there, cousin!”, Dante said, smiling while looking at Bakura but then his attention immediately fell onto Taimi. “Oh, hello there.”

“What do you want, Dante”, he sighed, putting down his utensils. This was horrible timing to have to deal with his antics, especially when the dinner was going so good. “Nothing much, just needed to get some more of that stuff you gave me to soothe Lotus’s back pains.” Still his eyes lingered onto the redhead and smiled, “Didn’t know you were entertaining. I’m so proud of you, Bakura.” He moved over patted him on the back repeatedly, “Always knew you had it in you…just needed the right woman to, well you know…”

By now, Bakura’s eyes were like daggers towards his kin. “Forgive me, Taimi. This…unusual character is my cousin, Dante. Dante, this is Taimi, my partner at the academy.”

“Ah, well now. I’m charmed to meet you, Miss Taimi”, Dante said with a purr in his voice.

The blush remained on her face as he told her it wouldn’t have changed his mind. It was clear that while she was being stalked by someone who found her beautiful she hadn’t really honestly believed it. She was a person who valued intelligence over beauty so she herself never realized it. “If I thought I could change your mind… I would be considered stupid.”

“You’re welcome.” She chuckled a bit with him as they laughed at her joke. “Oh… If you come over to my house I will cook for you not the other way around. I promise you.” She nodded as she started to eat more. “I was showing a presentation on Professor Nome’s latest invention. I WAS because he tends to blow the things up that he works on.” She blushed a bit more. “If I came here unfit my mother would have known and chewed my face off the next time I saw her.” She chuckled now as she relaxed.

When she heard the door open she tilted her head and frowned a bit when she heard the new man came in. It was sort of putting a damper on the mood. Taimi pushed up her glasses and gave a nervous smile to Dante. It was obvious she didn’t like the lingering eyes but she kept quiet about it. “Dante… Lotus?” She thought for a minute before she brought up her hand and hit it like an AH HA! Moment. “Oh, you are the one that Eldora said to stay far away from.”

After that little ah-ha moment she got really quiet and pushed herself up in a hurry and almost knocked over the wine bottle as she caught it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you… Um… Bakura maybe I should leave if you have business?”

Everything was going splendid. They were having so much fun and enjoying each other’s company and then he had to come and stir up trouble. Dante was harmless but his annoyance really made up for it. Bakura knew this to be true, even surprisingly that he was hundred years or so younger than his cousin. The thought often plagued him when he compared their maturity. Taimi didn’t seem bothered by this too much, aside from some uncomfortable feelings he picked up, she seemed to play along bit until she realized who he was.

Dante smirked and leaned towards her. “Yes, I am with Lotus. I take it you are familiar with her?” Then it came to her and he smiled widely up to the point where she mentioned that little midget of a sister in law. His face went pale and the smile immediately died as soon as he heard that name. “What…”

Bakura nearly jumped out of his seat when she did and went to excuse herself. “No, no…” He hastily left them for a brief moment and returned with a small container of salve he had been giving Dante for his lover’s aliment. “Take it and go”, he said, nearly pushing Dante out with the stuff while the latter was still trying to piece together what just happened. “Fine, fine, you two lovebirds have fun though.” Dante turned his head to Taimi, “A pleasure meeting you as well, and if you don’t mind, please don’t tell Eldora about tonight.” He said that last part as Bakura pushed him out the door and slammed it shut.

“Please, you don’t have to leave”, he urged her but then pull back when he realized he was sounding desperate. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want to end the night like this. He moved over back to the table and took a deep breath. “Sorry, not sure what came over me.” Downing the wine in his glass, he thought for a moment before he recalled what she mentioned before they were so rudely interrupted. “Professor Nome’s the reason why we were paired up, correct?” Bakura poured himself another glass and sipped on it subtly. Gods knew that he was thankful for the wine bottles she brought. “I know that whatever he touches, it has a way of exploding on him one way or another. Not sure how he still has a job there…”

Taimi was about to answer when she got shy and tried to leave. He didn’t or wouldn’t know who she was or how she knew Lotus. However, they were cousins which meant that Eldora was cousins with her too. But still… Bakura stopped her and she was almost taken back by it. The surprise showed on her face that he didn’t want her to go. From his jump to his hasty movement her gold eyes followed him. “I won’t?” The door slamming made her jump and laugh nervously. After Dante got kicked out she looked at Bakura. “I probably honestly don’t even have to tell Eldora… if he knew her well enough… He would know she sees everything. Well almost… Maybe he’s lucky.”

When he begged her not to leave she was taken back again and gave a gentle smile. “I’ll stay… It’s alright.” She reassured him once he apologized. Sitting back down she drank another glass of wine and poured them another glass. “Yes, he blew up the advanced alchemy classroom. I was one of the professors that helped evacuate it.” After a few moments, she laughed hard. “Probably because he’s older than the school is and I think him and the headmistress had a fling several thousand years ago before she was headmistress. He’s completely gone senile though in comparison to her. But the affair they had was merely rumors and no one knows if its true.”

