Chapter Sixteen – Chit-chat with Uncle Max
The sun was shining brightly in the sky and a beautiful aroma filled the air of the small apartment, wafting to the noses of all those in slumber. One by one, they were very slowly awakening to the smell of so many different foods.
Food! Joey sat up and followed his nose to the small kitchen adjacent to the living room where they all had fallen into peaceful slumber. "Serena?"
"Hi Joey! I thought cooking breakfast might wake everyone up. It's already ten," she smiled at him excitedly. It was as if she didn't remember any of the events of the previous night.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping or something? Not that I mind you cooking 'cause I am hungry," he said, his stomach grumbling. I thought that she had passed out last night. Kaiba isn't gonna like this.
Serena just smiled at him and went back to her cooking. She slapped Joey's hand away when he tried to reach for what she was cooking and told him to wake the others because breakfast was almost done.
"How long have you been up?" he asked, turning to look at her before he left the kitchen.
"Four hours!" she chirped happily, giggles bubbling out of her like an overflowing spring.
"Okay," he said hesitantly, rolling his eyes at her joyfulness. "Wakeup!!!!" he yelled out to the five sleeping figured and smiled to himself when four of them jumped up.
"Joey, did you have to yell so loud?" Téa asked grumpily. "I was enjoying my sleep."
"Looks like someone still is," Serenity giggled, pointing to Kaiba.
"He'll need it if he's going to battle Jared," Yugi said quietly and followed the others to the kitchen.
"Someone's been busy," Tristan said as he noticed all the food sitting at the table and a chipper Serena washing the dirty dishes.
"Help yourselves; I'm sure there's plenty. Actually, Tristan and Joey, you two go last since you eat a lot," she said, a wide grin on her face as she placed the dry dishes away and went to find Kaiba when she realized he wasn't in the kitchen.
"Seto," she whispered softly in his ear, giggling at how cute he was when sleeping. "I don't know if I have the heart to wake him up," she whispered to herself, looking at him again. "But I think he'll want breakfast before Joey and Tristan eat it all…"
Two hands snuck out from under the blanket and grabbed Serena, pulling her down to the ground and wrapping tightly around her waist. Everyone seemed to ignore the slight scream from her lips as they were all engrossed in the delicious food.
Serena's face lit up brightly as she felt Kaiba nuzzle his head against her neck. "Morning beautiful," he whispered tenderly in her ear, causing her to shiver.
"Good morning Seto," she replied, blushing more as she felt a kiss being placed on her cheek.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he asked softly.
"Nope. I woke up and I feel just great!" she exclaimed, giggling at nothing. "This feels nice," she murmured as she laid her head against his chest, ignoring his slight blush.
"I think I'd sit like this, holding you, for a very long time…except I smell something coming from the kitchen," he said, trying to hold in the quiet grumbles coming from his stomach.
Serena laughed, weaseled out of his grasp, and stood up, pulling him with her. "I made breakfast, but there might not be any left since I released Joey and Tristan." She heard Kaiba groan and looked at his face. His eyes had narrowed and he held that cool expression once more; more than likely due to the fact that he realized where he was, who he was with, and what had happened the previous night.
"Why are you so happy?" he asked suddenly, not making an effort to move to the kitchen.
"What do you mean?" She batted her eyelashes and kissed his chin, smiling innocently.
"Never mind," he mumbled, a tint of red appearing on his face. "But…" he said, pulling her closer to him, and smiling slightly down into her eyes. Without saying anymore, he cupped her chin in his hand and stared into her soul. I'm tired of fighting this emotion inside of me. I'm already fighting for her life; I might as well show a hint as to why.
Slowly and softly, he brushed his lips against hers, unprepared for what she had decided to do if he ever kissed her again.
"Don't stop," she murmured, kissing him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
He slid his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss, all the while, murmuring, "Then I won't."
"Get a room, I'm losing my appetite," Joey teased from the kitchen, everyone else watching on in amusement.
The two jumped apart from each other, both realizing what they were doing and where. Everyone in the kitchen had up close viewing to their intimate moment, and that very fact caused the two to blush, Kaiba more than Serena.
"I don't think that can happen, Joey," Serena teased back, walking into the kitchen, Kaiba close behind her, glaring at Joey for interrupting their moment.
