A/N: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Only my own characters and plots.

Chapter 3

Turning Tables

She could hardly believe that Kaiba was calm and reserved. She silently thanked whatever deity had caused him to come in without a fuss. His eyes looked dangerous, but seeing Tea, Mai, Mokuba and herself gathered around the table seemed to keep him calm. He sat down and listened to their conversation, as an after thought to his newspaper. The three girls gave each other knowing looks.

"So how many people are going to come?" Mokuba chimed in.

"Well, I wasn't sure of the number. I figured I would consult with your brother first." Iolite answered. She noticed he was ignoring her.

"We haven't ever had a Christmas party before. This is gonna be so much fun!" Mokuba exclaimed as he watched Tea scribble down some details. She knew a few DJ's that were good and she quickly listed them.

"Would you like some wine Seto?" Iolite asked the newspaper.

"Whatever," he answered in a cold voice. He was quite aggravated with his wife at the moment. She had cancelled their lunch date and now, here she was, entertaining guests when she knew he would want a word with her. She had conveniently shut off her cell phone and prevented his guards from answering as well. That was a dangerous game. What if there had been an emergency. They needed to have a serious talk about her priorities. He also wanted to know where the hell she had been.

Mai quickly grabbed the wine bottle and filled his glass to the rim. Iolite gave her a quick disapproving look. This had to look unplanned, that almost overflowing glass looked ridiculous. Kaiba simply took it as her ineptitude.

"I think someone should make a toast." Tea smiled as she held up her glass of water.

"To what?" Mai asked as she picked up her wine.

"To," Tea glanced towards Kaiba knowing she had to get him to drink. "To Seto Kaiba and Iolite's first Christmas together!"

Kaiba lowered his paper and looked at the women. If he didn't acknowledge the toast he'd have problems with his wife later. They all lifted their glasses and took a sip, even Mokuba with his chocolate milk, which was in a wine goblet at his insistence.

Iolite took a long drink so Seto wouldn't become suspicious. She smiled at her husband's look of indifference. As he put his glass down she quickly held her glass up again.

"I propose a toast to friends…you guys are the best!" Iolite and the girls clinked glasses and Iolite held her glass near Seto until he lifted his, clinked hers and then drank.

Mai quickly refilled Kaiba and Iolite's glasses. Mokuba smiled, he liked the toasts and decided to do one of his own.

"I want to toast my big brother!" They all followed the routine of clinking glasses and drinking.

"How about love?" Mia struggled to come up with a toast, "We should toast that shouldn't we?" Seto folded down the corner of the paper and looked around at the women. Something wasn't quite right here. He discarded his paper and began to watch them with curiosity. They each toasted and toasted until he was sure almost everyone and everything in Domino had been covered right down to the gas station attendant.

The meal was finally brought to the table. The roast beef was amply salted, as were all of the accompaniments. She had wanted to increase his thirst to insure he consumed large quantities of the wine. Instead, she found her own thoughts muddled with the sweet wine. She ate quite a good portion of her dinner and drank heavily after almost every bite. Mai quickly switched to water to help get down the briny tasting meal. She also wanted to keep her wits about her, Joey would be here soon and she didn't want to be drunk when he arrived.

It didn't take long for Kaiba to figure out what his 'innocent' wife was up to. After almost every sip of wine he took Mai filled his glass right back up. It was bizarre. He suspected they were plotting something because he could see the knowing looks the three girls kept exchanging.

His sweet naïve wife was trying to get him drunk. Thankfully he had caught on soon enough to counter it. Every time Mai filled up his glass she would fill Tea's with water. He took that opportunity to pour half his glass into his wife's. She couldn't refuse his generosity, he would suspect something, and after awhile she was too confused to realize what was happening.

Within an hour Iolite's eyes were drooping and she found she had problems staying on her chair. She tried to keep her head propped up on her hand, but it kept slipping. Joey, Yugi and Tristan appearing in the doorway diverted all attention from the sleepy princess.