After a few hours of drinking and laughing at every possible thing they could think of Taimi looked out the window. “I need to go Bakura. It is really late and that asshole has been following me home lately.” She went to stand up and the alcohol hit her all at once. “Oh dear…” It was the last thing she managed to get out of her mouth as her legs went like jelly under her and she fell on the floor laughing. “I think we might have drunk too much.”

Bakura didn’t care too much about Dante’s logic nor did he pay any heed for him telling Taimi not to tell Eldora. “She probably did see him, but fortunately for him, he’s not pestering her at the moment. Though I think that will change sooner than later tonight.” he hadn’t wished to come off as forcefully as he had, but they were having such a nice night. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’s had one of those that didn’t have to do with work. A smile smile was thrown her way when she said that she would stay. He took to more of the wine while listening to the enigma that was Professor Nome. Sadly, it really didn’t surprise him to learn that he blew up yet another part of the academy- the old kook had some sort of unintentional addiction to that sort of trouble.

A bubbly feeling started to arise in him as he took some more sips and chuckled. “Maybe…that would explain everything. Nome’s been on this realm since its beginning far as we know. Hell, he’ll probably outlive us all.” The bubbly feeling grew as his head felt lighter than it was, still he was too comfortable to stop in his drinking as he matched Taimi and took to the fresh glass she prepared for him. “Do you think they are still going at it? They could be, I mean how many times should he had gotten fired yet? Maybe he’s still got it.” Bakura laughed even harder as he let thoughts that normally wouldn’t come across his mind flow freely from the mouth.

Gods knew how just how much time had passed as they had their fun, and by now he looked at her with a stupor look on his face before looking towards the window to see that it was late into the night. “Wait, Markus is stalking you? That horse’s ass?” He slouched on one side of the sofa he’d been seeing in and thought about it. Well as much as he could while drunk. “Then I shall walk you home”, he declared loudly while holding his near empty glass in the air. “And if he shows up…I’ll deck him for ya!” He watched Taimi get up only to fall on the floor and then downed the last bit of wine. It was clear that she had too much to drink tonight but he couldn’t tell that he did as well.

“Nonsense! I’m perfectly fine, watch!” He kicked himself off the sofa only to immediately fall face first onto the floor. “Nevermind”, he muttered when the conclusion didn’t favor his hypothesis and slowly crawled his away back up. “Come on, Taimi. You can’t go nowheres and I can’t takes you home, so you are going to stay in my room and I, on the sofa!” He offered her a hand to help her up and after some drunk navigation around his house, they reached his bedroom. Carefully he led her towards the bed, “See, this is where I sleep”, he chuckled stupidly before he fell back onto the bed and plopped onto his elbows. Oh he was going to pay for this in the morning- a killer headache was the last thing he needed. But he would worry about that when they crossed that bridge. He patted to the left side of him, “Come over here and I can tuck you in, nice and safe.”

For a moment Taimi started to choke on her wine while laughing at Bakura. They were both a bit more loosened up now thanks to the wine. “Maybe so. She has her needs I’m sure. She isn’t as devout to the alchemy society as she used to be.” She chuckled a bit more as she thought about it. She drained more from her glass. “Maybe he’s just good at sex and just a terrible lover? Maybe that’s why she doesn’t say anything. I mean it’s not like the other professors are secretive about their affairs with each other. If they are still going at it… It’s the most well-kept secret in the history of the academy!”

Taimi was a bit shy about the fact she couldn’t defend herself against the elder alchemist. She was talented in magic but he was more so. He could outmatch her and she knew that from the tournament a few years ago. “Yeah, has been for a few decades. I was going to take care of it but I’m not strong enough… He doesn’t appear to be hurting anything.” But it was the sound of her voice that showed him she was lying. She just wanted to be strong after all. She perked up at him and laughed. “Will you protect me twenty-four seven for me?”

Soon they were both on the floor and she was rolling around laughing. “Nevermind is all you have to say?” She chuckled more as she came back up with him. “Fine, fine. Most chivalrous professor award goes to Professor Bakura.” She laughed a bit more as they helped each other. “I see that. That’s a bed,” she joked with him. “I thought you slept in a chair at an alchemy table.”

Nice and safe sounded nice but as she stepped forward she tripped over her dress and landed on him. She played her head nestled into him. “You are warm.” It was clear she wasn’t about to go away where. His heart was making it easy to close her eyes before she shook her head softly. Lifting her head up she missed his cheek and kissed his lips. In too much of a drunken mindset, she didn’t really care as she chuckled lightly. “Thank you for taking care of me Bakura.”