Thu-thump…
Thu-thump…
Thu-thump…
Seto Kaiba very slowly opened his eyes and waited patiently for the mush of colors in front of him to resolve themselves into shapes.
Thu-thump…
Finally, the swirling mixture of pigments solidified into a coffee table, an ancient TV, an even older armchair, a rug, and a pale yellow wall. Where the heck was he? For some reason he had suspected he would wake up dead, but he couldn't remember why. Anyway, Seto highly doubted that this was the sort of place you ended up in after you died. It probably also wasn't possible to have pounding headaches after you were dead either. Maybe he should start paying more attention to his health like Mokuba was always saying. Groaning, he tried to shift his position so that he could see more of the room he was in. Good gods, what had he ever done to deserve this?
Shall I list the ways?
Go… away
Good morning to you, too.
Please… just… shut up.
Oh my gods! You said please! Should I have a heart attack now?
No, 'cause that would involve me having one, too.
Ah! So you've finally accepted me!
No, I just want you to be quiet – you're making my headache worse.
Hey, be happy we're even alive.
'We're'?
You die, I die.
Oh.
Seto attempted to prop himself up on his elbows and immediately regretted it. A clashing layer of colors drifted and swirled across his vision again. Ugh, he felt terrible. How was he supposed to go to work like this?
You don't.
Did I ask for your opinion?
Nope, I give it out for free – something you wouldn't know about.
The colors faded back to normal and Seto decided that he must be in some sort of living room. Now if he could just remember where this was… The answer to his unspoken question came thumping down the stairs, the noise making Kaiba clutch at his temples before looking up again.
Joey Wheeler walked into the kitchen, too preoccupied to notice Kaiba watching him groggily from the couch. His stomach trumped everything; including Kaiba, except of course his baby sister, Serenity. Serenity had still been asleep though when he'd checked on her a few minutes ago, though, so for now the growling in his stomach was the foremost thing in his mind. About three minutes later, Joey was munching on several slices of peanut butter slathered toast. That was when he heard the faint, disoriented voice coming from the next room.
"Wheeler?"
Crud! He'd forgotten he'd left moneybags on the couch. At least the creep wasn't yelling yet which was what he had sort of been expecting. Grabbing a plate, Joey took his toast, one piece still in his mouth, and headed for the living room and the probably enraged CEO waiting there for him. Joey stopped and blinked in the door way. Or not. Well, Kaiba at least appeared to be waiting for him… sort of.
The battered looking teen was staring blankly at the pale yellow wall that separated the room he was in from the kitchen. His normally emotionless mask was starting to show signs of cracking and for some odd reason, Joey found this vaguely frightening. This was Kaiba. He wasn't supposed to have emotions or feel pain. Or save Serenity from being killed and get badly beaten up in the process. Moneybags was supposed to be a cold, heartless, robotic jerk – which Kaiba was having the audacity of not being at the moment.
There were two livid purple bruises on his face – one on his jaw, the other on his cheek – and a nasty cut which Joey had put a band-aid on last night right above the CEO's left eyebrow. The burnet winced as he shifted his head so that he could look at Joey directly, if rather blearily. Even weirder than seeing Kaiba black and blue and far less than coherent, to Joey at least, was seeing him conscious and not wearing one of his famous trench coats… because Serenity had it. Honestly, Joey was starting to wonder if those jerks hadn't somehow damaged his sister's head – how could anybody become so attached to a coat in less than twenty-four hours? For that matter, one of Kaiba's coats??? The only good thing that Joey could think of to do with that coat was jump up and down on it for a couple of hours in a mud puddle and then shred the thing into tiny pieces and burn it (though he hadn't told his sister any of this because she didn't know yet that it had been Kaiba who had saved her).
Gee, you've really got it in for this guy, don't you?
It's Kaiba.
So? Big whoop.
Moneybags is a jerk!
Says the teen who used to be in a gang and bully Yugi.
Hey! I changed! Unlike some people.
I hate to sound like a broken record – no, I take that back, I love to sound like a broken record – but I believe we already had this conversation… last night. Now what was it? Something involving Serenity…?
