Disclaimer: Legal stuff in previous chapters. I'm too lazy to rewrite it.
Warnings: First person POV, present tense. (AKA not my strong suit.) Implied Seto/Yami.
When he came home trembling, there was blind panic in his eyes. Not for long, because he is a master at controlling his expressions. Just long enough to make me worry.
I didn't mention it. We ate dinner. The dish looked awful, but it always does when Mokuba offers to help. He'll never make a chef, but his heart is in the right place. At least the food doesn't taste as bad as it looks. Seto has accused me of spiking it with something. I take that to mean he enjoys it.
But still, he is more tense than usual. His precious project is finished and accepted, so I can't imagine what it is that is bothering him. He doesn't care to share his emotional state or his thoughts, which makes communication...difficult.
When Mokuba receives permission to watch a movie on a school night, I know there is something more going on in his head. He always wears the combative, self-destructive part of his personality close, but tonight it is suffocating him.
His eyes don't watch the screen at all, focused instead on the back of Mokuba's head. I know how intense his gaze is, and wonder that his brother cannot feel those blue eyes burning into the back of his skull.
When the clock behind the couch chimes at ten, Seto stirs, moving like a man in a dream. I am worried for him. He is never this far removed from his surroundings. I call goodnight to Mokuba, my voice in time with Seto's.
That at least alleviates some of my worry. Seto acknowledged his little brother for the first time since he got back home today.
We lay, limbs entwined, on the couch, not speaking for a while. I can feel his heart beating in a slow, steady rhythm. His breathing does not match his heartbeat. Erratic, frantic, even.
He stops breathing altogether when he meets my eyes. His voice struggles to be nonchalant even as his hand strokes my back. I resist the urge to purr.
"How was your day?"
My day? I want to ask how his was, and why he seems so keen to find out what I've been doing. He never was that interested before. I know it's only a distraction – for me, for him, who knows? Both ways, any way, I answer him.
"Nothing too exciting. No revolutionary discoveries, but plenty of paper shuffling." As if he doesn't get enough of that at his own office.
He's uneasy again, tense to the point where he's out of synch with the rest of the world, a harp string tuned too high.
"Is something wrong?" It's the worst way to ask, and I know it, but gods be cursed - I don't know any other way!
I see his shields go up, defending. Something is wrong then.
"What is it?" I try to sound inviting and capable even as I gather his unresisting form into my arms. Yuugi is better at this than I am. Emotions have always been difficult to deal with, but Seto's seem to spawn new levels of careful treading.
When he won't meet my eyes, I don't press it. Perhaps I have gone too far already, demanding to know what he considers to be private. He is difficult to deal with.
"Mokuba."
The admission startles me. Mokuba? "What about him?" I think quickly to this morning. Did Seto believe I would really do that? "I wasn't going to really MindCrush his teacher," I put in hastily.
But he shakes his head. "That's not it."
I have the feeling Seto might actually tell me something for once.
"He – " There's a pause and a flicker of something in the depths of those blue eyes. I guess the moment's gone, because Seto's flat, don't-bother-me-now voice continues with, "He's grown up so fast."
That was not what he had been about to say. I know it from the faint glimmer of panic still sealed in his eyes and the too-tight grip he has on the blanket wrapped around him.
I let it pass. It is true – Mokuba is growing up fast. A little too fast, perhaps, for his brother's comfort. Maybe though, the addition of years and experience are beginning to show Seto a picture he doesn't much care for.
"He is, but don't worry. Even when he's fully grown, he'll need some form of support." Seto doesn't seem convinced so I tack on another red ribbon. "You'll always be his Nii-sama."
He nods, but his eyes tell me he isn't with me anymore. Despite his physical presence, Seto's mind, I know, is away, looking through things he never wanted to deal with. I can only hope that whatever he finds, I will be able to help him cope.
Protecting Yuugi when we shared a body was so much easier. Sharing a mind certainly made it simpler to keep track of his problems. Sharing a mind with Seto doesn't have the same appeal though. I believe I would survive only a few hours of his brain's random though processes before I went insane.
Think of Yuugi though…
/Yami?/
/Aibiou?/ I confess myself astonished. I don't think he's ever been able to reach such a great distance before.
There was something in his mind voice as he tiredly said, /I'm coming home soon./
/I cannot wait to see you again, Aibou./
/It hasn't been that long!/
/Perhaps not./ Should I tell him? His next question renders the point moot.
/What's wrong? You're leaking emotional distress all over the link./
Am I?
/My apologies. Seto – or perhaps, more correctly, Seto's emotions – are being one big snakebite in the posterior./
Yuugi chuckles a bit. His laugh is yellow and comforting.
/If you need my help when I get back, I'll do what I can/ he promises.
/When are you coming back?/ I can feel the strain his mind is taking from this. Just this question and I will let him go.
/Five weeks. Yami, my head – /
/Yes, Aibou. I'm astounded you did this at all. Now rest. Call if you have to./
The link closes, a ghost of 'thank you' floating over it into my mind.
Yes, Aibou, and thank you.
Author's Note: Well, I typed up Interlude and had it all set to go, but somehow instead I ended up doing a double post of Chapter 6. Thank you very much to PaladinDragon who pointed it out to me. And beta Lightning Sage.