That dog had better never do that again. I don't care if he is her friend, the next time he does something like that will be the last, he thought angrily to himself, sitting down next to Serena and taking some of the food that was left.
"Yeah, Joey's appetite is insatiable," Serenity said, a few giggles escaping her lips.
"Hey Yug', are you gonna eat that?" Joey asked, pointing to the food sitting on Yugi's plate.
"Uh…nope; here you go Joey," Yugi said, smiling innocently as he handed his plate to Joey.
"Oh great, more food!" Hungrily, he dug into the food, ignoring the looks of disgust from the females at the table.
Such a mutt, Kaiba thought to himself, annoyed at the childish behavior.
Oh come on Seto, lighten up, Serena spoke to his mind, amused at the look he gave her. "What?" she asked innocently, smiling wide into his deep azure eyes.
"Nothing," he mumbled, biting into a pancake, his mind rambling on and on about how he couldn't believe he was eating with his opponent's friends. Then again, Serena was the reason for it, and for that very purpose, he could manage. How can someone have this much power over me? It's as if I'm in…no, impossible.
What's impossible? Serena had entered his mind again, but still seemed to concentrate on her food. Since learning the day before how to connect her mind to another and speak to it, she just couldn't help herself.
Serena! Kaiba looked at her again, narrowing his eyes. He was angry she was invading his thoughts, but the look she gave him showed she didn't really care.
Alright, fine, I'll stop listening. But I'm still going to wonder about what could be impossible. After last night, I'm not sure anything is impossible anymore. With that said, she slowly stood up from the table and headed out of the kitchen.
"I have to call my uncle," she called over her shoulder, ignoring cold look from Kaiba.
He's changed, just give him a chance, her mind whispered to his before she unlocked their connection, humming as she went to the phone to place her call; she was unaware that everyone tuned their ears to her, eagerly waiting for what she would be saying to him.
~*~*~*~*~
"Mr. Pegasus, it's your niece," Henry said, holding out the phone to the eager gentleman.
"Serena!" Pegasus exclaimed. He had just spoken to her recently, but this call was most certainly unexpected.
"Hi Uncle Max! How are you?" Serena asked politely, knowing she had to get all the formalities out of the way before she could continue with her original purpose.
"Did you hear that? She called him 'Uncle Max,'" Tristan whispered to Joey, the two of them snickering when they thought of Pegasus.
"I'm fine darling, just fine. How is the dueling going? I hope those cards help you. I must say, this call is most certainly unexpected," he paused, worry creasing on his brows. "Is there something wrong?"
"Um…I've got five locator cards so far, one more and I'll be in the finals. And I have to thank you once again Uncle Max; those cards mean a lot to me. But…something has come up and I need to speak with you. It's about…my…Jared," she spoke quietly into the phone.
"Jared? You do know. And all this time, I thought you had never known," Pegasus replied, more to himself. "What is it you need to know?"
Serena took a deep breath. As far as she knew, her uncle knew nothing of Blood of Darkness, but it was worth a shot. "I need to know about his induction," she said simply, hoping it wouldn't raise suspicion if he knew nothing.
"Induction?" he asked, surprised. Was the information he had learned so long ago true? "Into what?"
"Forget I asked," Serena replied, laughing nervously.
"Blood of Darkness," Pegasus said, hate for the meaning beyond the words in his voice. Serena nearly dropped the phone when she realized she'd heard him right.
"You know!" she cried out, causing her friends to look on with questions. "Uncle Max, I have to know. Please, tell me," she pleaded. "There isn't much time."
I don't know why I'm telling her, it will only hurt her to know the truth about her father. But she does have a right to know... "Alright, I will tell you Serena. First, do you have a—"
"Sure, you gave me one. Let me pull it out," she said, interrupting his question. "I'll be right back." She hurried into the room she had been using and brought out a briefcase. Pulling out the contents, she found her laptop and the proper wires. "Alright, back," she smiled into the phone.
"What is she doing?" Joey asked, his question directed to no one in particular.
"It's obvious she is connecting the phone to the laptop so she can see her uncle when she's speaking to him," Kaiba replied, rolling his eyes at Joey's ignorance.
