Adult-FanFiction.org : Yu-Gi-OH

Deliverance	By : thelostogg Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 8811 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I don't profit from these ramblings.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
A/N: Thanks for reviews! They make me happy!
WARNING: I'm not sure if this is an actual chapter or just a 10,000 word mess. It's long.  Seriously, 10,000 words and ultimately not much happens. I swear, it progresses the plot (I can call it a plot even if it only loosely qualifies, right?) in terms of exposition, but it's long. Read at your own risk.
Also, my usual editing skill was impacted by the presence of spiced rum around Thanksgiving...

Chapter 10

                The animal hospital had closed hours ago. The small parking lot was dark and empty, except for a single, black sedan parked sideways across three parking spots. The windows were tinted black and, although the driver’s side door was wide open, the dome light and headlights were off.
                “Someone beat us all here,” Lynn mused. “Tell your driver to go around the corner, park on the other side of that insurance office.”
                The American had been quiet during the quick drive over. He had kept his eyes on the vehicle windows, assumingly searching for Jou.   Before Seto could push the intercom button, the limo drove past the veterinarian’s office and turned the corner, coming to a stop approximately where Lynn had instructed. Since Seto was still glaring at Roland and Mokuba for their absolute refusal to leave him alone so that his younger brother could be taken somewhere safe, it took a moment for the fact that Seto hadn’t relayed any instructions to the driver to sink in.
                Lynn shifted uncomfortably, squirming until his back was to the door of the limo. He looked as though he was trying to keep an eye on Seto, the limo driver, and the windows at the same time.
                Mokuba, who was already on the phone to Seto’s shrink, covered the mouth piece of his cell phone. “Are you alright, Lynn?”
                Seto felt his own hackles rise as he tried to make out the silhouette of his driver through the dark glass separating the passenger compartment from the driver. In the darkness, he couldn’t see a thing. He grabbed on to Mokuba’s arm, making sure that he had a tight enough grip to drag his brother out of the car if he had to.
                Lynn ignored Mokuba.
                “Hey, why does Jou call you Collin? Why do you call him Joey, for that matter?” Mokuba asked, his voice amazingly cheerful in the artificial silence left by Roland, Seto, and Lynn all listening desperately for some sign of a threat.
                “We’re both creatures of habit,” Lynn whispered after a moment. “You can call me either. By the way, I feel I owe you an apology for how Joey and I acted at dinner. Sometimes we use humor as a coping mechanism, you see, and the humor tends to be a bit dark.”
                “A bit dark?” Mokuba managed to look only mildly annoyed.
                “Perhaps more than a bit. Joey would be the first to admit that depression doesn’t go away just because one smiles, but I think it helps. We had a bit of an argument about that…” Lynn’s eyes shifted forward towards the front of the limo. The engine had turned off, the driver’s door had opened, and the driver had stepped out. Rather than coming to open their door, though, the driver took off across the street at a run.
                “May I suggest we all exit immediately?” Lynn smiled manically.
                “Why?” Mokuba half-chuckled.
                “Just get out!” Lynn shouted, practically shoving Mokuba out the door and into the dark street.
                “Why’s our driver going into the clinic?” Mokuba asked. He had to run to keep up as Seto pulled him away from the car, just in case in happened to blow up.
                “Call it a hunch,” said Lynn slowly, “But I don’t think that’s your driver.”
                “What? But who else could it be?”
                “Joey. Or someone who wants Joey dead and knows that his cats are his only weakness.”
                “Is that Jou? It looks like him,” said Mokuba, oblivious to the uncomfortable silence of those around him. Across the street, the figure that had been driving the limo slipped smoothly through a small open window.
                Roland walked towards the front of the limo, opened the door and leaned in for a moment, then hurried back to them. “The driver is alive, but he’s been knocked out. He’s in the front passenger seat. Master Kaiba, weighing the risk of a car bomb against the potential threat to you both if a fire fight should break out in this street and you’re both exposed, I’m forced to suggest that we get back into the car and get the hell out of here.”
                Seto didn’t move. Surely as assassin would have killed his driver. Or just waited and blown them all up once he found Jou again.
                “Well, fuck a duck,” Lynn hissed.
                “What a duck?” Mokuba’s eyes bulged.
                Seto followed Lynn’s gaze towards the parking lot. They both watched as a man with dark hair and a dark suit, a man Seto had seen twice already since he got back from Tokyo that morning, climbed into the black sedan with a large pet carrier. The car started and slowly pulled out of the parking lot.
                Seto expected the man to run out of the veterinarian’s office. He expected the car to speed away. If he were trying to take Jou’s cats without his permission, he’d certainly have been in hurry. But the black sedan drove sedately through the evening traffic, came to a complete stop at a stop sign, and even signaled for a right turn. And then it, and Jou’s cats, were gone.
                “They were following us from the start,” said Seto. “They knew to follow the cats.”
                “He knew to follow the cats,” Lynn corrected him. “Was he the third guy with Martin and his little bitch? You could have said something, we’d have been more careful…”
                “He was with Martin and that other guy in my office, and he was the one waiting outside the library. He hung back each time, though. I wouldn’t have even paid attention to him in my office if Martin hadn’t sounded just like you.”
                “Martin? That idiot couldn’t have sounded like me without a thesaurus and an unabridged dictionary. That man, though… he’s good. Better than me, maybe better than Joey. And you won’t pay any attention to him unless he wants you to. He knows how to blend in, how to shift a target’s attention to anything he wants. He brought in Martin because the fucker was always a flashy, overconfident little twit. The bastard doesn’t want to get his hands dirty with this… Probably didn’t want Joey to take it personal.”
                “If he’s trying to kill him, why would he care if Jou takes it personally?”
                Lynn pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number from memory. After a moment, Seto heard someone answer. “What are you doing in Japan, Dominic?” Lynn asked, not bothering with pleasantries.
                Seto could almost make out the gruff reply, and somewhere in the middle was the word ‘Joey’.
                “No I am not. I am looking for Joey’s cats. What the fuck, man? Since when do you sell out a friend for ten? I can understand needing to earn a living, but there are other jobs, man.”
                Seto heard something that sounded like “not twenty-two?”
                “No,” Lynn glared at Seto. “Not twenty-two. It’s only ten. And since that ten was offered by a broke twelve year old orphan, I wouldn’t actually expect to get paid.” Lynn listened for a moment. “The Sasano heir is twelve. Unless his eight year old sister put up the money. And the family is broke.” Lynn listened again. “But you know that Buenos Aires gig is still open. No, I was going to, but now I’ve got more Joey shit to deal with, I’m not going to have time.” Lynn chuckled. “No, I’ve only got a week. Maybe a week and a half before my life ends for the year.”
