Title: Conventions and Coffee

Author: Eralk Fang

Rating: PG-13 for Pegasus and alcohol.

Summary: Cynthia and Hal go to a convention. Casey-Ra has an interesting crush.

Notes: This was supposed to be Jun's Christmas gift. Now it's her New Year's gift and/or late Christmas gift. Took me forever to do.

-

The letter was thrown down on the table, almost visibly giving off lines of the wine smell. Malik covered his mouth and nose with his hand. "Sweet Horus!" He mumbled behind his hand.

Otogi's face couldn't make up its mind, so it settled for an expression of mild horror.

Without any ceremony, Seto cut open the envelope and pulled out a letter, in less time than it takes for a Kaiba to raise an eyebrow. The three men stared at it. Malik took the knife and pinned the letter down, careful not to touch it.

"What does it say?" Otogi asked.

Malik's eyes flicked side to side. "He wants to make sure we're giving his son a proper home... he'd like to know how his child's doing..." Malik looked up at Seto.

"Seto, he wants to have coffee tomorrow at four."

There are very few occasions when it is considered normal to shriek like a dying hyena. Having Pegasus J. Crawford coming to coffee is one of them.

-

"Dad?"

Seto looked up from his work. Malik and Otogi had since vacated the office, although the offending envelope was festering on the far side of his desk. Two of his sons were at the door- Casey-Ra and Cynthia. "Yes?"

"What was that noise?" Casey-Ra asked, elbowing Cynthia aside.

"Some very... unfortunate news. Mr. Crawford will be coming for coffee tomorrow."

Cynthia wilted. Casey-Ra... brightened. It was a frightening effect, as if someone had upped the contrast severely on a photograph of him in Photoshop. He even smiled a little. Cynthia was too busy wilting and Seto too busy reading the comics section hidden behind his latest memo. "Oh. Alright then." And with that, Casey-Ra almost floated out of the room.

Cynthia moved to his father's desk. "Dad! I have something very very very important to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"There's an anime convention at a hotel downtown and I can walk to it and everything I just need money for tickets and some for a costume please please please." Cynthia took a gulp of fresh air and was about to start again, when Seto nodded.

"Is it tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Good. It'd be better if you weren't here." Seto rifled around in his pants, and produced his wallet. This was an artifact, rarely seen by anyone outside the immediate family. The immediate family was actually not allowed to see it, but Otogi knew where it was hidden when.

Cynthia took the credit card handed to him, and floated out the doorway in a fashion similar to Casey-Ra's.

-

Not so deep into the bowels of the Kaiba mansion was Casey-Ra's room. It was a neat, uncluttered room, with plans of world domination filed under 'W' in the filing cabinet.

Shutting the door behind him, Casey-Ra floated in. His facial expression was... serene. He was positively glowing. He'd floated by Malik on the way to his room, and Malik was currently downing several Bloody Maries and muttering to Otogi that something was very, very wrong.

Casey-Ra glided over to his closet door, which he yanked open dramatically. On the other side of the closet door was a large poster of a one Pegasus J. Crawford. Casey-Ra sighed happily. "Oh darling, it won't be very long now." He touched the poster affectionately.

Downstairs, Malik demanded more Bloody Maries and Otogi joined him in the alcohol consumption.

-

Cynthia was utterly immune to the universe-bending happenings of his half-brother. He was in a similar state of bliss, although over something quite different.

He sighed happily as he dropped into his chair, and purchased tickets. His head was filled with dreamy little dreams of waltzing through a convention and winning every last costume award there was to have.

"You look too happy. What happened?"

Cynthia opened his eyes to find Hal sprawled across his bed, his pigtails everywhere. Remains of candy lay strewn about the bed, casualties of Hal's vicious sweet tooth. "I, little brother, am going to a convention."

"What's a convention?"

"It is a place where people go to enjoy something together. I am going to an anime convention. There will be lots of candy, and lots of comic books, and you won't be going." Cynthia smirked. He had the genetics for it, but it still looked weird.

Hal pouted and glared at Cynthia. "Is that what the Sailor Moon costume is for?" Hal gestured to Cynthia's closet.

"It's not a Sailor Moon costume! It's Claudius' costume, and I'm going as my original character. Get out!"

"No! DADDY!"

There was only one parent who still tolerated being called Daddy.

Otogi appeared at the door in a flurry of hair, vest, and dice. He was slightly- well, rather tipsy, because the amount of alcohol to drown out that feeling of impending doom is quite a lot. "What is it, Hal?"

"Cynthia won't let me go to his convention!" Hal wailed. Cynthia groaned.

"Cynthia! Don't leave your little brother out!"

"He's only my half-brother!"

