Mahad drew the curtains while Isono took the first shower.
Deep down, he knew curtains wouldn't keep anyone out if they really wanted to spy. King Atem could easily find out with enhanced hearing or vision.
Shaking his head in defeat, Mahad sat at the foot of the bed and listened to the water running. He really cherished this relationship he held with Isono. If King Atem asked him to break it off….
Mahad gripped his knee with one hand, his eyes burning as he stared at the dark TV hanging over the decorative fireplace. He wouldn't want to break it off. He'd do something shameless, like beg to keep his activities consistent with Isono.
Isono stepped out of the shower, shirtless with only a towel on around his waist and Mahad's mouth went dry. H-Handsome…
"Go on," Isono smirked as he caught Mahad's eyes trailing down his front. He reached forward to drag his palm across Mahad's firm chest to feel the muscles, giving him a nod. "Are you…afraid?"
Mahad rested his hand over Isono's hand on his chest and gave the fingers a tight squeeze. Afraid…? Yes.
"If your master told us to stop, would you?" Mahad asked, his stomach twisting when he felt he could guess the answer. Knowing Isono as well as he did now, Isono would say 'no'.
"Master Kaiba would be understanding and tell me to live my life as long as it doesn't interfere with his," Isono said firmly, his heart racing at the memory of Seto snatching the cigarette from him right after yelling at him for smoking. "My relationship with you doesn't make me disloyal to him. If he tells me to stop, it will because your master said we should stop. I will disobey him."
Isono's eyes grew dark as he contemplated what he said, and nodded, standing behind it.
Seto was his master. Just because Seto was in love with Atem, who had made questionable choices as a vampire king in the past meant only he would follow Seto more wholeheartedly than ever.
"But I can't betray Atem like that," Mahad said with a pained sigh. "I will insist we stop."
"Then I insist you don't scream when I come into your room to sit on top of you," Isono replied ruthlessly, walking over to grab his smokes from the counter beside the TV. "Hurry up and wash. This talk of our masters is ruining the mood."
Mahad swallowed thinly and nodded, standing to take a shower, his heart twisting with turmoil.
Isono stared at Mahad's back disappearing into the shower, and he shook his head angrily, pulling out a cigarette to stab it into his mouth, texting Master Kaiba with one hand while using his other to light up.
His pocket buzzed, and Isono tensed. Oh. He'd…taken Seto's phone.
Sighing in annoyance, Isono placed both phones on the cabinet beside the TV and stared at them, listening to the water running. He knew Seto very well. He could convince Seto to sway King Atem. It was just politics.
Mahad was out by the time Isono finished his cigarette, so he wasted no time, pushing Mahad down onto the bed with a thump! and climbing atop him on all fours, leaning down to press a rough kiss to his lips, feeling Mahad tense and slowly grope his ass with firm kneads.
Slowly closing his eyes and enjoying how Isono was moving down his body, Mahad shivered when Isono gave him a tight squeeze below and stroked him up and down while lube was dumped onto his tip, and he was given a marvelous massage.
He tried to relax. Isono was right.
Their relationship didn't mean he'd be less loyal to Atem.
He was taking time for himself, as he should, since he deserved this.
On the other side of the wall, Kaiba was laying face down on the bed with three pillows over his ears, while Yami stood angrily with his arms crossed, facing the wall and watching the two outlines in his vision–Isono and Mahad–enthusiastically fuck each other.
He'd heard everything Isono said about refusing to obey orders to stop.
Fair, since Isono was Kaiba's servant.
Mahad was keen on not betraying him again…until Isono convinced Mahad to disobey with a mouth service.
Yami sighed and understood he had to relent here.
He loved Mahad dearly and wanted him to be happy.
The reason for Mahad's first rebellion was because…Mahad was unhappy.
But he seems happy now, Yami continued to watch emotionlessly as Mahad got up on his knees to give Isono a vicious pounding, with Isono's unrestrained cries echoing from the other side.
Kaiba let out a yell, "PLEASE!"
Yami froze, and saw Mahad and Isono freeze on the other side too.
"Keep…going…!" Isono raged, propping himself up on his elbows to glare at Mahad behind him. "It's just humans. Shut them out." And his face burned when he put it back into the pillow, his heart thundering when he thought he recognized Master Kaiba's voice, but he wasn't going to scare Mahad with that information.