                Lynn listened distractedly for a moment. Jou had just stormed out the front door of the dark animal hospital and Lynn shifted his weight forward, juggled the phone with one hand, and tried to casually pull a small pistol out of a holster around his ankle.
                “I’m telling you, your client’s a kid. A broke kid. His dad was so broke that his own family was calling in his debts… Fine, check for yourself, but you take care of Joey’s fucking cats until then. You know what he’s going to do to you if you hurt them, don’t you? Oh, I don’t know… He won last time you two went at it… My money’s on him this time.” Jou was stalking towards them. Lynn half-ran backwards, moving around the car. Jou stalked around the car after him, the rage on his face enough to frighten even Seto into taking several steps back. Lynn kept moving, keeping the car between him and Jou. Seto backed off more as he recognized the silhouette of two knives in Jou’s hands.
                Lynn kept moving. And he kept talking. “I wouldn’t count on that this time around… “ he laughed. “He’s really pissed. And you know that business man you hit up for information earlier? Yes the brunette with the nice ass—I’m pretty sure he counts as one of Joey’s pets.” Lynn rolled on to the sidewalk laughing as Jou, once again producing a pistol from seemingly nowhere, fired over the car at the spot where Lynn had been. As fast as the bullet imbedded itself in the brick wall behind them, Lynn was up and off the ground again. Jou had dropped to the ground and fired, under the car, at where Lynn’s head would have been. “Yeah, that was him. Told you he’s pissed…” Lynn rolled as Jou fired two more shots. “Yeah, okay. Later.”
                Lynn rolled again and dropped the phone into his pocket. Then, in a move that seemed far too agile for an older man in a suit, he leapt over the back of the limo and ran straight towards Seto. Before Seto could move or even think, Lynn had an arm wrapped around Seto’s neck and was holding Seto between him and a very, very angry blonde.
                Seto blinked up at Jou. Or rather, up at Jou’s gun.
                “Dominic has your cats,” Lynn said quickly. “He said he feels bad about being here, but he’s broke. He won’t hurt them. They’re just to bait you and you know it.”
                “Dominic?” Jou lowered the gun immediately. It disappeared into his pants somewhere. “Dominic’s here? I’d expect something like that from you, but Dominic?”
                “Twenty-two is a lot of money,” Lynn said innocently.
                Jou almost snapped. Seto could see the anger rise, and then it unexpectedly vanished. Jou hung his head then nodded in reluctant understanding. His shoulders relaxed.
                Jou shifted his shirt sleeve and knife disappeared into the fabric. That was beginning to annoy Seto. He often found himself glancing at Jou’s legs, at his ass, his waist, and every other part of his anatomy. Where the hell was he hiding all these weapons?   He was going to have to get Jou home and find out just how many things the blonde was hiding.
                What was more concerning was the expression on the blonde’s face. Jou’s cold mask was gone. Every pretense of emotionless precision was washed away as a look that spoke of deep and utter pain swept over him.
                “I offered to let him have a job I was contracted for in Argentina. It’s only six, but he can live with it. He’s checking his client’s funding, and if the kid is as broke as you say, he’s on the next plane back to South America.”
                “What?” Jou looked up, clearly surprised. “But you’ve only got a week. Nothing else is going to come up in time, how are you going to pay for this year?”
                Seto felt Lynn shrug. “I’ll figure it out. And if I don’t, so what? A year is just a year, man. It’s not like I’ve got monkeys to feed anymore, so my crap can just go into storage.
                “Monkeys?” Seto snapped. He spun around, oblivious to the arm around his neck, and glared at the American. Lynn glanced over Seto’s shoulder then gave Seto a perverted smile. The arm around his neck loosened and long, slender fingers stroked the nape of his neck. Seto glared harder.   “What the fuck kind of gibberish or code are you two using? Or are you just that insane?”
                “What happened to the monkeys?” Jou asked, apparently serious.
                Lynn rolled his eyes. “What didn’t happen to the monkeys? Infections, abuse from the peons, chronic diseases… Even my control groups died. I’m facing a full ethics committee hearing and I’m going to be lucky if I don’t have to scrap the numbers I did get because the same health issues were found in the control groups. The last two fucking years of effort are all basically shot to hell.”
                “You’re actually talking about monkeys?” Seto asked.
                “There’s a lot more to being a starving artist and recreational surfer than most people realize,” Jou laughed. Seto froze as he felt Jou’s breath against his ear with those words. Jou’s body, far too warm in the night air, plastered itself against Seto’s back. Seto felt Jou’s left arm wrap around his waist and pull his hips back, holding Seto’s ass tight against him.
                Despite the fact that Seto was pretty sure people down the block could tell that Jou was basically marking his territory, Lynn didn’t back off. Jou’s right arm shifted up to Seto’s neck and grabbed one of the fingers that were stroking him. Seto heard a cracking noise right beside his ear. “When the world ends, you’ll have to tell me all about it,” said Jou, his voice totally casual.
                Lynn didn’t even flinch. He smirked, but he took a short step backwards, too. “Yeah, definitely. Fly up and spend a few weeks with us. Bring all of your pets. We’ll unwind. That is, if you’re going to be alive past the first of September. ”
                “I…” Seto felt Jou shudder against him. “I don’t know,” Jou whispered. “I… I don’t even know what to think or feel any more.”
                Seto leaned his head back against Jou’s, then shifted and turned in Jou’s arms and wrapped his arms around Jou’s hips. “I never thought I’d say this, Mutt, but you’re over-thinking things. You should just relax for a few weeks. Stop thinking. Stop analyzing. Just let your mind quiet down. After you get your cats back, anyway.”
                “Awww,” Lynn cooed. “Cute public displays of affection and sentimentality all in one package. Oh, take him home and housebreak him, Joey, but definitely keep him.”
                The knife came back out in a flash, but Lynn danced away, giggling.
                “If I’m not insulted, you shouldn’t be,” Seto tried his best to sound soothing. He rubbed Jou’s shoulder, trying to get him to lower the knife.
                “Oh, I’m not,” Jou smiled. “That was just a joke.”
                “The knife to the throat thing was a joke?”
                “Yeah. He laughed, didn’t he?”
