Queer as Tachi – Chapter 81

                The sleek red car sped through nearly-empty streets as if it owned them, responding favorably to every flick of the wrist of the man behind the wheel.   Kaiba’s eyes were firmly riveted on the road in front of him, though he sat back in a relaxed manner with one hand on the wheel and the other resting lazily on the gear shift.  Beside him, Alastair sat in a similar pose, an elbow propped on the arm rest and his attention not exactly on the window he gazed through.  He wore a tiny, satisfied smile, and breathed a soft sigh of contentment now and again.  Afterglow for them had consisted of nothing more than a kiss and a few snickers over what they had gotten away with before they had climbed into the car properly and headed for home.  Now, with the flash of passing streetlights strobing through the windshield as they zipped along a highway for a longer but faster trip back to the Kaiba estate, Alastair sat wrapped in silence while he replayed the sexual encounter in his memories.  It didn’t surprise him that Kaiba apparently had nothing to say, he was getting used to his partner’s tendency toward silence.  At the moment it didn’t matter, for he felt like savoring the moment quietly as well, so his mind could linger uninterrupted on things like the feel of Seto’s strong hands on his body, the grunting gasps in his ear, and the scent of sweaty sex that still lingered in the car.   He nearly leaped out of his skin in surprise, then, when Kaiba abruptly broke the silence.  “What is it you really want the people at Sony to say to you tomorrow?” he murmured seriously.  “That they want you, or that they’re not interested?”

                Alastair’s head turned toward him.  “What?  What do you mean?”

                “And don’t beat around the bush,” Kaiba went on.   “I want to know what you honestly expect out of this interview.  Do you want them to offer you a job, or are you somehow hoping that they got you all the way here for nothing?”

                Alastair lowered his gaze and sat back again, his reverie clearly broken.  It wasn’t hard to slip into the same solemn mood as Kaiba and answer his query.  “Honestly?  I don’t know.   There are so many possibilities for how this could go, I don’t think I’ll know until I hear what they’re offering, which option appeals to me the most.  For all I know, the interview is just a formality, and they don’t even have a job to offer me.  Or, maybe it’ll be the best thing ever.  I don’t know what I want more.”  He glanced aside at his companion.  “Why do you ask?”

                Kaiba did not shift his eyes off the road.  “I don’t want you to turn them down because of me.”

                Gray eyes widened briefly.  “Who said I was even thinking that?” he smirked.

                “I’m not stupid.  It’s one of your ‘possibilities.’”  Kaiba gave him the quickest of sidelong glances.  “You may not have said anything, but it’s clear you hacked into Sony’s system to get yourself a ticket here, one way or another.  If not Sony, then someone else, until someone finally took the bait – and I don’t even want to know how many companies’ security you hacked before Sony,” he added dryly.   “My point is, you’re here.  That’s what you wanted.  What’s your next step?  And it had better not revolve around me.”

                “Why not?” Alastair asked flippantly.  “Do you have a problem with me being interested in you?”

                “I have a problem with people throwing their lives away for someone else’s sake.”  Kaiba made a glaring face out the window as he drove.  “You shouldn’t rely on anyone else but yourself.  Once you start putting your life in someone else’s hands, you give that person free license to use you, take advantage of you, and then throw you away without a second thought.  I don’t need some weaker half depending on me to give him some kind of life worth living – I’m complete as I am and I don’t need anyone else.  You ought to be the same.”

                Alastair snorted to himself as he cast his gaze back out the window by his arm.  “I’m not you, Seto,” he said darkly.  “I don’t have to live by your philosophy.  I have my own, thanks.”

                “I’m just saying.”  Kaiba scowled even more deeply.  “Being with you has nothing to do with ‘needing someone’ or anything, so forget whatever Yugi might have told you about me.”

                That made Alastair laugh suddenly.  “So he and I talked about you,” he admitted.  “But I still know more about you than he does.  I know you a little too well.  Enough to know that this line of conversation is just your way of protecting yourself from the taint of emotion, and keeping me at arm’s length.”

                Kaiba growled under his breath, and gave the accelerator a little punch before getting himself under control.  “You hardly know anything,” he accused.

                “Here’s the truth,” Alastair interrupted before they could get into another argument.  “I wanted to move to Japan like you dared me simply to create a happy life for myself – because we all know, living a nomadic life on the road just to make some cash wasn’t happy.   I want more, and so I came here looking for it.  At the moment, I’m finding that you’re what’s making me the most happy.”  He turned his gaze aside to Kaiba to find him still staring out the windshield with a conflicted look on his face as he listened.  “I think about it all the time.  What do I want the most out of life?  What would make me happy?  Right now, a fulfilling career or lots of money are taking a distant second to being with you.   That’s just the way it is.”

                “Don’t sacrifice the opportunity at a career or money just for me,” Kaiba protested.  “Neither of us know whether any kind of relationship between us would last.  I know enough to say with confidence that I probably can’t provide you with the thing you’re looking for the most.”  He turned his serious glare on his companion for a moment.  “You’d be a fool to try to be with me, only to go through a nasty breakup, end up hating me worse than you did when we first met, and regret not going after Sony in the first place.”

