Ok, I haven't allowed for too much of a break between chapters. The reviews I am getting are pretty good and some are quite thorough. Which makes for swifter updates. Well, that plus the fact that I'm really enjoying writing this story.

To answer a few questions – this story takes place at an undisclosed time after the end of the series – at least a few years have gone by, and assuming that GX never happened (or hasn't as of yet). R hasn't been considered either and probably won't be. The appearance of other characters will be brief, as I want to focus on the development of these two. However, some will show up.

So here we go again.

Enjoy.

Seto Kaiba felt his arms hug the pillow he was resting on closer to him. He pulled the sheets tighter and his head twisted to look at the figure standing by the window in the moonlight. Pegasus was glowing in the wash of luminescence pouring in from the window and looked more than ever like the delicate creature Kaiba had first supposed him to be. He kept doing that, every night they were together, and Kaiba wondered why. What was outside that window? What was he looking at?

He wondered for a moment who the man really was inside of him, what Pegasus really was. Yet despite his mind, Kaiba knew his body burned for the silver-haired man. A china doll that he could touch and play with…

He heard himself invite Pegasus back to bed again (he wasn't going to use the term 'beg') and as the man slid in next to him, he felt his body being held while his mind tried with increasing difficulty to sort out the events of the day.

He remembered being in his office, feeling confused and overwhelmed. He could see the answer clearly but 'he' couldn't at the same time. 'He' called Pegasus and felt his heart sink to a new depth. Not only was his body seemingly no longer his but his company – his company, the one thing he'd fought to protect from so many people for so many years – was being surrendered as well. And now he could see, like a road stretching out before him, the path he would helplessly tread, relinquishing control bit by bit.

Pegasus was reluctant of course, which confused Kaiba. The older man had been so eager to control the corporation a few years ago and yet now he seemed to shy away even from giving an innocent recommendation. He wondered, then, whom this behavior was going to benefit and who would have taken steps to influence him so disturbingly.

Logic gave him no answers – he couldn't even depend on a rational thinking process – and as he talked and moved, unguarded thoughts slipped in with greater frequency. Perhaps he really was an unfit president, a little boy playing a charade. After all, was it real prowess that had gotten him so far or simply a scowl and a bluff? Self-doubt sprouted inside of him and more such feelings were to follow, corroding the man he could have sworn he was.

Being with Pegasus, it occurred to him (was it him?), didn't exactly feel bad. He couldn't see a way to stop it. He couldn't prevent it. Surely there was no harm, then, in… enjoying it? His body reacted to the ministrations the man performed and the protests of his mind grew dimmer. So he wasn't in control – to be fair, he was seven years younger. He lacked experience. Why should he be? Besides, Pegasus was beautiful. In a girlish way, to be certain, but beautiful nonetheless. And he did want him – one way or another. The pleasure and acceptance he found in the man's bed was too enjoyable to throw away for no good reason. If he was being manipulated… well, even if he didn't know the architect, better that he go to someone attentive like Pegasus rather than some one like his late step-father. A dark whisper told him that it could have been like that and he didn't know how good he had it.

He tried to scold himself for giving up so easily. Yet even as he did so, he couldn't seem to find a way that it could end other than capitulation. Thus the question came again, louder than before, asking him if it was in fact so very bad.

Which brought him to another confusing crossroads.

Pegasus had taken to whispering 'I love you' as they came together.

He whispered it as the papers and folders were shoved off the bedspread. He whispered it as clothing, professional suits followed by tailored shirts and finally undergarments, slid on to the floor. He whispered it while nipping Seto up and down. And as fogged as his mind was, he couldn't tell what the truth of the other man's remarks was nor how he wanted to respond.

All he heard was moaning and acquiescence.

'Be satisfied,' the voice said, 'Because nobody else is going to want you, you arrogant, pretentious bastard."

I don't care, he told himself. I never cared about it before and anyway there's Mokuba…

'Who's growing older. He hardly spends time here and in a few short years will leave altogether…'

A brother whom I should be looking after and who would still, who would always, care about me. Anyway, I've never needed a relationship before and I don't need one now. Especially not with somebody like him. The sex is good but a long term emotional investment is a waste of time and energy.

'Sure… you always were a terrible liar.'

Kaiba wanted to squeeze his eyes shut to not look at what was happening and to try and shut out the voice. Then Pegasus started to cry again and he opened up. This time he licked away the older man's tears, tasted the saltiness and felt the warmth of Pegasus' chest, heard the calming beat of his heart. Was this what love felt like? No one had ever taught him.

In the darkness, his mind drifted back to the terror that the name 'Kaiba-boy' had precipitated. It brought up memories of betrayal and imprisonment. He'd suddenly feared that Pegasus had forgotten his attachment from the first night, that he didn't care, that he would go back to being the man he was a few years ago… Even worse, that 'Kaiba' was how Pegasus saw him. As though Seto and Kaiba were two different people, opposite sides of the same man.

As the hours ticked by and he spent another evening with Pegasus, he found himself wondering, under the blossoming influence of whatever held sway over him, what the enchantment was doing. Was it him that was being eroded and a new creature fashioned in his stead? Or was this… spell, for lack of a more reasonable word, simple washing dirt off an edifice, revealing the true shape and form beneath the layers of hardened filth and grime? Perhaps he'd gotten it wrong and this was simply the real him showing through.