                “I suppose he did,” Seto conceded. “You know, not everyone has quite the same sense of humor, right?”
                “I haven’t tried to slit your throat, have I?”
                “You’ve threatened it,” Seto reminded him.
                Seto let himself smile as Jou pulled them together hard enough to knock their hips together. “Trust me, Kaiba, I can analyze a situation well enough to judge what is and is not appropriate humor. I’m nothing if not a student of social dynamics.”
                “So…” Seto tried to meet Jou’s eyes, but Jou was looking everywhere but at him. “What does this particular behavior mean, in terms of social dynamics?” Seto motioned to their entwined hips and arms and legs.
                “That territorial instincts are potent things. And that social norms reinforce them by romanticizing possessive behavior.”
                Seto leaned close and placed his lips by Jou’s ear. “That’s not quite the explanation I was going for…”
                “What? You want me to allow base instincts to overrule common sense, logic, and my own basic survival? You want me to growl that you are mine, rip your clothes off and fuck you up against your limo where the entire world can see? You want me to act like a caveman?”
                Seto swallowed hard. He knew Jou wasn’t serious, but the prospect was a bit intriguing, either way.
                “Despite your own reservations about my intelligence, I am not a fool. Acting like that would be foolish. Cavemen were easy for homo sapiens to kill because they couldn’t raise their heads above that crap. You are a liability to me and I am a liability to you. If this thing poses a threat to me, I will kill you and go fuck Lynn until I get over it. I might still feel mixed up about it years from now while I’m lying alone in bed, but I’ll still do it. The fact that something inside of me still wants to touch you doesn’t change those facts.”
                Seto shut his eyes and turned his face close to Jou’s.   He could feel Jou’s breath against his lips.
                “In case you’ve forgotten,” Seto whispered against Jou’s lips, “I tend towards a logical approach to life, too.   Whatever lapse of sanity made this thing happen, it’s just as weird for me as it is for you. Maybe more for me that you, because you’re the only man who has ever done this to me… But if you really are capable of lifting your head above your heart, then prove it. We’re both fucked up right now. We both need time to get our heads straight. Time to cool off. Let’s get your cats back, go home, and find something physically exhausting for both of us that’ll help do that. Then, when we’re both thinking clearly, we can reassess this… this thing.”
                “My cats…” Jou whispered.
                “Not possible tonight, Joey,” Lynn pointed out. “You can’t take Dominic on right now, you’re a mess. I can’t take on Dominic at the best of times. He does that thing with his tongue and suddenly I'm all jello. Let’s call it a night.”
                Jou shrank away from Seto, shrank in on himself, the dead look resurfacing yet again.
                “Come on,” Seto stepped away and slapped Jou on the ass. “You’re driving.” Seto strolled to the limo and held the door open for Mokuba, Roland, and Lynn.
                “I have to admit, this is a lot nicer than my rental car,” said Lynn as he climbed into the back of the limo.
                “I do try,” said Seto.
                Seto sat facing the front of the limo and watched Jou. He slapped on the driver’s cap and settled in behind the wheel with ease. He watched Jou for another moment then shook his head, amazed at how fast his blonde could shift from one mood to another. Once his mask broke, trying to figure out Jou was easier, but also more disconcerting. Seto found himself counting the blocks they drove towards his home. He knew Jou would stay with him tonight if it weren’t for Lynn, but how would the blonde deal with both of them? Would Lynn expect to be spending the night with Jou? Would it be suicidal to inform Lynn that there was no chance in hell that Jou was spending the night with anyone but Seto?
                Seto shut his eyes for a moment and allowed himself to remember the way the firm muscles of Jou’s chest felt pressed up against him, the way his body had felt with Jou’s c cock buried inside of him.
                No. Jou would be in Seto’s bed tonight. If it took a small army to persuade Jou’s ex that there was no way to change that, Seto would hire a large army. But, Lynn had been supportive of them being together…. It would be stupid to let jealousy turn him against a man who could be his greatest ally in winning Jou for himself.
                “No!” Lynn laughed. “You designed that virtual reality system when you were eleven?”
                Across the back of the limo, Lynn was chatting with Mokuba as though they were the best of friends. “I’ve seen it used for everything from military simulations to training primates! It’s still one of the most immersive designs ever made!”
                “Oh, I don’t know… We had a lot of good marketing going in,” Mokuba explained. “Other firms have developed better, they’re just not in mass production.”
                “Still, it’s an incredible design. If that’s what you managed when you were eleven, what are you working on now?”
                Mokuba began to describe some of his newest projects, beaming as Lynn elicited more and more details from him. Seto listened half-heartedly, mildly curious about how Lynn could have such a detailed knowledge of sensory perception within the human brain, and such an in-depth knowledge of Mokuba’s virtual reality system. He didn’t think too much about their conversation until Mokuba began to steer it towards more personal areas.
                “In fact,” Mokuba explained, “a psychiatrist I know has been talking about using the direct sensory input as a therapy tool. The ability to program in tactile sensations for the user can help re-create traumatic events in the user’s past, so they can re-frame them in their mind. She’s convinced she can cure post-traumatic stress disorder that way.”
                For a moment, something that looked like fear flittered across Lynn’s face. “Re-framing a trauma to treat PTSD… Sounds like a more productive use of technology than just redefining cybersex!” Lynn chuckled.
                Mokuba’ s blush made Seto do a double-take.
                “Not that there’s anything wrong with exploring every possible use of such immersive technology…” Lynn’s smile became a leer that, after being sandwiched between Jou and Lynn in the street outside, Seto was becoming all too familiar with.
                Seto’s eyes narrowed. Lynn was leering at his baby brother.
                Seto clenched his fingers tight. Trying to strangle the older man was not a healthy course of action. Smacking his brother couldn’t hurt, since Mokuba was smiling and flirting back like an oblivious moron. He could try asking Mokuba about the crush he mentioned earlier, but somehow, Seto didn’t think that Lynn was the type of man who was turned off by competition. In the case of sex, he seemed more inclined to view competition as potential company, and Mokuba didn’t need to dive headfirst into something like that. Seto dug his finger nails into the palm of his hand and waited for his logical mind to hammer its way out through the angry haze.
                “Lynn, forgive my interrupting,” Seto began, trying his best to look worried and distracted, “but should I be worried about the police? After that mess in Tokyo this morning, and the bodies you dumping tonight, things could blow up really fast if the police actually catch on to what you do for a living… Should we move them? Or ditch the gun you used?” Seto asked. "I know that must sound stupid. Most of what I know about this kind of stuff comes from movies, so I’m not sure what happens from here…”
                Lynn stared at him and idly scratched the back of his head. “Why would I be worried about the police? I’m me.”