Hmpf.
Give him a piece of toast.
WHAT?!?
Give him a piece of toast.
No! My toast!
Oh, give me a break! It just a piece of toast!
He can get his own!
What, with your toaster?
Sure? Why not?
The toaster that is believed to have originated from the seventh circle of hell?
Uh…
And nearly killed Tristan?
Well…
THAT toaster?!?
Okay, maybe not the toaster, but he can still use the oven.
May I remind you that the oven which resides in your kitchen has been CONFIRMED to come from the seventh circle of hell and can only be safely operated by Serenity?
Oh yeah…
Last time you tried to use it involved a fire extinguisher, an actual call to the fire department, and the absent of your eyebrows for the next several weeks. It's a wonder they even grew back at all.
Alright, alright, I'll give him a piece of the stupid toast.
Grumbling inwardly Joey selected the smallest piece of toast on his plate and thrust it at Kaiba.
"Toast?" he offered.
Seto stared at the proffered piece of crisped bread blankly his eyes still not quite focusing correctly. He looked slowly back between the toast and Joey, as if not quite sure of what to make of the situation before slowly leaning forward and removing the offering from the other boy's hand. Sitting back Seto continued to give the foodstuff he was holding an extremely skeptical look and then he began to nibble at a corner. This simple action seemed to take up all the teenage CEO's concentration. However, none of this was registering in Joey's brain; he was too focused on the red-brown blood smear on the back of his couch that had been exposed when Kaiba sat forward.
"Ack! Kaiba, ya're bleeding all over the back of my couch!!!"
"Huh?" Seto turned slowly and painfully to look behind himself. "So I am – very observant." He returned his concentration to eating.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get blood stains out of furniture?!?" Ignoring the tone of Joey's voice, Seto just nodded his head slightly and instantly regretted not using a verbal response as the pain that shot through his temples made him wince. Joey waited a couple of minutes for Kaiba to do something else, like move, but when nothing happened, except that Kaiba ate more of the corner of toast, Joey decided to change tactics. It was obvious that moneybags wasn't operating on all cylinders at the moment so he'd just have to pretend – for now – that the guy was human.
Putting his remaining toast on the coffee table but safely out of Kaiba's reach, Joey left and for the second time in less than twenty-four hours returned with the first aid kit.
"Alright, take your shirt off," said Joey with an air of resignation. This seemed to finally fully cut through to the young CEO's brain.
"What?"
"I said, take your shirt off."
"No!"
Joey folded his arms across his chest,
"Look, obviously I missed a fairly large cut on your back last night so now you're bleeding on my couch and the only way I can bandage it is if you take your shirt off. Believe me, I'm not particularly thrilled about this either, but get over it already!"
Kaiba crossed his own arms and attempted to scowl but thwarted by the bruises on his face so he settled for glowering rather unconvincingly.
"I'm not taking my shirt off."
"Right, then we're going to have to do this the hard way." Several minutes and a brief struggle which Joey actually won later, Seto was going through the humiliation of literally having the shirt pried off his back as Joey pulled the article of clothing in question off over his head.
"When I'm walking better you are dead, mutt."
"Whateva."
The shirt was tossed out of its owner's reach as Joey rummaged in the first aid kit for some antiseptic. Exhausted from the fight over the shirt Kaiba lay down flat on his stomach on the couch temporarily giving up on the whole situation until the world stopped spinning. Joey was just turning back from the aid kit when he let a startled noise and dropped the rather crinkled tube of disinfectant he had been holding.
"Oi, Kaiba, what the heck have you been doin' to your back?!?"
"Nothing," mumbled Seto, who was still rather absorbed in trying to get the world to stop moving. He looked down at the carpet instead of up at Joey.
"Nothin'? I hardly call whatever happened to give you those scars nothin'!!!"
"How about, it's none of your business?"
"Nope, try again." Joey folded his arms and waited expectantly raising an eyebrow at the boy on the couch. Seto stared resolutely at the floor, mouth firmly shut. With a sigh, Joey rolled his eyes wondering why he, of all people, was stumbling across evidence that moneybags might be at least partially human after all. He didn't care and he didn't want to know and worst of all he was starting to get curious! Argh!
