Joey drove them from the hospital to his house, letting Mokuba and Serenity loose on the backyard with a football while Seto tiredly dragged himself into the living room, trying not to look envious.
"How are you holding up?" Joey asked with a note of pity in his voice.
The car ride had taken more out of Seto than he wanted to admit. "They said the anesthetics could still be in my system for another few hours, and that if I feel the effects, it might be best to sleep them off. I think I'd actually prefer to do that." He sat on the couch which looked much cleaner than their own couch at home had even been in its entire existence.
"You don't have to sleep on the couch, you know. You could sleep in my room. It's actually clean right now." Joey smirked playfully, and Seto hesitated only briefly before accepting the offer. He doubted Mokuba and Serenity would be quiet while they played. Seto took Seth's advice and napped, visiting him in their soul room to help him with his painting.
Seto's eyes flew open as he was startled into wakefulness. What had woken him, though?
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
That was Joey's voice, and Seto sat up so that he could look at Joey over his shoulder. The blond was standing in the doorway. He'd come in just to see how Seto was doing with no intention of rousing him from the rest he needed.
"I forgot how light a sleeper you are."
"It's fine," the brunette assured, turning and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.
"How's your head?"
"Fine. A lot better than it was last night."
Joey snorted. "I should hope so. Otherwise, I'd have to take you back to the doctor." Joey's smile dimmed a little. "Will you need help with the hospital bills?"
"Probably." Seto couldn't resist the urge to press his fingers to the wound and feel how the scalp had been altered by the broken glass. He found the stitches and ran his fingertips over the surgical thread. "But if they let me pay them bit by bit over a few months, I should be alright."
"Oh, yeah, here's your wallet." Joey reached into his pocket and pulled it out, tossing it to Seto. "It was on the floor when I got there."
"Thanks." Seto opened it and scowled. "He didn't leave so much as a penny in here, did he?"
There was only one "he" that he could be referring to, and Joey knew that.
"Nope." Joey leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. "But he left behind your fake ID."
The brunette narrowed his eyes at his friend. "It's not what you think."
"It's none of my business."
Seto hesitated, then looked back down at the falsified card. "I don't want you to have the wrong idea. I couldn't get a bank account that was solely mine unless I was at least 18, and I've been running out of places to hide my savings because he keeps finding them." He looked back up at Joey. "He's robbed me of thousands of dollars, Jo. If he weren't wasting my money on beer, cocaine, and lottery tickets, Mokuba and I could have moved out long ago."
"Like I said, it's none of my business," Joey repeated, approaching his bed and sitting on the edge beside Seto. "And if anyone asks, I don't know anything about it."
"Thanks." He closed his wallet and tucked it away.
"Does your dad get like that often?"
"He's never come at me with a weapon before, if that's what you're asking." That is, if an empty bottle counted as a weapon.
"If you don't feel safe there," Joey began slowly, aware that he was entering dangerous territory.
"We're fine, Joey."
"Clearly not. I think that you should live here for a little while."
"What?!" Seto stiffened in shock; he'd never expected an offer like that from Joey. His first instinct was to recoil and protest in outrage.
"My parents wouldn't even notice! It would allow you to cut your losses and save up for a while and feel safe. Mokuba would be safer too." Joey began to list the benefits, ticking them off on his fingers. "You wouldn't have to keep paying rent on your dad's apartment, you wouldn't have to pay Ryou to babysit, you wouldn't have to buy food because you can share in ours, you won't have to worry about avoiding your dad or hiding your money or leaving Mokuba home alone."
After a pause, Seto replied softly, "That's the most intelligently I've ever heard you speak about anything. I think that bank is rubbing off on you."
"Having smart parents doesn't hurt either," Joey added with an eye-roll. "So, will you do it?"
"That's all contingent on your parents approving our presence in their house."
"Like I said, they're rarely home. They won't even notice. As long as I tell the cleaning lady to expect your presence, they're not gonna know."
"So we'd have to sneak around behind their backs, and who's to say that they won't call the police on us when they do find out?"
"If they do!"
"I need to plan for that possibility, Joey, no matter how unlikely you think it is." They were clearly arguing now, but at least they weren't yelling. Yet. "I can handle the threats I face now, and if you're asking me to trade them for new threats, then I need to assess them before I can make a decision."
"I don't think you can handle them, Seto. Just look at the past twenty-four hours! You were in the hospital!"
"I can handle him, Joey," Seto growled, eyes narrowing again. "I've been doing it for years."
