On Friday, Seto dressed down. He let his hair air dry so it waved, switched his contacts for glasses, and went with a sweater and cardigan instead of his typical button up. If he dressed casually, maybe it would look like he wasn't trying to get Crawford to notice him. Seto spent a year playing off the advances, and accepting them might come across as a ploy.

Mokuba laughed when he saw Seto lacing his shoes by the door.

"Are you going to look at the art or pose as an artist?"

"You would say that about anyone in a turtleneck."

Mokuba ran over to sit by Seto on the bench, leaned in, and got out his phone to take a picture.

"Say cheese."

Seto humored Mokuba by smiling.

"Awesome," Mokuba said, and held it up to get a look. "You should dress like this all the time."

"And make it so easy on you to tease? You'll have to work harder than that."

"Rats."

"I shouldn't be too late," Seto said, standing. "I'll come in to say goodnight in a couple hours."

"It's Friday, Niisama."

"In bed by eleven."

Daimon preferred lights all to be out by nine, but Seto and Mokuba always locked their doors and pushed a towel against the base of the door to block the light. Seto didn't like having to teach Mokuba how to break the rules, but this household had far too many.

"Yeah. Right. In bed."

"Don't stay up too late. I need a Mario Kart rematch tomorrow."

"You're on."

Seto would much rather have stayed in to spend the time with Mokuba, but leaving was for his sake in the long run. Six years could turn into one.

And all he had to do was date the most dangerous man in existence.

Isono met Seto at the car.

"It isn't too late to back out."

"If Crawford keeps things as they have been, I'll back out," Seto said, and got in the passenger's seat. Once Isono got in the car, Seto added, "He's ended relationships before without issue."

Seto looked into it after meeting with Bakura. After Crawford's wife had died of cancer at 21, he didn't date for a few years. He next dated for six months at 24, a woman named Isis Ishtar. She was currently working at the history museum where they'd met. At 26, Crawford dated Mai Valentine, a professional poker player who was more famous now than she had been while they were together. At 30, Pegasus dated Duke Devlin, whose only notable trait was being a young entrepreneur, although the game he created never got off the ground.

Tonight, he would find out if he was going to be year 32's Wikipedia entry.

But Pegasus let them all go back to their lives as they had been before. As long as Pegasus didn't catch him reporting back to Bakura, Seto could get out, maybe by boring Crawford into breaking things off.

Bakura wanted a year, but Crawford seemed to get tired after half that.

Six months would be ideal.

Isono drummed his fingers on the steering wheel when they came to the stop at the end of their street.

"How do you see this going, should you get your best outcome?"

"In six months, I tell Bakura to get us out. Or I can get Crawford to end things. Either way, Mokuba and I end up in Spain or Turkey."

"And that happens without him getting attached?"

"If I'm only a pretty face, he'll tire of having me around."

"But you're not."

"I could be."

"I don't like you taking this risk."

"Mokuba's getting older and Gozaburo might not allow me to keep taking the blows. Mokuba isn't leaving that house with a single scar."

Gozaburo had hit Mokuba once. He had gone outside after a rainstorm to look for frogs, and tracked mud inside. He was six at the time, and Gozaburo hit him hard enough to knock out one of his teeth. It was the first tooth Mokuba lost.

"If this goes wrong—"

"I can't go into this believing it will."

"Are you certain you don't want me to buy us tickets out of the country?" Isono asked.

"Gozaburo would press charges."

"We could make it work."

"I don't want Mokuba to live in hiding."

"He wouldn't want you to go through this."

"He won't know."

Seto could get through anything if it meant Mokuba didn't have to. On the other side of this, Mokuba would have a better, safer life.

Isono kept quiet, and dropped Seto off at the main entrance. "I'll be in the car. Call whenever you're ready."

"Hopefully I'll be under an hour."

But there was a chance otherwise. Traffic outside the museum moved at a normal pace, and there weren't an excess of guards. Crawford must have planned to arrive later, or hadn't made his plans public.

For now, Seto presented his ticket and went inside. The new exhibit was in the modern art section, but since he had time, Seto wandered the less populated sections. A few other guests had the same idea, but for the most part, he toured the exhibits by himself.

Seto wasn't drawn to the landscapes in the current room, but he took his time moving from painting to painting. From there, he stepped into the adjacent room where everything was black and white, some sculptures, some sketches, some hanging pieces. The sketches held his interest more than anything else so far, and he camped out there to wait.