Otogi glared. Cynthia eeped. Hal grinned behind his hands. "You will take Hal to that convention, you hear me?" Otogi turned his glare on the bedroom, and grabbed the nearest bottle of wine.

Otogi was already in the hallway before Cynthia could splutter out, "but!"

"No buts young man!"

Hal and Cynthia listened to Otogi make his way downstairs, and the cheer of a very tipsy Malik at the discovery of more booze.

-

With the next day's ominous dawn, the mansion was bizarrely quiet. Malik, Otogi, and Seto were lying in wait, barking orders at the occasional maid that passed by the library. Casey-Ra was in his room, tossing clothes about the room and generally being a drama queen. Drama pharaoh. Whatever. Cynthia was getting ready for the convention, and Hal was giving him no peace.

"People are gonna think you're a girl. Don't you have problems with that already?" Hal gave a piece of taffy a particularly vicious bite.

"Claudius disguises himself as a girl. The fanfic hasn't gotten to the point where he dramatically reveals that he is a boy to Sailor Venus. Can you help me with this zipper?"

The preparation seemed to drag on for hours. A few canisters of Aqua-Net perished, Hal managed to knock over a dresser zipping Cynthia's sailor fuku up, and Cynthia was finally ready.

Downstairs, they were ready as well. Malik. Seto, and Otogi had prepared for Pegasus' visit by downing a few martinis and telling the guards they could shoot if Pegasus made a move at someone underage and/or Seto. Coffee was being prepared by a kindly old maid, who would later discover a magical pedant, travel to the mystical world of the dragons, and save it. But that is another story.

Casey-Ra had shut himself in his room, rehearsing his lines and trying to make plans if things didn't go as planned. If they did, Pegasus would be his by nightfall... Casey-Ra took a moment to have a good cackle. Because sometimes, you just need to.

-

"Boys! The limo's ready!" Otogi called up the stairs. Hal bounded down with all the grace of a bear carrying a pack of bricks, and Cynthia made his way very delicately down the stairs, as one must do in a sailor fuku and heels. Malik covered Seto's eyes.

"You... look nice..." Otogi offered.

Cynthia wobbled over to Otogi and asked in a loud whisper, "Hal isn't bringing his stupid costume, is he?"

"At least mine has PANTS." Hal countered.

"No, of course not." Otogi waved away Cynthia's concern.

"Good!" Cynthia teetered towards the door. "Bye-bye!"

Otogi waited for a moment, before handing a green duffel bag to Hal. "Use it wisely, son."

Hal grinned and ran after Cynthia. Those trapped inside the house heard the limo screech away. Malik released his grip on Seto's head. They waited in silence for a few moments, and then heard another limo pull up to the mansion. Malik sighed, and turned to see Casey-Ra... smiling. And also downstairs when he was upstairs a scant few seconds earlier.

The doorbell rang ominously.

It was time.

-

Cynthia marched the best he could into the convention hall. Booths lined the walls as far as the eye could see, and Cynthia could even see a few Sailor Scout cosplayers. "My people!" Cynthia sighed happily. Hal chewed idly on his own hand.

Cynthia turned to his little half-brother. "Hal. I am going to leave you alone while I go win several costume contests. You will not leave the convention hall. You will not bite anyone. And most of all, you are not chasing short people or declaring you are a superhero, got it? Just try and be good."

Hal scoffed, but nodded. Cynthia patted Hal's head, and teetered off to find the next costume contest.

Hal stood alone for a minute, watching Cynthia walk off. When he was certain Cynthia was far away enough, he ducked into a bathroom. He quickly exited, having stepped into the women's bathroom, and entered the men's room.

He quickly changed into his costume. Otogi had made this costume for Hal. Hal changed the scrunchies on his pigtails to little green and red starry ones. He pulled on a truly hideous Christmas sweater; it even had little bells on the fluffy white cuffs. Green pants with little elves on them followed, and Hal put his clunky boots back on. To finish it off, Hal donned a green Santa hat that had a little bell on the end. His braces were even green and red. He looked like Christmas, and it was July.

The Midget Poacher was ready for duty.

-

Pegasus descended upon the house of Kaiba in a cloud of purple smoke and wine smell. The trio was perched on a sofa, and Malik and Otogi were keeping an eye on Pegasus' hands. Pegasus sat on the sofa opposite, with Casey-Ra, who was scooting closer and closer to him.

"So, how is my little boy?" Pegasus asked.

"Oh... he's fine. He's at a convention with Hal right now." Seto answered, looking uncomfortable.

Otogi sniffed the air dramatically. "Is something burning?" Without an answer, he escaped to the kitchen.

