"Jou offered to drive us home!" Mokuba suddenly pointed out as the sleek elevator doors slid shut.

"That's... nice." As friendly as the guy seemed, Seto couldn't help but be a little suspicious of someone so willing to help out a near-stranger.

Jou gave a good-natured shrug. "Eh, it's not a big deal; Uncle usually lends out the Mazda to any customers or coworkers that need it. But in this case, it also comes with a chauffeur!" He smirked and gave a cheesy 'thumbs-up' as he spoke.

Seto rolled his eyes before instructing his brother in a low stage whisper: "Don't give him a tip."

"Hey!"

Mokuba snorted as the two older teens began bickering and bantering back-and-forth. 'Oh sure, and I'm the kid here... I just hope Jou doesn't drop Seto when it's time to get him from the chair to the car!'

Thankfully, Mokuba's fears weren't realized, as Jou helped him carefully guide his bandaged sibling into the passenger seat.

The ride back was fairly quiet- Jou was a decent driver, which rather surprised the older teen. Seto watched the blonde casually guiding the silver sedan across multiple highway lanes. 'Hn... still, I'll need to have a talk with Mokuba later about accepting rides from strange men...'

Less than half an hour later, the unusual trio had reached the dilapidated apartment complex where the brothers lived. But rather than leave, Jou even helped his recovering co-worker and his younger brother up the steps to their unit.

"All set?" The 'chauffeur' kindly asked as Mokuba turned the rusted lock and opened the door.

"We'll be fine!" The black-haired pre-teen promised cheerfully. Evidently the promise of not spending another night on his own was upping the kid's mood.

But Jou didn't look convinced. "You sure you don't want me to order you guys a pizza or somethin'?"

"We have our own meal planned." Seto replied curtly. Ordering out was expensive, and he'd made an effort to buy the best ingredients possible as soon as he'd gotten his first paycheck from 'Uncle Hige.'

Jou gave a slight tilt of his head as he pointedly added, "er, okay... but can ya cook? I mean, the doc seemed pretty strict about you restin' and stayin' off yer feet..."

Seto felt like face-palming when he realized the absurdity of his previous statement. If he wasn't supposed to stand for more than a few minutes at a time, of course he wouldn't be able to cook. And he didn't want Mokuba handling things in the kitchen unsupervised, either.

Reluctantly, the brunette bowed his head and uttered a phrase he'd never even imagined speaking. "I... suppose we could use a helping hand with tonight's meal..."

Jou happily agreed, and Mokuba led Seto to the old couch to set him up. He fluffed the worn throw pillows as best he could around his lanky sibling. "There! Is that comfortable, big brother?"

"That's fine, Mokuba- wait, what's that smell?" The Kaibas both scrunched their noses at the foul stench now emanating from the tiny kitchenette.

Apparently, despite his own insatiable appetite, Jou was far from a master chef.

"Oops!" The blonde grinned sheepishly as he scraped the remains of... something into the trash. "That came out a little darker than intended..."

Seto struggled to hold his tongue as the destroyed food was tossed out. 'We're all gonna starve.'

"Looks like we might hafta grab some take-out... you guys like Chinese?" Jou glanced toward the reclining outpatient as he dug out his cell phone. But before Seto could retort, he was interrupted by a third voice.

"I can cook." Mokuba proudly declared.

"Eh? You sure about that?" Jou eyed the black-haired tween with suspicion. Seto felt himself growing annoyed- why was the blonde being so stubborn when the food he'd just disposed of was darker than Mokuba's hair?!

"Yep!"

"Well, if it's okay with your big brother..." The blonde glanced meaningfully towards the resting teen.

'Oh, he was just being cautious... hm.' Seto nodded once before adding: "Mokuba's very good in the kitchen."

Jou broke into a grin and turned back to the younger brother. "Awright then, what's the firs' rule of cookin'?"

"Always wash your hands first!" Mokuba quickly exclaimed.

Jou blanched before laughing embarrassedly. "Er, right! An' what's the second rule?"

Seto nearly facepalmed. '...I'm going to die by the tainted hands of 'Typhoid Joey' over here...' He watched with trepidation as the two younger males began preparing a basic meal of pasta and salad.

The two unhindered males eventually struck up a small conversation as they worked, with Seto half-listening in.