The museum hadn't been as quiet as Seto thought it might have been. Voices chattered and footsteps echoed in the large rooms. Glasses clinked and music played softly from somewhere far off.

When it stopped, Seto knew what it meant. He had no intentions of making himself obvious, so he stayed out of the way. He had never attended one of these before, but assumed it was customary to stay for at least an hour or two. He had time to continue his rounds.

If he never went near Crawford, nothing would happen between them. He came. Bakura couldn't pretend Seto hadn't tried.

Seto was here for Mokuba. He needed to determine Crawford's interest. That meant standing somewhere he could be seen.

Eventually.

He took his time before joining the crowd. He declined the offer of champagne with plans to drink a bottle of scotch when he got home. Seto wanted his head clear and his mind alert.

He didn't check the room for Crawford. The only time he glanced around was when he realized he might have been incredibly underdressed. But there were dozens of people milling around who looked like students, who were dressed about the same as Seto. A few men wore suits. He took that to mean almost no one expected Crawford's attendance.

That provided him a safer cover, and he walked through the new exhibit with more confidence. He took in the pieces, which were much more modern than everything else he had seen up to that point. They seemed centered on impulse, with bold shapes and neon colors, but little true focus. A few of the sections had been cordoned off for interaction with the pieces.

A model wore a dress that looked more sculpture than gown, and changed colors when anyone touched it. There was a glass fountain where pieces could be moved to change the flow of the water. On the back wall, a large stretch of canvas had been hung for people to paint on.

He went there first, and found a place near the edge to paint.

"My, my. Look who stepped out of the lab."

A shadow landed on the canvas from over Seto's shoulder, and Seto bowed before he turned. Like at the gala, Crawford stopped him before he had fully dipped his chin, and lifted his gaze back up.

"Your curls are exquisite."

Seto reminded himself for the dozenth time that night that he was here to encourage Crawford. Instinct told him to play it off and find escape.

"And normally a formidable disguise," Seto said. "Would you believe you're the first to see through it?"

Pegasus smiled easily at him. "I never would have pegged you for an art enthusiast."

Seto faced the wall again so he didn't play into Pegasus's hand too quickly.

"I heard of an opportunity to draw on a wall and rushed down, but now I don't know what mark to leave."

Seto took a paintbrush from the table, but held off on dipping into any paint. He tapped the end against his lower lip, staring at the blank patch of wall he'd picked out.

"I've always been curious about your handwriting," Pegasus said.

"A signature then. Did you want to see the English or kanji?"

"Show me both."

Pegasus stepped closer, his chest to Seto's back, and reached around to gently hold Seto's wrist. The gesture was clear, and Seto started in kanji, where he signed his full name, letting Pegasus feel each stroke of the brush.

Kaiba Seto Yagami.

In English, his signature was simply Kaiba with an S drawn through it. He barely spoke English, so he rarely needed that version.

"I wouldn't have thought this opening was prominent enough to draw your attention, Master Crawford."

When Seto put down the brush, Pegasus stepped back.

"I'm an artist in my spare time, S Kaiba. You signed an extra name."

"My birth name."

Pegasus glanced at the signature again. "Kaiba isn't your biological father?"

"Mokuba and I were adopted."

Seto had expected Pegasus to have done a full background check on him, to have known more about Seto's past than Seto did. The adoption wasn't common knowledge, but with Pegasus's resources, Seto hadn't expected to keep secrets.

"It's no wonder. There's no resemblance."

Seto had his fill of personal details for now.

"Are you a big supporter of the local arts?"

"I have homes worldwide. Art varies so much depending on the culture surrounding the artist. Do you draw?"

"Sketching electronics isn't art. Tonight's artist will rave for years if you sign the wall."

Pegasus took the paintbrush Seto had used, dipped into the same blue, and signed beside Seto's name, nearly overlapping. He signed only once, in kanji.

"What really brought you here tonight?" Pegasus asked. He took his time rinsing the brush clean before dropping it into the cup with the others.

Seto faced the room and the rest of the exhibit. He hadn't realized how many guards were keeping an eye on them. There were two on every wall, three in the center of the room, and one—Croquet—standing close. None of the other patrons were within five meters of them.

"It's harder to find inspiration in your workspace," Seto said. "A change of scenery can help."

"An engineer who draws inspiration from the arts. The depths of your mind are a mystery."

Pegasus matched Seto step for step.

"Did you also come for inspiration?"

"I'm on the lookout for a few new pieces for my home here. I could use a fresh set of eyes."

"It'll be an honor to any artist here."