                “This is Japan! Our police solve ninety-six percent of all murders,” Mokuba piped up. “If you really killed someone, I think it might be worth worrying about.”
                A quick glance told Seto that he would have to drive home just how insane this man was, because Mokuba didn’t look quite horrified enough yet.
                “Are you kidding?” Lynn laughed. “It’s easy to have such a high success rate when the only thing you classify as a murder is a crime where you already know who’s guilty and you feel safe and comfortable arresting them. Japan is one of the easiest countries in the world for men in my line of work to operate because the police are so afraid of looking inefficient that they don’t dare investigate anything they’re not sure about from the start. Do you really think the police believe, in the privacy of their own heads, that your brother’s little adventure in pyrotechnics was caused by a gas leak? They know what happened, they know who did it, and you’re not likely to ever hear another word about it because they don’t think they can put together a solid enough case to defeat every high priced lawyer in the country.”
                “Our police can’t do that,” Mokuba argued. “They’re public servants…”
                “Public servants who’ll get fired if they’re not phenomenally successful,” Lynn added.
                “But you butchered those four people in Tokyo,” Seto pointed out casually. Seto smiled softly as the pink tinge faded from Mokuba’s cheeks. He knew he had taken this in the right direction. “It wasn’t just murder, it was carnage—carnage that aired on national television. There will be a public outcry to catch the man responsible.”
                “It was fun, wasn’t it…” Lynn smiled whimsically. Then he leaned back, considered Seto’s expression, and shrugged. “I’m going to take your insistence that you’re an ignorant moron at face value this time, and I will try to explain why you have very little to worry about. In the four weeks into going to take a forensics team to clean the Tokyo scene up, I’m sure they’ll find some acceptably despicable scapegoat so they can keep their ninety-six percent success rate. I may have gotten a bit carried away, but I wasn’t so careless as to leave prints. I know there is no security camera in the building, because the doorman is a friend. A former colleague, in fact. I am not at all concerned about him because he knows that the police can’t pay near as well as Joey and I can. The only concern with my adventures in Tokyo is your own little swat team. I don’t know them, I don’t trust them, and I don’t know if you can say you know or trust them, either. But, as a matter of courtesy, I let them live. They are the only thing you need to be concerned about.”
                “But what about the bodies in the dumpster?”
                “You don’t have to worry about moving the bodies from this evening or disposing of any weapon. First, the bodies weren’t haphazardly cleaned up or and were well concealed, so they probably won’t be discovered until everything is mixed together in a landfill. Second, returning to the scene and suspiciously poking around in dumpsters is a lot more likely to rouse alarm than two men in suits casually taking out the trash. It also provides another opportunity for witnesses to crop up. The gun is not being disposed of because it will likely fall into the hands of the police. This is Japan, after all, and weapons laws are fairly strict. Even in the States, it’d still be a possibility. People turn in suspiciously found weapons. And then they would be able to analyze the resin pattern on the shell casings and match it to the bullet I put into Martin. Plus, it’s been exposed to fibers from my clothing and inevitably to finger prints and DNA samples. Why the hell would I throw something that incriminating away? Much smarter to hold on to it myself, that way if someone does endeavor to collect that evidence, I can impede them more efficiently. Besides, it’s one of my favorites.”
                Seto found himself paying rapt attention, and even mentally smacking himself on the forehead, as Lynn pointed out how stupid Seto’s suggestions had been. “You really have no fear of the police at all, do you?” he asked, impressed despite his intent in bringing the subject up so tactlessly.
                “No!” Lynn laughed. “They are police officers. They have to announce themselves, order you to disarm, fire warning shots and all that nonsense. If I can’t bring down one or two of them before they sort out who gets to yell ‘Stop or we’ll shoot!’ than I’m in the wrong line of work.”
                Seto noticed Mokuba shifting a few inches away from Lynn. Mokuba caught his eye and Seto could tell from his eyes alone that he was still teetering between being nervous and thinking the entire night was some kind of sick joke. Mokuba mouthed the word “Seriously?”
                Seto smiled and nodded dramatically.
                “You…” Mokuba glanced sideways at Lynn. “You’re really responsible for the murders on the news?”
                “Yes. In all fairness, though, I didn’t actually try to kill them. I made a point of avoiding kill shots, I left every windpipe intact, and I would bet that their hearts were probably still beating when I left the building.”
                “But… But the news said it was a slaughter.”
                “Hm, yes. Violent and destructive impulses are among our most primitive instincts. The endorphins they produce are an incredible high all by themselves, but they’re not the ultimate high. I’ve found that combining that rush with the cathartic release of artistic creation is more of a rush than anything else on the planet. It’s better than crack, better than heroine, almost better than sex…”
                “But you didn’t want to kill them?” Mokuba’s color was inching towards green.
                Seto remembered the way Lynn had been smiling as he ripped his knives through the man he’d nailed to the wall. “He didn’t want the blood to congeal. Makes it easier to splatter, I would imagine,” Seto guessed.
                “Too right!” Lynn cackled. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to the use of texture when I have all the time in the world, but the police were on their way. One or two I can take out, fifty… well, that’s getting iffy.”
                Seto pressed his lips together, hiding the smirk that Lynn’s arrogance managed to bring out in him, and tried to gauge how close his brother was to vomiting. Lynn was staring at Mokuba too. When he threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh, Mokuba leapt away so hard he hit his head on the roof of the limo.
                “Oh, man, that’s funny,” he laughed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. Everything I just said was complete and utter bullshit! Relax, kid.”
                “But the news…”
                “Oh I did do that,” Lynn insisted. “And it’s true that I make one hell of a mess when I work,” he smiled, “but it’s how I force a scene into a frame of reference that doesn’t induce a fight-or-flight response. If I can focus on what I’m creating, focus on a little sketch or doodle, I can stop my sympathetic nervous system from activating. It’s kept me alive for years, being able to keep myself calm. Joey’s something special… He can do it with logic and training, he’s just that adaptable. I need the distraction.”
                “But it’s psychotic!”
                “Maybe,” Lynn didn’t look the tiniest bit upset. He glanced meaningfully at Seto. “It is, I suppose, also a show of force. There are quite a few colleagues of mine out there who make a hobby of trying to wipe the rest of us out. If painting an iris on the wall with whatever medium happens to be at hand scares them into going after someone else, well, it’s a nice bonus. Mostly, though, it just keeps me from getting scared.”