The visit continued in this vein for a good half hour, with awkward conversation and the slipping away. Finally, Seto made a dash for the alcoholic paradise known as the kitchen, leaving Casey-Ra and Pegasus alone.

"So, Casey-Ra. I trust you and Cynthia get along?"

Casey-Ra perked up at being spoken to by Pegasus. "Oh, yes!" He lied. "We are the best of friends."

Then, Casey-Ra began to execute his plan. "So, Mr. Crawford, are you single?"

Pegasus almost spat out his coffee. "Excuse me?"

"You know, not involved? Not having a girlfriend or a boyfriend or a friend with benefits or anything of the sort?" Casey-Ra idly twirled a lock of hair around his finger. A lock of Pegasus' hair.

"I'm not, but why do you need to know?"

Casey-Ra took a deep breath. "Oh, I just can't take it anymore!" He threw himself the three inches required into Pegasus' arms. "Oh, darling! I've loved you for so long!"

Pegasus made a strangled noise.

"Let's move into your castle! Let's merge companies! We'll take over the gaming market! We'll crush the competition into bits! We'll flood the gaming market with card game simulators! And then, only card game simulators will be available!"

Casey-Ra's face shone with pure joy. Gaming critics everywhere woke up in a cold sweat.

Pegasus gently pried Casey-Ra off. "I'm sorry, but it'll never work out."

"Why not? We can make it so nothing but card game simulators are made! And I love you so." The gaming critics were starting to scream in horror.

"Well, Casey-Ra, there is a type of person I like. And you are not this type."

"What is your type?"

"Short and/or unconscious."

Casey-Ra's eyes began to water, and he tried to chuck himself at Pegasus again. "But I love you!"

And Pegasus just could not resist. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Pegasus later said he simply ran out of the house, and Casey-Ra flat out refused to comment on the entire incident. One way or another, Pegasus was viciously evicted from the premises of the Kaiba mansion, and the wine smell took several weeks to get out. The sound was loud, and even dragged the trio out of the alcoholic paradise- excuse me, kitchen.

All they saw was Casey-Ra bawling his eyes out, something none of them had seen since Casey-Ra was an infant. Malik and Seto were seized by merciless paternal instincts. Otogi hadn't exactly made it out of the kitchen, having invited several Bloody Maries into his mouth; they'd all brought their friends and had taken their host down.

"Casey-Ra?" Seto offered, trying to repress the instinct.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Casey-Ra looked up. His mascara was all runny, his eyes were red, and he was a mess. He immediately flew to his feet and snarled, "You wouldn't understand!". It took him only a few strides to retreat to his room.

Malik waved it off. "It's the teenage years. Soon he'll be rebelling against the establishment and rejecting our values."

"We have values?"

-

The Midget Poacher moved through the convention hall stealthily, which might have worked had he not been humming the Batman theme song loudly. He moved from booth to booth, and there were mixed reactions to Hal's alter ego. A minority of convention goers found him adorable, while the rest ignored him politely.

Hal was thoroughly enjoying himself; this convention was fun. He hoped Cynthia would take him to more in the future. He wondered how he'd get Cynthia to take him to more conventions, and then he saw it.

His eyes rested on a tabletop covered in Sailor Moon manga and doujinshi, and the woman manning the booth smiled at him. "Well, hello little... kid! Who are dressed up as?"

"I'm the Midget Poacher. I catch midgets in the night. Do you have anything for a radical Sailor Moon fan?"

"I think I have just the thing... this is for you?"

"Oh no, it's a present." Hal smiled in what was supposed to be a cute way up at the woman. Luckily, she recognized it as such. She handed him a doujinshi volume and he handed her money. He waved to the nice lady, and resumed the Midget Poacher stalking style of walking.

In the corner of the convention hall, a woman muttered into a walkie-talkie.

-

The costume contest would not be for another hour, so Cynthia was wandering around as best he could in heels. He looked over booths, and didn't run into Hal.

He was perusing a booth for Sailor Moon doujinshi, when he heard his name. He turned around. "Champ!"

Champ was dressed quite normally, but weighed down with a large bag. "Oh, it is you."

The half-brothers looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

"What's in the bag?"

"Are you aware you're in a skirt?" They spoke at the same time. "You first." Champ offered.

"Oh, yes. I am quite aware of it. It's for a costume contest!" Cynthia explained brightly.

"Right. Mai- I mean, Mom- gave me a list of stuff to buy, so I'm just running her errand. So you're entering as... Sailor Venus?"

Cynthia sighed, much as a scientist sighs when he must explain physics to toddlers. "No. I'm an original character. Claudius, cleverly disguised as a Claudia! He's madly in love with Sailor Venus, but their love is doomed-"

"That's very interesting, Cynthia. Mom wants me home by four, so I should get going." Champ escaped from the conversation and Cynthia, leaving the boy in the sailor fuku alone. Cynthia sighed, and began to teeter back towards the costume contest.