The three of them sat at the table and the talk started again. Kaiba kept his eyes trained on his wife, he smirked wickedly. She had fallen into her own trap.

"This is the worst food I've ever eaten." Mokuba finally acknowledged as he continued to push his food around his plate.

"Nothing wrong with mine." Joey piped in as he continued gobbling his food. Mai's face twisted into a scowl of distaste. She might love him, but the way he ate left much to be desired. She couldn't really eat much of hers, the salt got to her after awhile. She looked over at Iolite and smiled. She noticed the plate was empty along with her glass and her head looked like it would fall at any moment. She glanced at Kaiba and received a hard look in return. He had figured it all out. She gulped audibly.

"Maybe we should go have dessert in the other room?" She offered. Kaiba nodded his head in agreement. Everyone rose, except for him and his wife.

"The cake doesn't have salt in it," Iolite blurted unaware of the slurred speech she now possessed. Her hair had fallen into her face, covering half of it. She tried to tuck it behind her ear, but to her dismay she couldn't find her ear. Seto watched as everyone left the room, Raine closed the door leaving the two alone.

Kaiba was totally annoyed with her. He was about to ask what she was doing when she shifted in her chair and slipped. He caught her and pulled her into his lap just before she hit the floor. The room spun around her as if she had been on some demented carnival ride. At first she attempted to put her arms around his neck, them quickly hid them within the sleeves of her sweater. He waited, wondering if at some point she wouldn't shriek in horror at the loss of her hands. She was completely inebriated.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked as she desperately tried to keep her hands hidden. She rested her head against his shoulder and breathed in his scent deeply.

"How come you always smell so amazing?" She sighed contently as she moved her nose near his neck.

Curiosity got the better of him as he pulled one of her hands out of its sleeve. He noticed the bruising on it immediately.

"What did you do to yourself?" He asked impatiently as he quickly uncovered the other hand only to find the same harsh bruising.

Iolite bent over and lowered her head to the hands that sat in her lap. In her state she couldn't figure out that she could simply move her hand in front of her face. She nearly fell off of his lap with her efforts. His grip tightened around her waist as he frowned at his drunken princess.

"Oh," she exclaimed as she sat back, teetering again, "the bruising?" She asked as if she had welts on a daily basis and this was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Yes," he helped her, "where did you get the bruising?"

"If I told you that you'd be mad." She whispered, not quietly, in his ear.

"You promised to tell me the truth if I asked for it."

"Fine, but you must hold still. You're making the room spin." Since he hadn't moved he had no idea how to correct that problem for her.

"I got them while learning how to do that sliding yesterday."

"I thought you said you always did that and you were showing Mokuba how." He smiled at the top of her head. He knew she had been protecting the raven-haired boy.

"Would you have punished him if I hadn't said anything?" She asked.

"No."

"Oh, well then you shouldn't care." She shrugged as she cuddled against him.

"You lied to me."

"It wasn't a lie of any consequence so get a grip." She started unbuttoning his shirt.

She yawned with great exaggeration and lamented how sleepy she was.

"Did you try to get me drunk tonight?" He asked, stopping her hands' exploration, knowing that her awareness was beginning to fade. He had to make the most of her present state.

"Oh yes." She offered happily.

"Why?"

"So I could seduce you." She made that statement with a huskiness in her voice that almost made him laugh out loud. Some seductress.

"You thought you needed to get me drunk to do that?" He thought that was insane. All she had to do was touch him and he was on fire for her. She nodded, accidentally banging her head on his chin.

"It worked too, you are drunk aren't you? You drank two bottles of wine Seto."

Her miscalculations were amusing; she must have been counting her own consumption.

"Have you ever been drunk Highness?" He asked with amusement.

She gasped at the thought, tearing herself away from his chest so she could try to look at him. "A lady doesn't get drunk I'll have you know. Besides, I don't like the taste of alcohol"

"You could have fooled me." He whispered into her hair as she leaned back against him.