If Master Kaiba was nearby, Atem was with him, and the 'please' shout was possibly Master Kaiba advocating for him. All the more reason to ignore their fighting and enjoy himself.
He'd spent his entire life standing up for Master Kaiba.
It was nice to be repaid like this.
Kaiba got up and grabbed Yami by the arm, now begging under his breath, "you heard it, seen it, so can we go? You can murder him when you get back. Please. Isono is like a father to me. I can't fucking be here anymore."
"You're fine with it?" Yami asked with one eyebrow raised and Kaiba nodded so fast his head blurred.
"If anything, I'm glad they're fucking instead of fighting," Kaiba hissed, tightening his grip so much around Yami's elbow, he saw his claws digging into the fabric. "You and I have bigger things to worry about. I need to know how to give press releases to prove my existence. I don't show up on cameras. You need to help me."
Yami blinked once and nodded slowly. Very well. Seto's problem took precedence.
He opened the window and leaned his hip on the sill, "let's fly back and fix your problem."
"Thank you, fuck," Kaiba snarled as he hopped on the sill and leaped off the window, aiming for the nearest roof to propel himself upwards.
This was another skill he'd learned: using other surfaces as propulsion instead of shapeshifting into an animal. It was more about distribution of strength and speed.
When Mahad returned to the house, he expected to be reprimanded by King Atem, but to his surprise, everyone acted normal. Almost as if they didn't know.
Things were eerily normal.
Even Isono behaved as if they'd done nothing wrong. He managed the house with his usual grace, with the added task of bringing a meal into the home for Kaiba to eat.
The two masters locked themselves in the study for hours at a time.
Atem only emerged to give Mokuba lessons. The moment Mokuba went to bed, he was back inside the study with Kaiba, who barely showed his face.
Isono explained to him that Kaiba did this often. This was 'genius at work' and this steadfast diligence Kaiba displayed was one of the pleasures of working for the master.
All they had to do was keep the house clean, safe, and organized, with a meal at the door every 48 hours.
It was a joy to hunt for a new tasty human together for their masters, and Mahad realized he was happier than ever, working on this schedule with Isono.
They were sent out together so often that Mahad realized he enjoyed the companionship.
He'd been acting alone for so many years, it was odd to accept that he'd have a permanent right hand he could trust.
It struck him just how lonely he'd been and how he'd accepted loneliness as part of his life because of his work, but Isono made him realize he didn't have to live like this. He'd been so lost when Atem fell from power, he didn't know what to do with himself.
He found himself feeling thankful towards Seto Kaiba, and he had to pause to reconsider his feelings. Yes, his attitude towards the CEO had changed.
After all, Atem had changed for the better because of this man.
His phone buzzed, so he pulled it out to see a text in the group chat he shared with the two masters.
Seto-device1: im craving steak. Pls get it for me, thx
Atem-device1: mahad, please make sure that human is in good health
Atem-device1: please have him examined at a clinic before arrival
Mahad raised his head and heard Kaiba's voice echoing through the doors a few floors up.
"Can you have some fucking chill?"
"Seto, you don't know who has fed on him previously, if ever. If you don't want to lose your favorite meal, make sure he's okay beforehand, alright? Small, easy steps. It's not an inconvenience to you at all for him to be examined before a feeding!"
Mahad held his breath and continued to eavesdrop shamelessly.
"You know, I used to think you were chill because you were careless with me, but now I know you have a stick up your ass regarding everything else!"
Atem's voice was deep when it resonated through the walls, "I'll havesome chill when Mokuba reaches age 25 without killing anyone, and when our food supply is steady. The five in the basement is hardly a pantry. They're all over the age of 45 and will naturally die soon in another 30 years. We are always on the brink, Seto, so don't expect me to let up."
"We aren't starving yet. You don't have to be so insane." Came Kaiba's snarky reply, and Mahad shook his head, turning to head out the door and feeling Isono join him in a quiet step beside him, opening the door for him with a curt nod and then closing it behind him with a rumbling thunk!
They walked quietly to the waiting SUV by the sparkling fountain and climbed in.