                “I would think,” said Mokuba, relaxing when Seto would have preferred that he keep panicking, “that you’d be more hesitant to talk about something that your survival depends on so much. The first explanation is definitely a better deterrent.”
                “If the truth can bring that adorable pink back to your cheeks, it’s worth the risk.”
                Mokuba inched closer to the side of the limo, blushing furiously. “I…” he swallowed hard and dropped his eyes to the floor. “I get it,” he whispered. “I know you’re just trying to fuck with my brother. And I’m straight.”
                Lynn froze and frowned. “Straight straight, or occasionally curious but otherwise straight?”
                “Straight,” Mokuba whispered.
                “Damn.” Lynn pouted as dramatically as he smiled. “Well, for what’s it’s worth, your brother squirming is only a minor factor. Your hair, eye, and skin color all just contrast so smoothly that it’s incredibly striking. You are an incredibly beautiful young man.”
                Seto rolled his eyes as Mokuba’s blush intensified. How the hell could his brother think that sitting there blushing reinforced his ‘I’m straight’ argument? Straight men didn’t blush and bat their eyelashes when another man calls them beautiful. Straight men start cursing and throw punches when someone tries that shit. Of course, throwing punches when dealing with a man who was likely to carve you to pieces and then arrange those pieces into a pretty picture wasn’t the brightest idea.
                “Oh well. If you are ever curious… about anything…”
                “Vanilla straight,” Mokuba insisted. “With sprinkles, maybe, but vanilla, nonetheless.”
                “Fine, fine. I’d still love to talk more about your virtual reality system, though. The sensory immersion technology really is fascinating. I’d also love to meet that psychiatrist friend of yours. Adapting the technology for use in a therapeutic setting… That is an inspired idea.”
                “Inspired?” Mokuba looked confused.
                “Brilliant, I mean.”
                “I know what it means. But you sounded angry when you said it.”
                “Disappointed, kid, not angry. Don’t worry about it.” Lynn patted him on the shoulder. The pat turned into a caress without any hesitation. “Damn. Do you lift weights?”
                “Straight,” Mokuba said again, even as he turned purple.
                Seto glanced out the window as they drove through his front gate. Temari’s car was parked near the door. “Did you have to call her?” he groaned. Temari was the last thing he needed tonight. He owed her for telling him about Jou’s cats, and he knew she was here to collect on that debt. That meant talking about his feelings and other stupid crap.
                “After this evening?” Mokuba smirked. “Do you even have to ask?”
                Jou drove the limo around to the front door, hopped out and held the door open for them primly. Mokuba dove out of the car and put several yards of distance between himself and the limo. Lynn climbed out and glanced around casually. Roland held Seto’s shoulder to keep him in his seat, then climbed out first. He took up a silent position between Seto and Lynn.
                Seto normally wouldn’t have paid any attention to the way both Lynn and Jou slowly turned on the spot, observing and taking in everything in their environment as nonchalantly as possible. But, after the day he’d just had, seeing them analyze everything from his gate to his front door without looking phased made him wonder what they were noticing that he took for granted. He found himself slowly pivoting on his left foot, studying the guard station, the wall, the security cameras, and even the hedge along the road for anything that looked out of place.
                By the time he turned back, Jou and Roland were standing beside him while Mokuba introduced Lynn and Temari. Trying to act as though what he was doing was the most natural thing in the world, Seto slipped his arm around Jou’s waist and began leading him towards the front door where the others waited.
                Roland entered the house first, turning on lights, checking alarms, and making sure the foyer and adjoining rooms were clear.
                Lynn and Temari were chatting excitedly. Seto caught the names random chemicals and titles of textbooks in the conversation, but he was more concerned with getting a nod of approval from Roland that the house was safe before he felt like he could relax. Once Roland had made sure the house was secure, he left quietly to go wake up Seto’s regular driver.
                Mokuba took Temari’s jacket, and offered to take Lynn and Jou’s, but then seemed to think better of it.
                “…of course, it’s still in the planning stages, and there’s always a risk of just doubling the traumatic impact, but I am absolutely convinced that with proper coaching, proper planning, re-creating the triggering event in a virtual world where the patient can assume control, can gain the confidence to re-frame the event so it stops triggering flash backs and panic attacks! I’m very excited to try it, but the possible side effects… making a patient re-live the original trauma if they haven’t gained the confidence to visualize a positive outcome… well, it’s all conjecture of course. Mokuba’s the real genius behind it all.”
                “If it can be useful for people who are suffering,” Mokuba steered them past the dining room where the glittering shards of glass, crystal, and china were still covering most of the room. Neither Lynn nor Temari seemed to notice.
                “Were you invaded?” Jou asked, poking his head into the dining room carefully.
                “Buddha,” Seto explained.
                Jou surveyed the damage and shut his eyes so tight that the skin around them wrinkled. “Did I mention that I am sorry about that?”
                “Oh, wait until you see the ballroom…”
                “Ballroom? That place where you always hosted parties? What could she have done to a big empty room?”
                “A big empty room with a three hundred pound candelabrum that, amazingly enough, was suspended by enough cable to turn it into a giant pendulum.”
                Jou stopped and stared at him, his golden eyes wide.
                “I’ve no idea how she got it moving, but, well, the windows can be replaced.”
                Beneath his arm, Seto felt Jou shake with laughter. “I am so sorry. I can pay for the damage, I really can.” Seto tugged on Jou’s hip to hold him back for a moment.
                He walked around Jou, trailing his fingers around his waist. He lightly brushed over a cold hard area that seemed too narrow to be a gun, and then a rough textured bit of metal that he knew was a gun, and then another bit of metal that had to be a second knife. “I’m going to have to get some Kevlar gloves just to grope you in public, aren’t I?”
                Jou smirked and, to Seto’s surprise, leaned up and kissed him. It was just a light kiss, tentative and almost timid. It was so unlike the fierce man who ruthlessly strangled an assassin just hours before that Seto began to worry again. “Are you alright, Kaiba? I mean, after everything tonight… everything I’ve done…”
                “I’m sorry about what I said in the restaurant,” Seto said quickly. “It’s not Stockholm syndrome, I guarantee it.”