"So Mokuba- you're in fourth grade now, right? Do you have any good teachers?"

"Yeah, it's ok- I like my science and math teachers, but our gym teacher's a pain!" The pre-teen pulled a face as he helped fill the pasta pot with uncooked noodles. "He thinks we should all have more muscles than brains!"

Jou laughed as he moved the pot to the old stove-top. "I guess he forgets you can exercise both!"

Mokuba nodded as he returned to the fridge. After a moment of digging, the boy came back out of the chilly appliance holding an apple and some sandwich meats. Jou seemed bewildered by the tween's additional fare- surely the kid wasn't that hungry?!

Catching the blonde's look, Mokuba grinned and pulled a flattened paper bag out of another drawer. "I usually make my lunch for school around this time, too- that way I don't forget later." He opened the bag with a flourish before dropping in the apple.

"Oh, gotcha!" Jou checked the uneven cabinet doors, and soon found some fresh bread for the grade-schooler's sandwich.

Though the haze of the hospital's drugs was wearing off, Seto Kaiba still felt a bit disjointed as he lay on the battered couch. 'I hope I can eat without my stomach rejecting things... although I suppose the chances of that were greatly lessened once Jou surrendered his position as 'head chef.'' Despite his wounds, the brunette let out a faint snicker of amusement. 'But at least he's doing well with supervising- I suppose I owe the goof quite a bit of gratitude...'

The bruised man sighed as he tried to relax. His mind began wandering as he hazily listened in on the two 'kitchen workers.'

He was rather surprised by Jou's next inquiry.

"So... are there any girls in your class?"

Mokuba didn't seem to catch the blonde's drift, and he shrugged. "Uh, yeah? It's a public school, so we're integrated..."

"Oh-ho?" Jou teased as he placed a chocolate pudding cup inside the paper lunch bag. "And are any of them cute?"

Seto nearly snorted- he knew Mokuba was still in the 'girls are icky' stage, and he didn't-

"...maybe."

Two blue eyes blinked in disbelief. 'Wait, what?!'

Mokuba's face was slightly flushed as he looked aside- clearly, he had a crush.

"Ah, I see- then, here!" Jou suddenly tossed an extra dessert pack and a spare disposable spoon into the lunch bag.

"Huh?" The preteen glanced at the take-along meal in confusion. "Jou, why'd you put two pudding cups in there?"

"Simple- your absentminded-brother over there threw in an extra one while making your lunch, and you're just too full to finish two cups by yourself!" The blonde winked at the black-haired boy, but only received a blank stare in response.

"Huh?!"

"The best way to get closer to a girl is to talk to her. The second best way is chocolate. An' this- is both!" Jou grinned as the younger brother caught on.

"So, then I'd have a reason to sit and talk with her..." Two grey eyes blinked in stunned realization. "Jou, you're a genius!"

'Surely words that have rarely been spoken... but the dog does have a point...' Seto frowned. His only sibling was growing up far faster than he'd realized.

Seto really wasn't looking forward to 'the talk.' He'd never had an interest in girls, and the internet was rather... trollish when it came to information on that particular subject.

'Just another headache along the road ahead...' but the elder teen pushed aside such negative thoughts as Mokuba eagerly brought him a plate full of pasta and a small salad bowl. Thankfully, the outpatient's stomach was mostly quelled by the time they all tucked in (Jou and Mokuba sat at the small table not far from the patient) and everyone enjoyed the meal immensely.

"I haven'th had thith much pastha in ages!" Mokuba happily declared through a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Hey, hey; don't talk with yer mouth full- you could choke!" Jou warned playfully. "An' then you'd have the lamest obituary of all time- 'Boy chokes on oodles of noodles!'"

"Better than 'Man crushed by vending machine!'"

"What?!" The auto worker snorted as he insisted, "don't be silly, that's never happened!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

The outpatient sighed as he listened to the younger males playfully bickering back-and-forth. 'I suppose tonight could have gone a lot worse...' The exhausted teen gave a faint yawn. Seto Kaiba felt his mind begin to slow down as he sank into some much-needed sleep. 'At least the dog can be trusted... though just not with a skillet...' The brunette drifted off, leaving Mokuba and Jou to finish off the remaining pasta.