"No way!" This time, it was Tristan who spoke. His eyes were wide as he watched Serena hooking up wires to her laptop and the phone.
I am surrounded by ignorant fools! Kaiba figured it would be best if he ignored the unintelligent conversation that seemed to circulate around the table; and rather he focus on Serena to make sure she was hooking up the right wires so she didn't blow a fuse or worse yet, injure herself.
"Alright, all hooked up, opening up the phone window," Serena said into the phone. "I'm going to turn it to the microphone on the laptop now Uncle Max." With that said, she put the phone down and switched to the small microphone on her laptop and looked into the tiny camera sitting on the top of the screen. She smiled and waved at her uncle as she watched him wave back.
Serena turned away from the screen and looked into the kitchen, nearly falling over with the intent stares of her friends. "Oh no…no, no, no!" She cried out, looking at their begging puppy eyes, Kaiba being the only one who didn't seem all that interested in testing out the phone. Serena growled softly. "Fine, come here."
Pegasus chuckled when he saw some familiar faces behind his niece. One in particular stood out to him.
"Uncle Max, I'm certain you remember Yugi," Serena said, smiling brightly.
"Ah yes, Yugiboy, I've heard you remain the top ranked duelist. I must say, I am very impressed. I'm thankful my niece has such a wonderful duelist like you as a friend," Pegasus replied, meaning every word.
"Alright, you guys saw it. Now…I really need to talk to my uncle…so shoo!" Serena commanded before Yugi had a chance to reply and watched her friends walk down the hallway.
"Alright! But I'm warning you Yug', this time, I'm going to beat you!" Serena heard Joey say as they disappeared into Téa's room. She smiled to herself and looked back at the screen.
"Uncle Max, is everything okay?" she questioned, noticing a strange look in Pegasus' eyes.
"So Kaibaboy, we meet again."
Oh boy…Wait, how does he know… Serena's thoughts were cut off when she felt a pair of hands rest on her shoulders. Oh. "Umm…Kaiba, you know my uncle. Uncle Max, you know Kaiba." What else could I say? I feel like such an idiot! Oh! I know!
Focusing on connecting their minds, Serena smiled innocently at her Uncle who was still staring at Kaiba. Kaiba…give him a chance. He's changed. Please…Seto.
Kaiba growled quietly and smirked into the camera. "Yes, I've had the uh, pleasure, of knowing your…uncle."
"Kaiba is the host of the Battle City Tournaments, but I'm sure you knew that Uncle Max," Serena said, trying to place the subject on safer grounds.
"Ah yes. Tell me Kaibaboy, have you had the honor of dueling my niece? I must say, she is a fine duelist," Pegasus boasted, a delightful smile upon his face.
"No, I haven't…yet," Kaiba replied, his smirk growing. "I'll leave you to catch up with your…uncle…or whatever else you're doing," Kaiba said, turning to leave.
"No! I mean, this involves you too…at least, you should know this," Serena said, grabbing hold of his arm. "Come sit," she commanded, a smile in her eyes.
Reluctantly, Kaiba sat beside her in front of the laptop. This might not be so bad. Slowly, his slipped an arm around Serena and pulled her close to him, Pegasus watching the whole thing with slight repugnance.
I must say, I do think they have a little bit more than a friendship going on. But of all people, she chose Seto Kaiba? My dear Kaibaboy, if you hurt my niece, I may revert back to my old tricks. "So you want to know about your father's induction into Blood of Darkness?" Pegasus questioned, still unsure as to whether or not he should tell her.
"Yes, and if you don't tell me, I'll have Kaiba hack into the same files you discovered and I'll learn the hard way," Serena replied, smiling at the passing look of question on Kaiba's face.
"Very well." Pegasus typed into his laptop and pulled up a file. "Here is what you want to know," he said, sending the file to her.
Serena hesitated on opening it. "I'll call you back if I need to know anything else Uncle Max. Oh, and thanks again for those cards, they will be most helpful," she said softly.
"Of course, strong cards always prove to be useful. I will talk to you another time Serena. Oh, and Kaibaboy, do be careful, she is my niece after all. Dare to hurt her and you will pay dearly." With his warning, Pegasus disconnected the phone, a smirk on his face. Well I do hope she is careful with the information she learns; and with the man she plans on sharing it with.