                “Really? Because you pretty much spelled out the symptoms…”
                “How could it have been Stockholm syndrome in high school? Or in bed? We’re a good match, Jou. I know I turn you on just as much as you turn me on. You turn me on just as much now as you did back then. You’re smarter than I ever gave you credit for, and I wish I had seen that while we were in school. You don’t just make me feel safe, but you make me feel right. And every time over the last week when I have thought about walking into that room upstairs and finding you dead, it’s made me feel like nothing in the world will ever be right again.”
                “You did see it back then. But you are a complete asshole. You acted accordingly.”
                “What?”
                “It was freshman year. I was sitting outside one day, reading Les Miserable’s. I was right at the part in the sewer and I didn’t know if Marius would survive or not, and so I wasn’t paying attention to anything. I had the book covered with a skateboard magazine and you noticed I had the magazine upside down, and you made fun of me for it. When I tried to get away, I dropped the book, and you made some joke about how I was too stupid to realize that I was supposed to hide the magazine inside of a book instead of the other way around. Then you—“
                “I chucked the book into a mud puddle and told you to go fetch,” Seto nodded. “I remember. Why did you feel like you had to hide the fact that you were reading a book?”
                “Ah, you. About three weeks before that I was reading a collection of Melville stories and you and Otogi made fun of me. I think your exact phrase was ‘that one doesn’t have pictures in it, Mutt, you might as well give up now’ and then Otogi said something about me seeing the word ‘Dick’ in the title and thinking it was porn.”
                Seto shut his eyes and leaned his forehead against Jou. “I really was an asshole, wasn’t I?”
                “Not was. You are an asshole, Kaiba. You haven’t changed.”
                “What did you ever see in me? Why did you even bother coming to talk to me after graduation?”
                “Honestly? I’ve never really made much of a distinction between fighting and flirting, you know, subconsciously. That caveman impulse again… At the time, I didn’t quite understand that, though. I had myself convinced that if I could just sort my thoughts into some kind of coherent structure, and find the vocabulary and diction to actually express myself, that you and I might get along, find that we have a lot in common, you know? I thought that if I could just spend enough time with you to get past being nervous, then I would be able to talk to you instead of blabber. I hoped that you might give me that chance, and when you saw that there was more to me than the clumsy moron I became whenever you walked by… Well, my imagination never got much beyond that point.”
                Seto nodded slowly. “For whatever it’s worth, the last few days have established the fact that you are as smart, if not much smarter, than me. The fact that you can remember what you were reading each time I made fun of you nearly a decade ago certainly hints that your memory is better than mine.”
                “I think that’s debatable. But I’m not up for that right now. I’m still not convinced that this…” Jou rolled his fingers towards Seto and then back towards himself. In the tiny space between them, Jou’s fingertips ended up skimming over the front of Seto’s shirt. “That I want anything to do with… Well, you know. But Lynn’s right, I am too fucked up right now to do anything but lay low. Do you mind playing host?”
                Seto pulled him closer that Jou’s hands were squished when the few inches of space between them disappeared. “I believe I insisted that you stay. Besides, there’s all kinds of crap in my fridge that I am assuming was purchased for you, so if you’re not here to eat it, it’ll just go bad.”
                Jou chuckled and shut his eyes. “Sorry. When the maid asked if I had any allergies or dietary restrictions, I didn’t think she’d re-stock the entire kitchen…”
                “Well, tofu I can understand, but the hummus? And there are green leaves in my fridge that I have never seen before.”
                “Yeah. I have to watch what I eat. If I eat too much fat or protein, my blood pressure and cholesterol go through the roof and the extra fat goes straight to my abs. I stay away from animal products, most of the time.”
                “So we’re set to feed Mr. Grayson, too, then?”
                “What makes you say that?” Jou glared up at him suspiciously.
                “I took you to the best restaurant in the city and he ordered five sides of steamed vegetables and a salad. I thought it was just that he was worried about ordering sashimi or something, but he actually ate and seemed to enjoy the vegetables.”
                “Well, he’s an old man,” Jou smiled. “He—“ Jou cringed, tensed beneath Seto’s hands, and shifted his weight to the side. The motion made both of them practically fall several feet to the side. If Jou wasn’t suddenly holding him very tight, Seto would have fallen on his ass. After a moment, he felt Jou exhale and glanced down the hall. Mokuba, Lynn, and Temari were all stared at them. Mokuba, thankfully, just looked annoyed and mildly disgusted. Temari was frowning and Seto knew that he would be hearing about emotional issues later, and possibly that lecture about taking advantage of people again. Lynn, though his smile was still as bright as ever, was glaring. Beneath the wire-rimmed glasses, the man’s left eye twitched.
                “Relax, Joey,” Lynn said soothingly. “Try to remember the sequence life events must take… Perceive threat, assess threat, evade and destroy threat… If you don’t perform each step consciously then you’ll keep jumping at your own imagination.”
                “That was conscious and justified,” Jou insisted. He didn’t let go of Seto, but he shifted his grip so that Seto was practically standing behind him. “Last time I called you old you threw a cement block at my head in the middle of a crowd and then spent twenty minutes kicking my ass beneath a set of bleachers.”
                “I wouldn’t do anything like that now, not here, anyway. One of the benefits of getting old is that you learn how to control your temper.”
                “That was three months ago!”
                “Oh, come on! I’m not going to start anything that might mess up the home of a friend. At least give me credit for being able to assess when such things are and are not appropriate.”
                Jou folded his arms and glared at his friend.
                “I received several lectures that day about just how inappropriate it was, thank you. In my defense, I was feeling extremely old that day, and everybody around us was extremely old, and your joke just kind of exasperated it.   Besides, we got most of the graduation on video.”
                “I was glaring about your 'mess up a friend’ s home' comment. Because about fourteen hours ago—“
                “I didn’t start that…” Lynn smiled at him innocently. “And there would have been more property damage if I hadn’t stepped in when I did. One of those Japanese guys was from the Koga family, and you know how they are.”
                Jou smirked as Seto looked to him for elaboration. “They’re weird about explosives. No one else in the world except the Israelis would consider a grenade to be a perfectly acceptable choice for dealing with someone at point blank range.   It’s pathetic, but they just won’t let go of the tradition… Makes them a bit of a joke, I’m afraid. And I didn’t mea n to sound like I was questioning your decision to go down and sort it out. I know it was the right decision and I know all of the reasons why. It’s just fun to watch you squirm. And, since you’re letting it slide… You are seriously too old for this.”
                “Well, the fact of the matter is, you aren’t going to look half as good as I do when you hit forty-six, and you’re still not going to be able to keep up with me.”