"Steak is a boy named Yugi," Isono briefed Mahad as he slipped a cigarette out of his pocket and inched the window down halfway to enjoy his smoke. "Driver, take us to the Kame Game Shop."
The lighter clicked in the silence and Mahad dared to reach over to rest his hand atop Isono's leg, giving him a squeeze while Isono's hand clamped down on top of his, and the thin scent of dark creme inched through the cabin and was quickly carried away by a gust of wind.
"I'm aware of this Yugi," Mahad said nervously as he tightened his grip over Isono's hand. "He's been marked by Bakura's clan. He is off limits to everyone in the city."
He felt a pang of fear at the memory of Bakura barging into Kaiba's suite on the boat to enact violence, and he shifted in his seat.
Were they going to be okay?
Isono merely shrugged. "Yugi has visited the mansion before. Master Kaiba is fond of the boy and tells me to keep track of his movements in the city. He is not GPS tagged but I have stopped by his bedroom window on occasion during my outings."
Ah, Mahad swallowed thinly and watched Isono blow smoke out the window with a practiced huff and tap the cigarette against the outside of the car's door, the wind ruffling the silver streak in his hair, making his heart leap.
He'd trust Isono on this then.
Yugi froze when he heard a tap on his window, and he tore the headphones off his head to see a muscular guy with neat, slicked back hair kneeling on the roof.
The man knocked again so Yugi slowly stood up to open his window, his heart pounding as he noticed a black car parked at the curb down below and he bit back a gasp.
Was that…Kaiba-kun's car?
"Yugi, your presence is needed," Isono could hear the human's heartbeat humming and the delicious scent of sweet, roasted meat washed over him when the window was lifted. "Should I carry you down from here or will you come out the front door?"
V-Vampire? Yugi eyed the man's neat black blazer and nodded slowly. "I'll come out…" And he slowly closed the window again, rushing to grab a bag out of his closet, throwing a few sets of clothes into it along with his laptop.
Oh gosh, finally! Yugi was celebrating silently as he slung the bag over his shoulder and paused in front of the mirror to fix his hair, his entire body jittery.
Kaiba-kun hadn't talked to him in a couple months.
He thought the CEO lost interest but then saw the news.
Kaiba Corp's stock tanked, and then Industrial Illusions president sent a 2 million gift.
Kaiba was busy and it was obvious to the public he was trying to scramble out of a scandal regarding the gory, 'leaked photos' of his 'death'.
Yugi threw on a jacket and ran down the stairs, locking the door behind him and heading straight into the backseat of the big black car with his head lowered.
He got a shock when he climbed in to see a muscular man with long brown hair giving him a serious nod.
Lowering his head with his ears burning white-hot, Yugi tucked his hands under his thighs when the manservant he vaguely recognized climbed into the seat beside him, sandwiching him in the middle.
The car rolled forward silently and Yugi broke out into a cold sweat.
It was dead silent in the car, so Yugi stayed quiet while he watched the scenery flash by, wondering if he would also get to see Kaiba's spiky-haired rock star boyfriend.
Probably.
Yugi lowered his head and tried not to panic.
He wasn't experienced in open relationships.
He didn't want to upset anyone, and that was his main goal.
The scenery was flashing by when Yugi thought he saw a dark shadow zip past the car, and he froze. Uh, what was that?!
A strong arm pressed across his chest, and the vampire with long brown hair spoke in a deep, gravelly voice, "keep this human safe–"
The car's hood bent in half when a strong force came colliding downwards onto it. There was a crunch of metal, a screech of brakes, and a rough jolt as Yugi was thrown forward from the sudden braking. The seat belt burned against his shoulder, and the hood above carved inwards when a fist came through the top.
Isono shielded the human beside him while Mahad climbed out of the shattered window to fight the vampire who was tearing the roof of the car open, trying to get at Yugi.
Hissing in annoyance, Isono bent the boy in half and put him in the center divide of the car while another vampire came bursting through the windshield, sending shards of glass flying everywhere, Isono had to shut his eyes and rely on his hearing.
Yugi's breathing was heavy beside him, and their driver was screaming in pain.
"HELP ME! HELP ME–argckhkc…" the sound gurgling and the warm scent of carrot cake flooded Isono's lungs, while above, he could feel a cold draft and Mahad's thundering voice.