                “You’re assuming I’m automatically going to turn them down before I’ve even left for Tokyo,” Alastair grumbled.  “I’m not stupid either.  I’m much too smart to hinge my entire life on your existence, I wouldn’t pass up the chance of a lifetime for your sake.  But there’s no guarantee that’s what they’re going to offer me.”  He folded his arms over his chest and pouted out the front window.  “I’m not going to turn down Sony cold if they give me everything I ever dreamed of, because Tokyo is still a day’s train ride away from Domino.  On the other hand, I’m not going to go there begging for scraps and take whatever lousy offer they make me just to prove to you that I can live without you, so you can have your space.  I’m in complete control of my life, Seto, no matter what you might think.  I know a good offer when I see it, and I know a bad one, too.  You’re overestimating your importance in my life.”

                “You said it yourself,” Kaiba reminded him.  “I’m what makes you happy.”

                “You’re tops on the list, not the sole entry.”  Alastair shook his head slowly.  “No, there’s no guarantee you and I would ever work in the long run.   But I’ve told you before – I live my life as it comes, I don’t sit and plan for the future.  Right now, being with you is a bright spot in my life and I’d kind of like to keep it for as long as I can.”

                Kaiba gave a short, sardonic chuckle as he maneuvered the car through a series of quick turns to take them to the estate.  “So you’re okay with following me around like a pathetic little puppy who needs a master?”

                “You wish,” Alastair retorted.  “This whole concept of somebody liking you is freaking you out, isn’t it?”  He glanced aside and chuckled at the bristling response out of his partner.  “Take it easy.  I know what I want, and I have a lot of things to factor into whatever decision I make.  Of course I’m going to weigh any offer they make me against how much it would keep me from you.  After all…”  He smiled coolly.   “…moving to Japan instead of Germany or London or even the States would be pointless if I ended up seeing less of you than I have in the past year while living far away from you.  You are a factor, I’m not going to deny that, but you’re not the only one.”  He sighed and rubbed his forehead even as Kaiba turned the car hard into his estate’s driveway.  “And you do realize that if it bothers you that much, all you have to do is tell me you don’t want to see me anymore, and I’m gone.”

                Kaiba growled under his breath as he pulled the car up outside the garage and turned it off, leaving the keys for one of the staff to take it from there.   “If you do something stupid tomorrow at that interview, I will.  Anything so you won’t make the mistake of a lifetime.”

                Alastair groaned and pushed the door open.  “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, unconvinced.  “You’re thinking way too much about this.  Just leave it.  When I get back tomorrow, I’ll tell you everything they said in the interview so you can be sure I didn’t make my decisions lightly.  Is that fine?”

                Kaiba likewise slid out of the car and slammed the door behind him.  “You owe me no obligation.  Do whatever you want to do.”

                Alastair walked abruptly past him, still rubbing absently at his forehead.  “I’m exhausted,” he complained.  “You wore me out.  I have to get up insanely early, too, so…I’m just going to bed.”  He paused at the door and glanced over his shoulder at Kaiba’s dark glare.   “Not that I didn’t have a good night.  I did.  You were fantastic.”  He snickered quietly.  “You can bend me over the hood of that car anytime.”

                Kaiba caught his breath, stepping back for a second while Alastair opened the door and let them both inside.  Fortunately, no one was around to overhear, allowing the self-assured company president the moment he needed to collect his composure and follow his lover inside.  He knew Alastair had to make the shinkansen to Tokyo very early, perhaps even before he and Mokuba might be out of the house, so he had no protest to Alastair going to bed alone in the guest room.  Yet, even after arguing about it in the car and everything else, he still managed to stop the young man at the base of the stairs for a kiss and the brush of his hand across his ass to say goodnight and send him properly on his way.

                While Alastair was off to Tokyo for the day and Kaiba busied himself at work to keep from thinking about him, across town, Yugi was back to his normal post-ritual routine, working the early shift to help out his grandfather no matter how late he had been up the night before.  Not that he was up much past midnight – by then he had been exhausted and fell asleep almost immediately.  He stood behind the counter mulling over the flyer he had received a week ago regarding the Tokyo Game Expo when he heard a customer enter, and glanced up with a bright smile to see his visitor.   “Hey, Marik!”

                The blond Egyptian grinned back.  “Hello, Yugi!  How’s it going?”

                “Slow,” Yugi replied smartly.  “It’s good to see you.  Now I have somebody to talk to.”

                Marik looked around at the empty store.  “Oh, is it that bad?”

                “No, it’s always like this.  Days can be hit or miss, but after lunchtime it usually picks up.”  He folded his arms on the counter and leaned on them as Marik came right up to him and smiled amiably.  “What’s up?”

                “Nothing much,” Marik said casually.  “I just decided to drop by and visit for lack of anything better to do, really.”  He made a bit of a face.  “Kind of looking around for jobs, but until my papers get squared away, I can’t really apply for anything.”

                “Oh yeah, that’s right.  How’d it go yesterday?”