                “Probably not,” Jou admitted.
                Seto saw Mokuba whispering to Temari, smiling like a mad man, and trying to pass off their comments as an absurd and on-going joke. Temari didn’t’ seem to be reassured by that.
                “Gentlemen,” she hissed. “Can I steel Seto away for a moment?” She demurely tugged on Seto’s elbow. Jou’s grip tightened.
                “Ah!” Seto flinched as Jou’s fingers nearly crushed his arm. “No, I’m staying,” he insisted. “Whatever you want to say, you can say in front of them. I don’t care.”
                She raised both of her eyebrows, concern and surprised interlaced in her face. “No, I think I need to talk to Mokuba instead…”
                “No!” Seto shouted, failing to sound as calm and rational as he would have liked. Lynn was studying him curiously.
                “Seto,” Temari looked at him levelly. “You are one of the most guarded and private men in the world. You are uncomfortable talking to me about some of the topics I need to remind you about, much more to your family. If you are encouraging me to break your confidentiality among two men who, from all appearances, are total strangers, than you are not acting like yourself at all. I need to talk to your brother. You will excuse us.”
                “Mokuba, I need you to trust me now,” Seto whispered from across the hall. “Please? I will sit down and talk to Temari all she wants, but I don’t want to let Jou go just yet…” Not that he could get his arm away. Jou didn’t even seem to notice how close he was to breaking it, despite Seto’s yelp. “And I want you there, Mokie.”
                “Seto, after everything they’ve done, you can’t—“
                “Don’t give me that crap, Mokie! You know me! I’d have taken care of those same issues myself if they hadn’t! The only reason they did anything at all today other than read and sketch in the library is because they beat me to it! Let’s all go sit down and talk, alright?”
                “Seto, you can’t—“
                The tiny hallway seemed to explode in movement, and then everything seemed to freeze just as quickly as it blew up. Lynn moved first, throwing something, not at them but over Jou’s shoulder. Whatever he threw hit the floor in the foyer with a clatter. The clatter had Jou spinning, trying to keep an eye on the sound and Lynn. Seto found himself yanked back several feet and watched at Lynn, moving with a terrible grace that reminded Seto of his morning artistic endeavors, swept Jou to the ground, pinned him by the neck, and held a small penknife to the side of his throat.
                After everyone stopped moving, Mokuba snatched a cell phone out of Temari’s hands. “What are you doing? Call the police, Mokuba!”
                “No,” Mokuba said calmly. “It’s alright. Seto’s fine. Jou’s fine.”
                “Have you gone insane?” she hissed, trying to get her phone back.
                “Mr. Kaiba, get your psychiatrist friend out of the room for a moment please?” Lynn asked. Mokuba nodded, handed Seto Temari’s phone, and pulled Temari into the sitting room.
“Breathe,” Lynn ordered Jou in a deep, somehow calming voice.
                Beneath him, Jou took a deep, rasping breath. Several seconds passed and he didn’t take another breath.
                “Again… Again…” After a minute or so, Jou began to take deep breaths on his own. “Vision better?”
                “Yes,” Jou whispered.
                “Do I need to explain?”
                “Yes,” Jou hissed. “What did I miss?”
                “You nearly broke your new pet’s forearm. You seem to think that you are secure enough in this city, in this home, and with him, that you are allowed to be ruled by your emotions. All you’re doing is allowing yourself to exaggerate your perception of the situation. I really don’t have time to walk you through this. You accept him as a variable, fit that variable into the scene in a way that doesn’t fuck you over, or you accept him as an attachment and remove him from the scene.”
                “But this is my home.   It’s what I left behind…” Jou whispered. “Could you disconnect enough in your daughters’ bedroom? Or at school?”
                “If it means not splattering them across their own bedspreads when they sneak back in through the window at three in the morning? Or not snapping Patrishia’s neck when we get into an argument? Yes. I can. And if you’re already this attached to him, you’ve got to learn how to work around it or it will make you kill him and it will kill you.”
                “But you don’t need to focus there! You just need to tell the difference! This was a mistake. Let me go, Collin.” Jou moved a fraction of an inch. A drop of blood oozed out of Jou’s neck where the pen knife was held tight. He struggled a bit more, and more drops of blood flowed.   “I know you’re not on the artery, fucker. You think a little needle prick is going to keep me down?”
                “Eh, eh, don’t rile yourself up. Just listen and think. Don’t feel. Think. There have been times in the last few decades where my work has followed me home, Joey. I don’t want to kill my girls. And I don’t want to let my own stupidity get them killed when things do go wrong. I use imagery often to make sure that when work follows me home again, I will be able to keep my head. It works. It can work for you, especially if we can fuck around with an immersive and realistic virtual reality system. But you need to get your head clear before we can even start training. Right now the one thing I cannot allow you to do is to perpetuate this laziness. You will use your head. You will not relax your focus. You will not be ruled by your fear. You will close them off, Joey. Box up every constraint, every feeling, every emotion. Breathe.” Seto watched in horror as the light blinked out of Jou’s eyes. But as the light faded, he stopped struggling, he began to take deep calm breaths. “Now, Joey, assess the scene out loud.”
                “Perimeter is composed of twelve foot stone walls. Smooth surface, difficult to climb. Four points provide easy access. No large structures within three hundred yards in any direction. Tri-level structure with approximately twenty-two rooms. Approximately eighteen points of access. Landscaping provides minimal cover. Security is on site. Alarms seem extensive, including entrance alarms of doors and windows. Security cameras are posted at access points in the wall and home, but nowhere else. Minimum distance between the windows and perimeter is sixty-five feet, maximum distance is one hundred and thirty.”
                “Assess potential threats in order of priority, out loud.”
                “You.”
                On top of Jou, Lynn smiled.
                Jou continued, “You have already gained access to the building, and I already know that you’re stronger and faster than me, and that you’re currently better armed. You currently have a blade three millimeters away from my carotid artery.”
                “Oh, so close. I’d say five millimeters from the junction of your right carotid artery and your right sub-clavian artery, just as likely to kill you, but it’s easier to hit. Still, points for attention to detail. Continue.”
                “Dominic. He’s probably followed us or gotten here first after looking up Kaiba’s address. He may already have access to the building or grounds. Kaiba. Mediocre fighting skills, no combat experience, but capable of follow through without hesitation, and known to take advantage of any sign of weakness from his opponent. Roland. Threat is minimal as hesitation is likely. Mokuba. Again, threat is minimal. Other potential threats. Location and number are unknown, but I would assess each just as I would assess Dominic, to be safe.”