Everywhere they walked, people failed to be subtle slipping out of their way. Only the guards stayed nearby. Seto had only gotten a taste of this treatment over the last couple weeks and already knew how draining it was. Pegasus put up with years of this. It was no wonder they became so clingy when he was interested in someone.

"Where will you leave your mark next?" Pegasus asked, and ran a hand lightly down Seto's arm.

"I'll be neck-deep in machinery for the next several years."

"Will you create holograms like this wall?"

It caught Seto off guard, and he laughed. "I won't bore you with fantasies."

Pegasus faced Seto, and placed his fingertips on Seto's cheek, guiding their gazes together. "You could never bore me."

Seto was sure this would be another front page picture.

"You don't want me to put that to the test."

"But I do," Pegasus said, and lowered his hand, but not his gaze. "Walk with me and tell me who you are."

"There isn't much under the surface," Seto said, and followed Pegasus's lead. They went to the sculptures in the middle of the room, first to an abstract assortment of painted metal that offered a different interpretation depending on the angle. Pegasus walked to the left, and Seto the right.

"Is there something you'd like to know?" Seto asked, taking in an angle vaguely resembling a child playing with a ball.

"I prefer figuring you out piece by piece. There's an optical illusion here. Do you see the young girl or the old woman?"

Seto came around to look, and was struck by just how underdressed he was compared to Pegasus's immaculately tailored suit. He couldn't linger on the sensation of feeling out of place when the question hung between them. He took in the section Pegasus gestured to.

"The old woman. You see both?"

"They give off different emotions. Hope verses loneliness. It's compelling you see the lonely character."

"Do you find loneliness compelling?"

Seto tried to find the right way to look at the sculpture to see the girl, but he couldn't find her.

"Once in a while. There's not enough time to think of all the people I've made lonely. Just the trouble they've caused."

There was nothing to say to that. No one forced Crawford to kill anyone who questioned him. There was no reason to kill the families as well.

"You have a lot to keep you busy." Seto stepped to the other side of the sculpture. "But I've kept you from our purpose tonight."

"On the contrary. Now everyone here has to try to compare to you."

The statements were growing more direct, and Seto's doubts were fading, despite his efforts to maintain them. He had been lying to himself for a year, pretending he could avoid this. He might actually need Bakura to sneak them out of the country.

"You came looking for art. I can't decorate a home."

"I happen to think you light up a room."

This was a lot to accept.

"I'm not for sale."

"Regardless, what a person has done here should make me feel something."

Seto moved onto the next sculpture without waiting on Pegasus.

"None of these are catching your eye?"

"The glass dove is coming home with me, but otherwise not yet."

"There's a lot of options," Seto said, a bit distantly.

"I want you to pick something out."

"For what?"

"What you like most, of course."

Pegasus came around to walk beside Seto, and this time kept pace with him. His guards followed at an uncomfortably close distance, and Seto wondered if there were more in plain clothes. Did they increase security after an attempted assassination?

"I should look them all over first to make an accurate choice."

"I have nowhere to be in the morning. Take your time."

He kept his own with Seto's footsteps.

"You may not like my choice."

Part of him wanted to pick the worst option here, whatever piece he decided was the ugliest. But he had agreed to follow through. When it was over, he would have custody of Mokuba, and a way out of Japan.

"All the more reason it'll be memorable. Not a day will go by without a piece of you."

"I don't imagine you'd take a piece of art on your world travels," Seto said. Tonight had proven Bakura right, and Seto had gotten enough stares to put him off being in public for a month.

"It would depend on how big it is. But then I could always scale it to size."

Seto stopped in front of a painting of various shadows.

"It's a lot of effort to go through on my account."

"If you didn't require any, I wouldn't be interested."

That was good to know, and it explained a lot.

Seto stopped in front of an iron dragon, the bottom covered in rust, slowly fading into a polished shine. It had been molded into a standing position, posed to roar.

"This one."

Pegasus glanced at it from where he stood, then stepped closer to Seto, crouching beside him to see it at a more appropriate level. He tilted his head side to side while taking it in, and ended up tapping his fingers against the stand.

"It's incredible."

"I doubt you want a rusty dragon taking up space."

"It wouldn't be nearly as attention grabbing without the rust."

"I'm imagining your decor is mostly white."

"A good guess for my position, but too sterile for my taste. At least too much of it."

Because Seto normally would have, Seto made his effort to back out.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find whatever you're looking for, Master Crawford."

He bowed slightly, and stepped on to the next piece.