"Stand down, Marik! You won't win against me!"
Isono's blood boiled. Their driver was a casualty while he had to place himself between any vampire and Master Kaiba's meal.
A body landed with a weak thump into the seat beside him, and Isono sat up to see an unconscious vampire with his neck snapped, his eyes glassy but still blinking.
He had no emotion or reaction to that.
The vampire in the front seat was still feasting on the driver, and Mahad's weight shifted the car when he hopped off and grabbed that vampire and threw him off the human with a snarl.
"Take the boy to the mansion!" Mahad shouted over his shoulder as he gave Odion a kick on the ground towards an oncoming car, knowing police was going to be involved soon. "The less humans that see you, the better. Go!"
Isono reached across Yugi's body to unbuckle him and pulled the boy by the arms over his shoulders and jumped up through the mangled roof of the car, marveling at his own robotic, precise actions. He glanced down underneath and saw Mahad full-on fighting the bald vampire who had attacked their driver, and leapt onto the highway railing with grace and began running along it at top speed, his thoughts racing faster than the blur of trees and lights zipping past him.
Mahad had taught him this trick, on a sweet date they'd had after feasting on a gangster one night. They'd race, side by side along the highway just like this…
Focus! Isono growled at himself as he kept Yugi tight on his back, making sure not to run too fast, lest he kill the human with gravity.
Mahad would be fine. He was an old, powerful vampire who had fought many and survived.
Their duties were to their masters first and each other second.
Yugi's head spun as the cold wind rushed past his ears, whipping his bangs into his eyes.
Wow, he knew the vampires thought his blood was delicious but he'd never witnessed them…fighting like this.
There aren't any other people with burger-tasting blood? Yugi wondered dizzily as he was set on his feet by the front door of the mansion, and the muscular vampire with a silver streak in his hair opened the door with a tap on his phone.
"Master Kaiba… King Atem!" Isono barked, not caring if he woke Mokuba. "Mahad is in trouble. I'm going back to the highway to fight the other two who killed our driver!"
Kaiba and Yami both perked up from the desk and came dashing down the stairs, with Kaiba jumping from the fourth-story railing and Yami sprinting at top speed to stand at the door beside Isono, noting a splotch of blood on his shoulder.
"I'll go with you," Yami insisted, grabbing Yugi by the arm and handing him off to Kaiba, who hovered behind him. "Seto, stay here."
Kaiba huffed and nodded. Fine.
No one else would be left defending the house while Mokuba slept.
Two gusts of wind hit him in the face when Isono and Yami took off with the speed of their running.
Standing by the doors, Kaiba slowly eased it shut and understood why Yami wanted Yugi examined by a doctor before being fed on today.
Bakura and his goons were hovering and trying to close-in. They were a far-away threat that just made themselves very real…again.
"Are you okay?" Kaiba asked as he slowly turned around to face Yugi, listening to his heart thundering. "A doctor will be with you shortly. Hang around on the third floor. There's a game room." And he brushed past Yugi without another glance, intent on getting back to work.
Yugi followed Kaiba up the steps and noticed the CEO kept going up past the 3rd floor without him, so Yugi stayed back and idled by the pool table, gazing out the dark scenery, hearing a rattle behind him.
He whipped around and saw Mokuba Kaiba, yawning and bumping his hip against the pool table as he came up to say hello.
"Oh hey, it's you," Mokuba recognized the spiky-haired steak guy and took a few deep sniffs, but didn't feel the urge to bite. He wasn't even hungry, and he'd been working on discipline with Yami these past few months.
Just because someone smelled good didn't mean he automatically needed to bite them.
"H-Hey…Mokuba," Yugi breathed, wondering if he should hide, because the last time he met Mokuba, the kid drank from him and his arm went a little tingly….
"Oh, you're scared of me," Mokuba commented with a smirk. "Don't worry. I'm new and improved. And I'm not hungry. You want something? I have a fridge in my room."
"I'm…okay…" Yugi said as he gripped the strap of his bag harder, and Mokuba narrowed his eyes at it, and patted the tabletop.