                “Given that Dominic is behaving in a way that indicates he plans on baiting his target, do you think that’s likely?”
                “Yes.”
                “Excellent. No assumptions of safety. Outline a strategy for each potential threat out loud.”
                Jou did as he was told. He explained, sometimes in quick and dismissive ways, how he would deal with each listed threat, from those that were least dangerous up to the most dangerous. Seto gaped as Jou described how he would easily dispatch Mokuba and Temari by shooting them in the head, and how he expected Seto to successfully evade him for approximately forty-five seconds. When he got to the man who had kidnapped his pets, Jou didn’t slow down or hesitate. He explained that, if the man breached the mansions security, he would utilize any of five different distractions, try maneuvering in for a knife or hand to hand attack two times, and then resort to longer range weaponry.
                “And if he threatens to kill the cats?”
                “I’ll just shoot him. I won’t waste time trying to go for a cleaner kill.
                “Excellent,” Lynn smiled brightly. “And if he tries to kill Mr. Kaiba over there?”
                “Makes no difference,” Jou insisted quickly. “If he is attempting to utilize emotional leverage, than he has realized his disadvantage and is busy looking for a way to take back control of the situation . That will, by necessity, cause his movements to be delayed.
                “If he uses Mr. Kaiba as a human shield?”
                “Switch to my higher powered Glock, put one bullet through Kaiba’s left lower intestine, then one through Kaiba’s left leg. Hesitation or posturing will provide the threat time to assess my motivation and move for better cover.”
                “Perfect.”
                “Perfect?” Seto squeaked.
                “Yes.”
                “How is shooting me through the stomach perfect?”
                “Joey, explain why the lower left intestine in the obvious target.”
                “Because it will allow the bullet to pass through the first body without being obstructed or deflected by the spinal cord or rib cage. It will also allow the bullet to penetrate the target below his bullet proof vest.”
                “On a more optimistic note,” Lynn grinned, “It will also avoid your lungs, heart, major veins and arteries, and your liver without requiring much precision in terms of aiming. This means that it’s a shot that can be accurately pulled off while moving. Now, Joey, how would you deal with me?”
                “I’d start by making sexually suggestive comments and just let things evolve from there,” Jou gasped.
                “Oh, ha, ha. I am not that easily distracted by beautiful people, Joey.”
                “Who’s talking about you? I was going to tell you about all the things Gracie offered to do to me while she was bandaging my wounds the last time I came to visit.”
                Lynn’s smile flashed dangerously blank for a moment, and in that moment, Jou rolled away from the knife and whirled his legs like a windmill to throw Lynn off of him. He flipped off of the ground and on to his feet, then charged at Lynn, running in a low crouch. Lynn glanced around the hall desperately, his eyes moving wildly, and then did something that Seto would never have expected. He was positioned to deflect Jou’s charging form, but then intentionally moved to absorb the impact. Jou didn’t seem to notice the way the other man moved, or if he did, he didn’t mind taking advantage of it. Jou and Lynn struggled for a moment, then Jou got the upper hand when he got a grip on Lynn’s arm and twisted him around into a painful arm bar. Jou braced himself, like he expected to be thrown backwards or lifted off his feet. When nothing happened, he paused.
                “You win, I give up,” Lynn said easily.
                “What?”
                Neither man was out of breath, Seto noticed. Lynn didn’t look hurt, of even terribly upset.
                “I can break your hold by pushing us both back, and dislocating my shoulder, flipping you and risking dislocating my shoulder, or dropping and risking you breaking my arm. I don’t’ intend to let you break my arm, and I cannot do either of the other two options in here.”
                “What?   Why the hell not?”
                “There is a very nice Ming vase on the pedestal behind you. I push back and it breaks. The mirror to the right isn’t anything special, but the scroll work on the frame looks like it’s from the Baroque period. I don’t know when the painting on the left was done, but it’s beautiful. And it’s on parchment. Do you have any idea how fragile those are? We all have our issues, man. You won’t play in a library; I won’t play in here, alright!”
                “Oh. Yeah, that’s fair.” Jou released Lynn and casually adjusted his shirt and jacket. Seto noticed the way his hands lingered over each weapon he had touched earlier.
                “So, thoughts a bit more clear?” Lynn asked, adjusting his suit as well.
                “Yeah. Damn, thank you, Collin. Kaiba, are you alright?”
                “Nothing’s broken,” said Seto, hesitantly approaching Jounouchi again. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since he’d last seen that dead look in the blonde’s eyes, and even now, realizing how close Jou had been to irrational panic when he’s clamped his hands on Seto’s forearm, Seto hated it. Would it be worth a broken arm to keep some sign of life in those eyes? Jou had been trying to protect him, not hurt him. It was obvious that he hadn’t been aware of how hard he was squeezing, but that didn’t mean that Jou might accidentally kill him.
                Seto stared at Lynn Grayson for a long moment before leading both men toward the sitting room. If he kept looking at Jou’s eyes, and kept looking at that American bastard who produced that dead look in his Jounouchi, he was likely to do something stupid.
                Unfortunately, the American bastard had been right about one thing. When Jou panicked, he was dangerous, and Lynn really was the only one who seemed capable of handling him. Seto didn’t know of anyone else who could have distracted Jou, broken his grip on Seto’s arm, physically subdued him and been willing to hold a knife to his throat and actually draw blood in order to calm the blonde down. Seto wondered for a moment just how much the two had shared, to trust each other, to laugh and joke with each other, despite the violence that defined their relationship.
                “Are you sure?” Jou touched his arm gently. Seto made very, very sure that he didn’t flinch at the contact.
                “I’m fine. Worried about you, to be honest. Lynn, are sure you didn’t nick that artery?”
                “What? Me?” Lynn looked sincerely insulted.
                “He didn’t."
                “I didn't. Joey, are you capable of consciously remembering that there is no potential threat in this scene that you cannot destroy, including me?”
                “Yeah, I’m good,” Jou rolled his shoulders and smiled sedately. “I can’t thank you enough.”
                Lynn shrugged. “Glad to help. But you need a fresh suit. You’ve bled all over that one.”
                Jou studied himself in the framed mirror and smirked. “Damn it, that’s going to stain.”

A/N (Again): Warned ya. 10000 words just to get them from a restaurant to the Kaiba mansion. I blame it on the spiced rum.
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Deliverance