-

The Midget Poacher was appeased. Surely, this offering of doujinshi would make Cynthia take him to more anime conventions! He drifted off into a fantasy of attending a convention all about The Midget Poacher, where the convention goers didn't even realize the Poacher himself was in their midst...

"Little... kid! Little kid, come here." A woman's voice hissed. Hal snapped out of his fantasy. A woman in a very snappy uniform was gesturing at him violently.

Somewhere along the line, nobody had ever told Hal to never listen to strangers. So off he went.

"You like candy?"

"Like ice? I love ice!" Hal brightened.

The woman nodded. "I'll give you all the ice you can eat, if you give me that Sailor Moon doujinshi."

For a moment, Hal thought. He shook his head. "It's for my brother."

"Oh come on, it's a great deal! That doujinshi is extremely rare, and worth tens, if not hundreds, of dollars! And you get ice!"

"That's only a good deal for you!" Hal countered.

The woman produced a walkie-talkie, and muttered into it. A group of women emerged from various hiding spots, all sporting the same kind of very snappy uniform.

"Get... the kid!" The leader demanded, and the Midget Poacher began running.

People cleared out of their way as Hal surged forward. The ladies in the snappy uniforms gave chase, their boots clicking on the linoleum. Hal looked right and left for escape routes, and ducked into the first open door he saw. He breathed heavily for a moment.

"HAL!" Cynthia shrieked. Hal waved at his half-brother.

"I'm saving a Sailor Moon doujinshi from some scary ladies who don't know how to sell an idea for you!" Hal explained cheerfully. In the time it took for Hal to explain, the leader had snuck in the room. She picked Hal off the ground and growled.

"Give us the doujinshi, little kid, and nobody gets hurt."

"No! It's for Cynthia!" Hal protested.

"Unhand him!" A voice called. The leader spun around, taking Hal with her.

The woman from the Sailor Moon booth stood in a heroic pose on top of the judges' table. She wore a costume that looked it could be the mother of the Midget Poacher costume. Hal's eyes brightened. Cynthia wilted.

"It's you." The leader said venomously. She dropped Hal, who fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. "You never let us buy that doujinshi!"

"Yes! And would you like to know why, Snappy Uniform Queen?"

Snappy Uniform Queen nodded.

"Because once upon a time, you were a little girl. You loved Sailor Moon and used to dream you could wear that fuku and save the world. You enjoyed it in the way children can. But your love turned to greed! If I handed you that doujinshi, you would have never read it! You would have sold it! You have lost your love of Sailor Moon!"

Snappy Uniform Queen nodded again. "It's true! There's no magic in it anymore for me!"

"That is because of your greed! How dare you try to take it from a little boy who wanted to give it to his sister-"

"Brother!" Cynthia squeaked. He was holding his head in his heads and turning redder by the minute.

"Er, brother! You would dare try and steal that joy from children who can enjoy it!" The booth woman bounded over to Snappy Uniform Queen and gave her a resounding slap. "Now go forth and recover the joy that you have lost!"

Snappy Uniform Queen nodded, and slouched out of the room.

"My work here is done." The booth woman bounded off to return to being a mild-mannered booth operator.

The judges looked scandalized. Cynthia recovered from enough embarrassment to mumble "I am so sorry!" at them continuously. Hal smiled. Finally, one judge recovered.

"The detailing!" She marveled. "The color!"

Cynthia finally looked up from his hands. "Really?"

"No, not you, your brother!" She gestured towards Hal. Several other cosplayers muttered in a disappointed fashion. The judge took the award ribbon and handed it to Hal. "Who are you dressed as?"

"The Midget Poacher-"

"We're leaving!" Cynthia grabbed Hal by his collar and began dragging his younger half-brother outside. Once properly outside, Cynthia turned on Hal. "How could you! I worked weeks on this costume! I had to learn how to walk in high heels! There's a little hole in the ozone layer that says 'CYNTHIA CRAWFORD-' er... 'CYNTHIA KAIBA' on it because of this hair!"

"Oh. Well, Sailor Venus can't compete with the Midget Poacher!" Hal smiled. "Here. I got this for you so you'd take me to anime conventions." Hal handed Cynthia the doujinshi.

Cynthia surveyed the cover. "...this is my favorite pairing! And it's so pretty!" He marveled. Cynthia made sure no one was watching before giving Hal a brief and awkward hug. "Come on, it's time to go home."

Hal skipped along after Cynthia. "So you'll take me to other conventions?"

"You'll win every costume contest in Japan by next year." Cynthia promised.

"Yay!"