Pegasus took a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on carefully before picking up the dragon.

"Have you?"

Seto had to stop before he had gotten far. Like he had assumed before, dismissing himself wasn't an option.

"I just came to look."

"If you keep saying that, will it stop you from taking this?"

Pegasus handed off the dragon to one of his guards, and passed Seto a card with his number on the back in gold ink. Seto took it, but held it slightly in front of him, unsure about it.

"I can't possibly have the clearance to have this."

"Even security answers to me in the end. Don't go giving that out, now. Else I may have to hunt you down."

Seto looked down at it. This had to be a business number. Pegasus couldn't hand out his personal line, could he?

"Are you asking me to call you?"

"I don't do the asking when it comes to that. If you liked what you saw, you'll make the right choice."

Seto lowered his hand a bit. "I don't understand, Master Crawford."

"It's Pegasus," he replied, and ran a thumb over Seto's cheek.

"I'm nobody," Seto said, despite the fact he had come here for this exact reason. "And you're running half the world."

"You have a chance to be someone."

"They'll want you to choose someone better."

"I don't answer to anyone but myself."

That didn't seem to matter. The more Seto thought about this, the less sense it made. He had read on the past relationships and was facing the most straightforward advance to date, and still, he questioned how this could happen.

"You're busy. I'd be a distraction," he said, still looking for any line of reasoning that might work.

"A welcome one, even busy men need more than work."

"And if I called mid-meeting?"

"All the world would wait on you."

Seto exhaled, breathing out until there wasn't air left in his chest. They were being watched. They weren't alone. Gozaburo's voice filled his head, and his purpose here became clouded.

"I'm not worth that."

Pegasus came to stand behind him again, chest to his back. When he spoke, Seto could feel his breath on his ear.

"All I'm hearing is that someone has to teach you otherwise."

"You could choose to teach anyone."

"And yet here we are. You keep your phone close and I'll take the hard part out of your hands."

Seto nearly reached into his pocket for his phone, although, he didn't understand that instinct. There was too much tonight he didn't understand in spite of being the one to initiate this.

"Very soon."

Seto turned his head slightly, not quite to the point he could see Pegasus. "You'd need my number for that."

"Now you're getting it."

Seto's business cards were in his wallet, and he pulled one out.

"I may be away from my phone when I'm in the lab."

"Not got too long, I trust."

"It depends on how invested I am in my projects."

"And being that the current one is your life's work, I expect you'll be distracted."

"I will be," Seto said. "Please don't assume a lack of immediate reply is me ignoring the messages."

"I'll do my best to remember."

Pegasus stepped back, and Seto focused on his pulse for a moment. People watched from the edges of the room, and more importantly, Pegasus was waiting on Seto to say something.

"Are you actually getting the dragon?" Seto asked. His mouth was dry.

"I am. I've even considered naming it."

"Do you name all your art?"

"Absolutely, it's incomplete otherwise."

"Do you call paintings by the names their artists chose?"

"It depends on the name, honestly. Very rarely I have a piece named too similarly for comfort and change it. Otherwise yes."

"I'm sure someone in your position has an affinity for names."

"Like you wouldn't believe. Although my Japanese could still use work."

"It's much better than my English."

"I have a lazy tongue for it. I haven't heard enough of your English to judge."

"English for me is poor," Seto said, trying his hand at it.

"In your line of work, you'll pick it up easily. The more you're exposed to it, the easier it gets."

"If my future co-workers speak English, it will help," Seto said, in Japanese again.

"You strike me as the type to travel. Who knows where you'll end up."

"I've never actually left Domino."

"You're joking," Pegasus said, not bothering to hide his surprise.

"I don't get the opportunity to get out much."

"I'll award you the luxury before long."

Seto turned to face him. "You're confident I won't prove boring."

"Your eyes alone could intrigue for months."

One of the guards stepped forward and whispered something to Pegasus, who sighed. He gave Seto a regretful expression, and took his hand. "I'm afraid I have to leave early tonight. I hope that soon, I'll be able to offer you more inspiration."

"You'll get plenty from the dragon."

Pegasus nodded. "I'll make use of your number soon."

There wasn't more chance for small talk or goodbyes before Croquet came forward to lead Pegasus out. Seto watched him go, and ignored everyone who stayed staring. He had come to get his answer.

He was going to have to follow through with this.


Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

You can expect an update the third weekend of October.

Huge thanks to intheshadowofsignificance for helping out with Pegasus's dialogue in this chapter!