Chapter 1

It hadn't been an easy decision, but with everything going on around them Joey had to keep both Crovell and Jo where he could see them. He hadn't given them his approval, but he had made it very plain to them that, for now at least, they had to stay put within the Southern Palace. This had come with some very strict ground rules, however. The first being they had to keep separate rooms. The second that they weren't allowed to be anywhere together without a chaperon. In fact most of the rules boiled down to the same point, until they'd sorted out the whole Mokuba/Serenity situation the pair of them were not, under any circumstances, to treat each other in a fashion unfitting for a brother and sister.

They'd both agreed without arguing, under their own conditioning that once the mess was sorted their situation would be properly evaluated and they would be told one way or another if they had his acceptance. Joey had agreed, but only because he got the feeling he was going to need the pair of them around sooner or later; especially when only one member of the trio was in any kind of fit state to do anything and even that was questionable.

It felt strangely ironic to him that one week ago Lus was the only one in trouble and now Taylor was a mute and Arados… Sighing heavily Joey gave a gentle tap on his youngest son's bedroom door, before pushing it open. Arados was lounging on his bed again, staring vacantly up at his ceiling. He barely even glanced in Joey's direction as he entered and gently closed the door behind him.

'You left here at all today?'

'Nope,' Arados shot him a look, 'and I'm not planning to either.'

'Oh come on, a little walk will do you good.'

'I'm not leaving this room.'

'Why not?'

'BECAUSE I CAN'T, OKAY?' The words burst out of Arados as he pulled himself up into an agitated sitting position. 'Every time I leave this room it just becomes worse and worse. So I figured, maybe I should just stay in here long enough for it to go away.'

'Arados…'

'Don't… don't Arados me,' he shook his head.

For a few heavy moments there was silence. Then Arados flopped back down upon his bed and returned his gaze to the ceiling.

'I've decided I'll perform my duty to this house.'

'What?' Joey frowned at him in confusion.

'This house needs a mortal heir, doesn't it? That's why neither me or my… or they can take over from you. And as you'll never be able to recognise an heir of… theirs, then it's down to me to provide one.'

'But…'

'My sexuality won't be an issue, proving an heir is too important.'

'So you're telling me you're going to marry out of convenience then?'

'Yeah, why not? This house needs an heir and I don't see any other way of providing one for it. In fact, you might as well pick my mate out for me, that way I don't have to go through the pretence of…'

'Arados, I can't do that…'

'You have to. Because even if I honestly thought I could date girls, it's not like I'm going to be able to leave this room and meet anyone is it? And even if I do…' he swallowed hard, leaving his sentence hanging.

'When did you know?' Sighing strangely Joey took up a position next to his son.

'When did I know what?' Arados face filled with a confused look.

'When did you know you were gay? Your mother seems to think there were signs there for a long time, but when did you know.'

'I think I always kind of knew, but the first time I was absolutely sure I was twelve and I was watching a match of that kid Jaden, you remember him, right?'

'I remember you went through a phase of never missing an opportunity to see him live or on TV. That started shortly after he and his friends left here, I thought it was because…' he hesitated for a moment. 'I don't know, I guess I thought you saw him as some kind of role model. You seemed to want to behave better in order to be like him.'

'I did see him as some kind of role model,' Arados tilted his head to one side. 'Then something… happened. Like I said, I was watching a match of his and…' he gave a strange laugh, 'I realised I had a crush on him. I totally freaked out and…'

'That's when your obsession with him stopped.'

'Yeah,' he shifted himself back into a sitting position. 'Like I said, I always kind of knew and I've never been uncomfortable with who I am. But that first time… that first realisation really got to me. I didn't tell anyone about it, not even Lus or Tay, because I was… I don't know… embarrassed or something I guess.'

'You could have talked to me about it; I'd have listened.'

'I know you would have Dad; I know a million other people who would have, but…'

'It's hard enough being a teen, living the kind of lives we do, without normal teenage hassles getting in the way, right?'

'Right.'

'Ara I don't want you marrying for convenience, I want you marrying for love. You have so much to give the right person, whoever they are, it seems a shame to waste it on breeding this house an heir.'

'But in order to meet anyone I have to be able to leave this room for more than a few hours without going completely crazy first,' Arados rolled his eyes. 'Because unless you're thinking about bringing possible suitors round here to meet me…'

'Hey, you know what, that doesn't sound like too bad an idea.'

'DAD!'

'I'm kidding,' he laughed, 'and you will get over this agoraphobia of yours Arados, I promise. And then you'll meet some cute boy and get married and… and then we'll see.'

'This house still needs heirs though,' he pulled a face, 'so even if I do find some cute boy, there's still the little problem that I can't have a child with him.'

'I don't know about that, Kaiba and Tristan seemed to manage it.'

'But that was only because…'

'I know,' he sighed. 'Look, there are plenty of ways in this modern age we're living in for a gay guy to have a kid without having to actually sleep with a woman. And I'm not talking about adoption.'

'That could be expensive though,' Arados bit his lip thoughtfully.

'That is still a good few years away yet,' Joey shot him an almost warning look, 'I'm way too young to be a grandfather.'

'Oh I don't know about that, you're already starting to look a little grey to me,' he laughed.

'Watch it,' his gaze narrowed, 'or I'll really start setting you up on blind dates in your bedroom.'

'Dad!'

'Of course I'll allow your mother to pick the guys out,' he smirked, 'I wouldn't have a clue what to look for.'

'Great,' Arados rolled his eyes again, 'and knowing Mum it'll be all the campest guys she can find.'

'And that's a bad thing?'

'Yes!' He shot his dad another look, before shaking his head and sighing. 'I want to be able to leave this room Dad.'

'I know you do,' his face filled with a sympathetic smile, 'and I'll do everything I can to help you beat this thing. You got that?'

'Yeah,' a weak half smile filled his face, 'I got it.'