"He's getting worse though, isn't he?" Joey asked, then huffed in exasperation, and as he continued, his volume began to increase, approaching the volume of a shout. "What if I hadn't been able to get there in time to help you? What if it was Mokuba who got hurt? What would you do then? What if you had gotten a concussion and weren't able to work anymore? You might have one now, and we just don't know! What if you get one next time?"
"He is getting worse," Seto admitted softly, not even looking at Joey, instead staring at the clean carpeted floor as he tried to process all of this. He was trying to think, trying to make the right decision for both him and his brother. There were inherent dangers either way, but which one was riskier? "Just give me some time to think, okay?"
"What do you need to think about? It seems obvious to me that—"
"Where would we stay?" Seto asked, interrupting him.
"What?"
"If we came to live with you, as you're proposing, where would we stay?"
"In the guest room in the basement. It's more than big enough for both of you. We never have guests over anymore, so it's mostly for show, and the only ones who use the basement are Serenity and I."
"I'll think about it, Joey." Seto sighed and propped his head in his hand, starting to feel his headache return. "I can't give you an answer right now, but I'll think about it."
"Okay." Joey seemed to settle down after that. There was silence for a few moments, then he asked, "When do you want me to take you guys home?"
Noah Kaiba scowled at his cellphone as his helicopter approached Pegasus' private island. He currently owned 48% of Industrial Illusions stock, and when he took care of Pegasus, he'd easily scoop up enough stock to take ownership of the company as president, though not CEO. He'd still be making money off of the company.
"We will be landing soon, sir, on the south side of the island."
"Has Pegasus been alerted to my arrival?" he asked indifferently.
"ATC says that he wishes to be left alone, sir. As I said earlier, they recommended we turn back."
"Keep flying, then," Noah ordered with a scowl. "I'm not going back to Domino without speaking to him."
They landed twenty minutes later in front of the castle, Noah marching in like a firestorm, eyes ablaze and temper smoldering. When he made it clear to Croquette that he wouldn't leave without speaking to the creator of Duel Monsters, Croquette directed him back outside to the man's pool. That's where he found Pegasus clumsily opening his third bottle of wine.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" the one-eyed artist grumbled, having spotted Noah in his peripheral vision.
"I have business with you." Noah toed one of the empty bottles, kicking it into the pool as his lip curled into a sneer. "You disgust me."
"What business, besides insults, brings you here?" Pegasus muttered as he uncrossed his legs. He was wearing a plush bathrobe over a pair of swim trunks as he sat on a lounge chair by the chlorinated water.
"Duel Monsters." Heartless blue eyes glared at Kaiba's business partner. "As the creator, you would know the most powerful cards in the game, and those are exactly what I need: the most powerful cards in the entire game."
"The five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One are scattered through the world," Pegasus answered automatically, hiccupping to punctuate his statement. He poured himself a glass of the crimson spirit and started sipping it.
"Every serious duelist knows about Exodia, though," Noah growled, stepping closer to hulk over the older man. "There has to be something else."
Noah hesitated, then sat on the edge of the lounge chair, careful not to touch him. Pegasus was morbidly drunk, and Noah could take advantage of that. In vino veritas.
"Exodia is the most powerful Duel Monster," Noah said with a manipulative cadence. "Except for…"
"Except for the god cards, of course," Pegasus answered, then froze, realizing he'd made a mistake.
"I knew it," Noah hissed, manic eyes going wide in triumph as he seized Pegasus by the front of his robe with both hands, spilling the man's wine on the plush white material. In the process, his hair was knocked aside, revealing the Millennium Eye to Noah's gaze for the first time.
"Where are the god cards?" Noah demanded, his eyes studying the golden one inset in the other's face. "Tell me, now!"
"I-I left them with her!" Pegasus spluttered, saturated with intoxicated panic.
"With whom?" Noah snarled. "Who did you leave them with?!"
"I left them with a woman," Pegasus answered, swallowing hard. "A woman in Egypt named Ishizu."
Author Notes: This chapter was originally supposed to be a lot longer, but I kind of just gave up on the random bits that I was throwing in. I looked at the half-written scenes, shrugged, and said, "I don't think you're worth it." So maybe you'll enjoy not having a mile-long webpage to read this time around. Only two more chapters left in the season! :D
And if my drunk Pegasus doesn't sound drunk, that's because I have little to no experience with real drunk people. Sorry. :/
Please review, because more reviews = more chapters!