"Put it here. Why are you so freaked out?" Mokuba asked cautiously, seeing Yugi thunk the pack onto the table and keep his distance, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Something happen?"
Yugi shrugged, wondering how much he should say. "Some vampires attacked us after I was picked up from my house. There was blood and there was fighting. One of your cars might be ruined."
"How? The wheels are reinforced. I sprayed the door handles with holy water," Mokuba demanded, his alarm rising.
"They tore open the roof and broke the windshield," Yugi admitted fearfully, and he saw Mokuba's eyes darken.
"Holy water in the windshield fluid then," Mokuba grumbled under his breath, eyeing Yugi up and down. "Come with me. Lemme get you some vampire defense stuff."
"Do I really need that?" Yugi wondered as he followed Mokuba down the stairs again, staring at the back of his black ponytail. "You guys are vampires."
"And we don't wanna kill you," Mokuba turned around to give Yugi a flashing glare. "But clearly the other side does, so let's make sure you won't die or turn on us, okay? Seto seems to really like you."
O-Okay…. Yugi said nothing and followed Mokuba through a reinforced door, and down another narrow flight of stairs into a dark room where the temperature got colder.
The lights flashed on and he was met with silver lab tables, and a set of lockers stood up against the back wall.
"Do you wear jewelry?" Mokuba asked as he knelt by one of the lockers, the electronic beeping on the pad echoing and then the lock clicked open. "If you don't, you'll wanna start."
Yugi held his breath as he watched Mokuba heave a giant plastic bin filled to the brim with silvery jewelry, all individually packed in plastic bags, and Mokuba reached his hand in boldly to rummage around.
"Are your ears pierced?" Mokuba glanced up and saw bare ear lobes. Nope. Necklace then. Well…
Yami said silver was a human's best defense next to holy water so…
"Here's a bracelet. Like it?" Mokuba tossed Yugi a chunky silver beaded bracelet and went back into the box to look. "Come see! Take whatever you want, but promise to wear it when we're not around, okay? Don't let them kill you."
Yugi knelt by the big bin of jewelry and his eyes watered. "Why do they wanna kill me? I taste good!"
"To hurt Seto and Yami," Mokuba said strongly, taking out a few more silver bracelets and handing them to Yugi. "There's gonna be a vampire war soon. Better hunker down. Let me get you some Holy Water."
He stood up and unlocked the locker on top, bringing down a giant wine bottle which he uncorked and filled an empty travel-spray bottle.
"This shit is like acid, so aim for the eyes," Mokuba said ruthlessly as he poured the clear liquid into the tiny jar and carefully set the wine bottle aside to cork it. "Can you screw the cap on? I don't wanna touch it. You can keep this in your pocket with you when you travel."
Yugi dutifully picked up the tiny perfume spray bottle and secured the lid on it.
Electronic beeping echoed again when Mokuba locked the bottle of holy water away, still talking, "garlic is a myth. We can still taste garlic… Oh, spray the water onto door knobs or window latches to keep vampires out. It'll last for 2 months. Let me know if you need more, okay? Take out your phone. You can have my phone number."
Mokuba beamed, and Yugi gave him a cautious nod.
Wow, Mokuba was totally different from the last time they met.
They exchanged numbers and Yugi slipped all five silver bracelets onto his arms, thinking the beaded one was cute and the other chain-ones were cool too.
Walking back up into the house, Yugi had to ask, "how do I know which vampires are good? I can't overcome hypnosis…"
"Yeah that sucks," came Mokuba's careless reply. "Good vampires are me, Seto, Isono, Yami obviously, and Yami's servant, Mahad with the long hair."
Yugi nodded, committing this to memory, thinking Mahad with the long hair was pretty handsome...
"Then our acquaintances are two girls named Mai and Isis," Mokuba stopped on the top stair with a shrug. "That's basically it. Our clan is really small and we're weak, so, don't die, okay?" He flashed Yugi a thumbs up and went back into his room to finish his homework.
Feeling weird about everything, Yugi walked around the pool table before going up a few more floors to knock on Seto's door. It was weird that he got called over and was essentially…ignored?
Well, I'm safer in this house than at my home I guess, Yugi shrugged to himself and knocked again, wondering if Kaiba-kun wanted to at least say 'hi' a little.