(Gift fic for DragonLady222.

Main characters are Yuugi, Yami, and Seto.
Main 'ship': Prideshipping (Yami x Seto)
Hints of: Puzzleshipping (Yami x Yuugi). Rivalshipping (Seto x Yuugi).
Fic Goal: Flareshipping (Seto x Yami x Yuugi).

A simple reminder- Yuugi is Mr. Howell and his aliases first name is never mentioned.

Enjoy. :D Please read and review.

Thank you everyone for reviewing and supporting this fic! *hugs*)

"Why do you insist on working? Isn't there something, anything else you would rather be doing?" Yami could not wrap his mind around why anyone would want to work themselves to death, literally. He was under the assumption that most who knew they were going to die tried to make the most of the last moments.

"Not that is doable," Yuugi said as he saved what he was working on. "Let me remind you- the more I do, the more time Seto has with you." He rolled his eyes when he realized what he had said and how one of the house nymphs could interpret it, "You know what I mean."

"I think we are wearing off on you," Yami tried to stifle his laugh; however, he could not keep himself from smirking. "I guess you're right though. I'm sorry. I really do appreciate what you do for us."

Yuugi nodded his head, "I told Seto I would try so I'm trying." He closed the lid of his laptop. "Speaking of Seto he should be home in just a few minutes. You know what I don't understand?"

"What?"

"We all know why I can't go and pick him up but you have no reason. Why haven't you been going lately?" Yuugi ran his fingers through his hair before stretching. He had been sitting for a while. "I don't need a sitter," he added as an afterthought.

"Because like you just said, Seto wanted me to try so I'm trying. Although, with you working all the time I don't feel like we're making much progress at all."

"I told you I'm content if I were to-" Yuugi was about to finish the sentence when Yami covered his mouth.

"Don't say it," Yami warned.

Yuugi rolled his eyes as he pulled Yami's hand from his mouth. "How about we go downstairs and get dinner started so it will be ready when Seto comes home." What he actually wanted to do was nibble as he cooked. He was hungrier than usual.

"You know we have hired help for that."

"Are you afraid of getting your hands dirty?" Yuugi teased.

"It's not that, I just don't know how to make anything but sandwiches."

"Don't forget that you know how to pour cereal out of the box," Yuugi smirked. "Seriously though it isn't that hard. I'll teach you. After all we wouldn't want you to starve if no one was around."

"Do you think that Seto knows how to cook?"

"Having never seen him do more than what you know how to do, I would guess 'no'." He grabbed Yami's hand and led him out of the room. They were not going to get anything close to done standing around in the office- unless they ordered takeout or gave in and let the hired help cook for them.

Yuugi was exhausted by the time he was setting the dish containing lasagna down on the table. He really hadn't meant to put that much time and effort into making lasagna and garlic bread. He ran the back his arm across his forehead and then took an extended amount of time stretching.

When it came to cooking, Yami didn't feel like he had learned much. Yuugi had pretty much just taken over. He watched as Yuugi went about setting the table. He noted that Yuugi was just as fickle about place settings as the hired help and Seto. For a brief moment, he wondered if this was Yuugi's way of doing things or if he was doing it to make Seto happy.

"Something smells really good," Seto said as he came into the dining room. He stopped short of the table and noticed that it was Yuugi putting things together. He glanced over at Yami and whispered when he came closer, "doesn't he realize we have hired help for this."

"Yes, but he wanted to do the cooking," Yami whispered back.

All formality out the window, once the last piece of silverware was placed Yuugi plopped into the nearest chair. He felt like he could fall asleep right then. All the cooking had tired him out to the point he wasn't hungry. Nevertheless, it wasn't like he hadn't ate, he had nibbled as he cooked.

Yami and Seto both sat down in their normal seats.

"Thank you Yuugi for taking the time to make dinner," Seto said as he reached for the specula. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and noticed that Yuugi was barely awake.

"Welcome," Yuugi mumbled and slouched a bit in the chair. "But I cannot take all the credit. Yami helped."

"Not really. He just talked me through it as he cooked."

Yami cringed when Seto started up the stairs and Yuugi's feet grazed the rail of the stairs. "Easy with him!"

Yami's scolding words caused him to miss a step. He managed a quickly and fairly decent recovery. "Help out or shut up," Seto mumbled. "He's not exactly light as a pillow."

"Neither am I and you've a done a better job carrying me up the stairs."

"He's dead weight," Seto grumbled. He was happy they were finally at the top of the stairs.

"Yuugi isn't looking good at all," Yami sighed. He helped Seto strip Yuugi down and get him tucked into bed. "I feel like I failed him."

"After we finish up here I am going to make a phone call. I am going to have mine and Mr. Howell's schedules rearranged. We will be taking the rest of the week off." Seto emptied the pockets and then folded Yuugi's clothes before putting them into the dirty clothes hamper.

"I wonder when it got so bad?"

"I don't think it has ever been good. I think we have just been refusing to admit it to ourselves that we might lose him." Seto sat down on the edge of the bed. It was evident that he was about in tears. Despite the rocky start, he had grown to love Yuugi as much as Yami.

Yami put a hand on Seto's knee. "I love him. I don't want to lose him." Past that he was at a loss for words.