Of course you care, of course you want to know, and of course you're curious! You've seen scars like that before and you know where they come from. Anyone would be wondering where one of the most prominent and youngest businessmen in the country got those from.
This whole line of thought is your fault, isn't it?
Once again – of course, need I be any more obvious?
I don't give a damn what's happened to that jerk.
If that were really true, would I be talking? I am a part of you, you know.
Your opinion doesn't count.
Really? I find that extremely offensive.
Good, it was supposed to be.
You're curious and you know it!
Oh, shut up, will you?!?
No. Talk to him.
No.
But you know you can get him to talk…
Huh? Are you crazy?
Only as crazy as you, but back to my original point, you do know what to say.
Too bad, I've got toast to eat. I'm busy.
Good grief, you're annoying!
And proud of it!
Picking up the tube of disinfectant he had dropped, Joey went about quickly and efficiently cleaning and bandaging the cut before he returned his attention to his now cold breakfast. Grumbling to himself, he grabbed the plate and went to finish eating in the kitchen. Kaiba watched him go silently from his position on the couch. Joey missed the very quiet sound of feet on the stairs due to the rather foul mood he was now in or he would have waited in the living room a few moments longer if he had. Seto, who had heard the footsteps, glanced up again to see Serenity trying very carefully to negotiate the stairs a very determined look on her face.
Once she reached the bottom, she shuffled into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Seto looking exhausted from the endeavor. Only then did Serenity notice who was sitting next to her.
"Oh, Seto! I didn't see you. I'm sorry – I was a little too focused on walking and wasn't really paying attention. Joey said you had already left." Her voice was very soft and tired but she smiled at him slightly despite the bruises on her face.
She called me Seto, he thought. Guess the mutt didn't tell her who I am yet. It occurred to him that she had a very nice smile – not that that was important to him in any way, shape, or form so why he was even bothering to notice was beyond the young CEO. Then it also occurred to him that she was waiting for an explanation or at least a response of some kind. Oh, yeah…
"Well, I did leave," Seto paused, unsure of what to say next. Telling somebody who was already in poor physical condition that you had blacked out on her front lawn – most likely causing her a great deal more distress – probably wasn't such a good idea. Besides, if he upset Serenity, Wheeler would probably try to kill him and might actually succeed too considering Seto had already lost the battle over the shirt.
However, he needn't have worried about what to say next though because at that moment Joey Wheeler returned from the kitchen with the intent of checking on Serenity again. The blonde nearly had a minor heart attack when he saw his baby sister sitting next to Kaiba on the couch, but this time refrained from yelling (just barely) for Serenity's sake.
"Ren, you're awake! …Why are you sitting next to him?"
"Oh, good morning, Joey!" The auburn haired girl shifted so that she could see her brother better from where she was sitting. "I was just saying to Seto that I was surprised he was still here – I thought you said that he had left."
Joey shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. He hated lying to his sister, but he hated upsetting her even more and the blonde was fairly sure that admitting that he had kicked Kaiba out of the house only to have him blackout on the lawn would definitely upset Serenity. So now it was time for the carefully casual lie. "Well, Sis, he did leave, but it started raining even harder – I mean, it was really teaming out – and he came back and ask if he could stay the night. Apparently his place is a bit of a walk from here."
"Oh." Serenity thought about this for a moment and then seemed to accept it. "Have you looked outside yet? The entire street's flooded!"
At this statement, Joey nearly choked on his remaining half of his toast and then ran to the window, flinging the curtains aside. He stared in horror at the scene in front of him. The road had disappeared beneath several inches of brownish water and there were large puddles stretching across the front yards of various houses. Overhead the clouds were slate gray and still dropping copious amounts of rain on the city below them. Noooooo!!! How was supposed to get rid of moneybags now? This wasn't exactly ideal driving weather! Maybe he could call Mokuba and get him to send around one of the KC choppers….
A/N: Hehehe… poor Joey! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Strangely enough, I was originally intending for this story to only be a oneshot… But I just had too much fun with it to leave it at that! Thanks for reading!