Without warning, Pegasus took him and he felt himself release, wondering if he would soon even remember to care about the answer.

He tried to forget how good it felt as he was ushered into a luxurious spare bedroom that Pegasus had furnished. He let the darkness take him, but even in his sleep the man haunted his memories, glowing softly like he had in the moonlight. There was no way to drive the man out of his mind; it was as though Pegasus had permeated his very blood.

Kaiba woke to find the sheets damp and his mouth turned up in a smile when all he wanted was to grind his teeth and smash the lamp.

The next day, Kaiba came home directly after work and slumped down into a chair, absolutely exhausted. He had never gotten around to discussing the suppliers with Pegasus – they'd gotten more than a little sidetracked – and he'd had to make fumbling excuses. He wanted to blush at the memory; normally he would have just dismissed the men without telling them anything, but this time he'd strung together a few poorly formulated phrases about needed more time 'just to be sure.'

More than that, he found himself missing Pegasus' presence. His office suddenly seemed bare. There weren't any pictures in it, not any at all. None of him or Mokuba or Pegasus or his friends – well, those losers who purported to be his friends. There was just emptiness, like a cavern.

He felt trapped.

The sound of the door swinging open suddenly came through the hall and was quickly followed by thumps and crashes.

"Mokuba?" He asked tentatively.

The boy ran into the room, halfway out of his uniform. It had taken weeks of badgering but Kaiba had eventually allowed him to go to the local high school to be with the 'normal' kids. So now he attended Domino, just like all the rest, and wore the same standard blue uniform as Yuugi and the others.

"Whoa, what the fuck are you doing home so early?"

"Mokuba, watch your language," he chastised half-heartedly.

"Sorry, nii-sama," he shrugged. "I'm just surprised to see you here. Like, don't you have work or something?"

Kaiba shook his head.

"It ended at five and I didn't really have much to do. Would you like to do something this evening?" He gave Mokuba a normally rare smile.

The boy, however, didn't notice as he was already turned towards the door, leaving his jacket on the floor for the servants to pick up and clean. He shook his head and leaned half way in and half way out of the door frame, ready to make for the stairs.

"Can't. I'm going out with some friends tonight. I'll be back, like, at eleven or something. Maybe. Might be later, I don't know."

"Oh." Kaiba couldn't hide his disappointment. "Well is there anything you want to do this week?"

The boy shifted in his stocking feet uncomfortably. His brother didn't normally behave this way. Had he done something to deserve this? All he wanted was to go and hang out.

"I'm kinda doing stuff pretty much every day. Besides, I don't think you'd like to do what I like to do."

"Just try me!" He still held on to the smile half-heartedly.

The boy turned.

"Nah, it's OK. You can work; you don't have to take time off for me. I'm fine. Look, I've gotta go get ready or were going to be late."

"Oh. All right." Kaiba's answer went unheard, however, as the boy was already bounding up the stairs.

After he'd gone, Kaiba thought of a million issues he should have addressed with the boy. His grades were slipping. He never seemed to be at home. According to the staff, he was sneaking out at night and crawling back in at incredible hours. His clothing smelled awful – he smoked from time to time and allowed laundry to pile up. His room was a wreck. And he always seemed to be in some kind of altercation at school. He was still a good kid, mostly– it just seemed as though he was taking after people like that moron Katsuya.

Kaiba wondered where the boy had gone wrong, or if in fact he had gone wrong. Why hadn't Mokuba followed his example? And was he right in choosing not to follow it? His own brother didn't want to be like him. Kaiba had always been so certain that he'd been the best, that what he was had been more than good enough, yet now it looked as though everybody but him could see the faults and flaws of such a nature.

Nobody acted like he had. And even having everything could not keep his brother at home, could not make him continue to blindly idolize him. Seto felt more alone than ever. Then the voice poured into his thoughts again.

'You don't have to be.'

The entire day he'd been afraid to call Pegasus. Surely they were being too obvious. Surely someone was going to find out. And if and when they did, there would be tabloid-hell to pay. Which was why he had to try, try at least, to limit himself in their interactions. Not too many calls, not too many visits, certainly no pictures since that would be a dead giveaway…

Then he thought of something, an ingenious idea. He wanted to see Pegasus, to assure himself that there was somebody for him.

Deliberately, he removed the card-shaped locket from around his neck and clicked it open to see the picture inside of Mokuba, as a child. His eyes were wide and soft. Kaiba could feel his heart rate speed up, thinking of the loving gaze that one soft hazel eye fixed upon him.

His fingers gently began to ease the picture out of its holder and hovered over the bit sticking out at the top, wondering whether to pull it out or not. He wavered and a voice deep inside him roared with muted thunder.

'What are you THINKING! That is your BROTHER, you cannot replace him with the image of that… that PRISSY SNAKE! STOP! STOP IT THIS INSTANT!'

He tugged the picture out, pocketed it, then went upstairs to look and see if he had a picture or digital image of Pegasus that he could cut out.

So yes, I realized I had rather been neglecting the brotherly aspect. Basically, it's a few years later and Mokuba's around the age that the gang was in the normal series (16-18). I tried… well, just give me comments on how you thought he was portrayed and I'll see if I did my job well.

All comments/criticism/reviews are welcome. Again (I know, I'm being repetitious) I would appreciate lengthy reviews that go over specific details.