"I did fool you. You're drunk now and you didn't even realize it was happening did you? I'm quite clever."

"Why did you go through all this trouble?"

"You're amazing looking Seto, but I think you know that."

"You think so?" He couldn't remember if she had ever admitted to liking his looks before.

"You're following my plan quite nicely too. You're a very agreeable drunk, did you know that?" She smiled as she softly kissed his lips. He could taste the wine on her lips and smiled at her slurred speech.

"What plan is that?"

"I can now confess what I did today and you won't get mad. Not only will you not get mad, but you'll probably forget what I tell you and then that will be your fault not mine." She smiled at him. She was insane, of this, he was now sure.

"What if I do remember?" He asked as his hand began stroking her back.

"Well, then I'd have seduced you as well so you'll only half remember what I've told you. Mai said sex makes a man forget things."

He rolled his eyes heavenward. His wife and her friends were popping stupid pills.

"Have you lost your mind?" He asked with exasperation.

"It's a great plan!" She was quite upset; her poking of his shoulder was hostile.

"Why couldn't you just tell me? Why this elaborate scheme?" Her half-baked plan belonged to a moron.

"It's my plan not yours Seto. You're confusing me with all of your questions…" Her eyes filled with tears. Great, was she going to start crying on top of being drunk? He tried to soothe her as best he could.

"Alright, we'll do things your way. First tell me what you did today." He smiled at her, his eyes devouring her mouth, "then you can seduce me."

"It's my seduction, not yours." She lashed out before she continued.

"My plan...my seduction...I did what you told me not to. I angered Simon."

"How?" He asked, now he was getting angry.

"I took over DataLux today and fired the CEO Rodgers. I told him to tell my brother that it was my idea and that…well…I can't remember everything, but it will piss Simon off for sure."

"You took over DataLux?" He was shocked that she could accomplish such a feat.

"Cathway did to be exact. Are you angry with me?"

"I wanted you to steer clear of your delusional brothers. Why would you go after them knowing what they're capable of?" He tried to control his anger.

"I have to bring them down. They're evil and they have to be brought to their knees. You smell really good." She settled against his shoulder again. He wished she had told him about her raid. He would have forbidden the action; it was pure stupidity on her part. He wanted to keep her safe and yet she kept playing with fire. Slowly he realized that it was her fear of him that kept her from confiding her ideas.

"I know you're going to have a bit of trouble concentrating, but I want you to try. Are you afraid of me?" He squeezed her gently for emphasis.

"No, just cautious."

"You don't have to be. No matter what you do to provoke me I'll never hurt you."

"You hurt my feelings when you ignore me." She whispered against his ear.

"That's different."

"I don't see how," she mused.

"You are never to fear me. I'll never hurt you or harm you in any way. I can't promise your feelings will never be bruised, but physically I'll never touch you in anger." He tilted her chin up and kissed her lips gently. She rewarded him with a lopsided smile. Kaiba stood with his wife snuggled in his arms. He would have to sort through this whole mess in the morning. He couldn't believe what she had done. Obviously all of the talks he had had with her went through one ear and out the other. She just stepped into the lion's den with a slab of raw meat around her neck. He would have to up his guards and she would be confined to the mansion until he could ascertain the retribution that Simon would deliver. He walked out of the dining room and passed Raine in the hall.

"What did she do?" Raine asked as he fell in step beside Kaiba.

"She provoked Simon."

Raine looked down at the sleeping princess curled up in Kaiba's arms. She could get in trouble faster than rain could fall. Her older brother, Aron was bad, but Simon could be worse. Thankfully Kaiba had the means to protect her, or at least he hoped he did. Raine followed them to their room and then posted two guards outside the door and two under the window below.

A/N: I so wanted to write about a drunk Kaiba, but it wasn't working. I hope you all enjoyed this. I thought it would be fun to lower her guard. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!