Chapter 14

'You need to apologise to Mai,' Ahna cut straight to the point.

'What for?'

'For how you acted earlier; she's pretty sensitive at the moment you know.'

He shrugged, but made no attempt at a reply.

'So are you going to apologise to her, or what?'

'Later.'

'Why not now?'

'Can't you see I'm busy? Geez!'

'What's wrong with you Veronie? This isn't like you at all; normally you bend over backwards to please Mai.'

'Maybe I'm fed up of being knocked back all the time, ever think of that,' his words were dull and the fact he didn't even look round at her suggested something else was going on here.

In her arms Crovell started to fuss. Instantly Ahna turned her attention towards him as she tried to work out exactly what had upset him.

'Maybe you should take him inside,' Joey gritted his teeth as he finally shot a look in her direction, 'I could do without the distraction.'

'Your son is a distraction now?'

'You're a distraction,' he turned his gaze back towards the flowers he was tending, 'can't you see I'm trying to work.'

'I can't believe you suggested this Yugi.' Téa shot him a look as they made their way up the long driveway. 'I mean, you heard what he said…'

'I'm disappointed in you Téa; I didn't think you'd give up on your friendship with him so easily.'

'I'm not giving up; I just think he needs to cool down a little first.'

'We gave him an hour, didn't we?'

'I guess.'

'Then what are you getting all bent out of shape for,' Yugi's face filled with a strange smile.

Téa sighed heavily, but said nothing. Yugi was right, she was being too defeatist about this. Her friendship with Tristan might have been strained for a while now, but the fact both of them had continued to hold onto it for so long meant it was still worth fighting for; she just had to keep telling herself that. By this time they'd reached the door. Ringing the bell they waited and, to their surprise, a few minutes later it was answered by Kaiba.

'What, no servants to open the door for you?' Yugi cocked an eyebrow at him.

'What the hell are you doing here?' Kaiba glared back at him.

'We're here to see Tristan, is he in?'

'That's none of your business, now leave.' Kaiba started closing the door, but Yugi jammed his foot in the way. 'Move your foot Yugi.'

'Not till you let us in,' there was something almost singsongish about the way Yugi spoke which sent a trail of shivers up Téa's spine.

'I'm not letting you in,' Kaiba gritted his teeth, 'you're not welcome here, now go away.'

'Tristan is our friend Kaiba; we just want to talk to him.'

'Move your foot Yugi.'

'Let us in Kaiba.'

'No.'

'Then I'm not moving.'

Kaiba was about to say something, when the sound of screaming reached their ears. For a few long moments Kaiba just stood there frozen, then a pained look of frustration pulled across his face. Without a word he rapidly turned round and disappeared back into the house, allowing the door to swing open.

'Well what do you know,' Yugi chuckled, 'looks like we're gonna be let in after all.'

'You're not suggesting we just walk in, are you?' Téa blinked at him.

'The doors wide open, isn't it?'

'But that's breaking and entering.'

'It's not exactly breaking and entering if the door's been left open for us,' Yugi's expression was as sly as his voice.

'Yugi...'

'What are you so afraid of Téa? It's not like you're not already in trouble with Tristan anyway, what's a little more going to hurt? I mean, shouldn't doing whatever it takes to fix the broken state of your friendship prove to him just how much you care? Come on Téa,' he stepped backwards through the threshold as he held her gaze, 'you know you want to,' he reached a hand out towards her.

'For Tristan?' Téa hesitantly took hold of his hand.

'For Tristan.'

Duke tilted his head to one side as he found himself studying the sleeping Catilin. Technically this was their third date and the third time her need for sleep had become an issue, not that Duke minded. For a start he knew she wasn't like this normally and found himself wondering if maybe she was coming down with something. For a second she was really cute when she slept, which wasn't a bad thing to find out this early on in their relationship.

Just as he was thinking this she started to come round. Her doe-like brown eyes blinked up at him and a relaxed but weary smile pulled across her face as she stretched.

'I'm sorry; I didn't mean to fall asleep again.'

'I know, but if you're going to make a habit out of this I might suggest our next date takes place in bed. I mean...' he gave an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his head edgily, 'like... err... having a picnic type thing in bed, not... you know... I... err... I'm just digging an awkward little hole for myself here, aren't I?'

Catilin just giggled and said nothing.

'I just hope you're not falling asleep all the time because you find me boring,' he deliberately changed the direction of the conversation.

'That's not it,' she shook her head, 'I don't find you boring at all Duke, don't ever think that. I don't know why I'm so tired all the time right now, I just am.'

'Are you sure you're not coming down with something?' Duke placed a hand on her forehead.

'I don't feel sick, I just feel tired.'

'Sometimes sickness can just feel like being really tired you know,' he found himself studying her again, 'maybe you should see a doctor about this.'

'I'm not sick,' she folded her arms, 'I don't need to see a doctor and you can't make me.'

'Yes but...'

'No. No doctors. I don't like doctors.'

'Okay, okay, I'm sorry,' Duke held his hands up defensively, not totally sure why he suddenly felt as though he'd stepped on a live bomb. 'So would you like to go on another date with me?'

'Uh-huh,' she nodded, 'tomorrow?'

'I was thinking more along the lines of Tuesday.'

'But Tuesday is ages away,' she pouted, 'why can't it be tomorrow?'

'Because this will give you time to catch up on your sleep,' Duke's face fell into a soft smile, 'and maybe then you'll be able to stay awake through one of our dates. Doesn't that sound like a good idea to you?'

'Yeah, I'd like that,' she grinned, 'okay, Tuesday it is then.'

'Good, but today isn't over yet either, so what do you want to do now?'

Every inch of his skin prickled with anticipation; he just couldn't believe how easy this was. As he entered the room he knew with absolute certainty his timing was spot on. He moved towards the object and allowed his hand to hover over it for a few long moments. This was a momentous occasion and for half a heartbeat he almost couldn't bring himself to make contact with it. But the heartbeat passed and his hand connected with the cool, solid weight of the metal.

The power the object radiated was beyond his wildest dreams. It filled him with an exhilarated sense of self and a renewed feeling of purpose. As he picked the object up all he could think about was finding a way of trying his new toy out. A fiendish plan made its way through his mind, causing a deep, rumbling chuckle to emanate out of him. If somebody had told him a few months ago these would become his own thoughts he wasn't quite sure he'd have believed it. But now...

Now all he could think about was pain and misery and how much joy the suffering of others would bring to him. He didn't know where these thoughts and feelings had come from, but he did know they were his and there was nothing he wanted more than to indulge them. And soon... soon he knew he would.