                Another, more expressively disgusted face, and an exasperated sigh.   “It took forever.  I was in their offices all day, either standing in line or waiting around for somebody to ask somebody else the answer to a question.  But I think it’s all straightened out.”  Marik closed his eyes and sighed again, in a put-upon manner.   “I should have the correct papers by Monday, they said.  Here’s hoping.”  He shook his head and gave Yugi a concerned look.  “I really want to get out there and get a job.  Ryo has been working himself to death so we have enough to live on, I need to pull my weight so he doesn’t have the burden of supporting us both.”

                “Yeah, that’s a good reason,” Yugi nodded.  “As long as everything turned out okay.  Yami and I thought about you yesterday, standing around in government lines.  It couldn’t have been any fun whatsoever.”

                “It certainly wasn’t,” Marik affirmed.  He had gone to have his employment papers adjusted thanks to some clerical error of some sort which had given him the wrong papers.  If he wanted to work while living as an ex-patriot in Japan, he needed the right ones, necessitating an inconvenient day in a government office.   “So what did you guys do, since I couldn’t be around to hang out with you?”

                “Oh, nothing much,” Yugi said airily, looking away.  “We spent most of the day just holed up here, and then went out to dinner with an old friend last night.”  He decided to keep the specifics to himself – he knew Kaiba would want his privacy.  “Nothing big.   You weren’t the only one who was too busy, you know.”

                “Ahh…”  Marik gave his friend a cute smile.  “And here I am with nothing to do and all the time to waste, and now you’re working.”

                “But I can be interrupted,” Yugi grinned.  “All I’m really doing is watching the store and waiting to see if there’s any shipment coming in this afternoon.  The mail isn’t even here yet.”  He rested his chin against his hand and fixed Marik with a curious look.   “So what kind of job are you looking for?”

                “I don’t know,” his friend shrugged.  “Something that makes money.  It really doesn’t matter,” he added with another smile.  “As long as it leaves me enough time to spend with friends – and with Ryo.  I’ve been spending the days while he’s at class checking out the city, getting ideas.  Fortunately, language isn’t a barrier.  I could really try anything.”

                “And he’s at class right now, I’ll bet.”

                “Yes.  He has classes until two, and then he said he would be working on campus until at least six,” Marik explained.  “So, I have the whole day to waste until he comes home and I can make dinner for us.”  He winked, then.  “I may not have a job yet, but at least I’m doing my part when it comes to chores around the house.”

                “That’s so cute,” Yugi gushed in encouragement.  “So how are you guys getting along?  Now that you’ve had some time to settle in, and not have to think about ever going away…”

                Marik’s face took on a quietly pleased expression, eyes closed.   “It’s all going so very well, I hope I never wake up from this dream,” he murmured.  “I’ve never been so close to anyone in all my life, it doesn’t seem possible that I should be allowed to live with the man I love and wake up next to him every day.  But here I am…and living with him feels so normal, already.”

                Yugi smiled wistfully.  “That’s so sweet.  But you said Bakura’s been working overtime to support both of you?”

                “Mhm.”  Marik nodded solemnly.  “He’s been taking extra hours at the research lab whenever he can, to make enough for food and bills.  It’s rather frustrating for me, seeing him come home so late at night and always so tired.  I do my best to take care of him, I make dinner and rub his shoulders and just let him sleep most of the time, but I hate seeing him wear himself out for my sake.  That’s why I’m so concentrated on getting my papers and finding a job.  I need to help him out.”

                “There are other ways you can help him out, in the meantime,” Yugi offered slyly with a light smile.  “Treat him extra-special, show him your appreciation.  Take him out on dates.”

                “I know,” Marik said warily.  “I would if he would ever have a night off!”

                “So kidnap him,” Yugi suggested.  “I know how Bakura can be, he doesn’t think he’s good enough for anyone so he usually just throws himself into school or work so he doesn’t have to think about anything else.  I’m sure he’s glad you’re there to take care of him, but if you want his full attention, you might have to work harder for it.”

                “You may be right,” the young Egyptian mused.  “It’s not affecting our love life…not yet.  But I suppose if I want a night of Ryo all to myself, I’m going to have to force myself between him and his schoolwork.”  A naughty grin began to dawn on his face.  “Hm, sounds like fun.”

                A sobering thought kept Yugi from sharing his glee.  “And…you haven’t had any trouble, have you?  With the Millennium Ring?  I asked him once, but…he usually blacks out when the spirit is in control so he wouldn’t know…”

                Marik shook his head firmly.  “Not at all.  Everything has been very quiet on that end.  Ryo is a completely different man, now, so long as the spirit of the Ring stays out of his life.  I’m not so foolish as to think the peace is permanent,” he added with a wary look, “but I don’t intend to hover around Ryo like a bodyguard every minute of our lives.  Whatever truce Yami made with the spirit, it’s holding, and though I haven’t let down my guard, I feel comfortable enough to just behave like a normal boyfriend around Ryo.”

                “That’s good.”  Yugi began to smile again.  “That’s all he needs, really.  I don’t think he’d appreciate someone smothering him with protection any more than someone who doesn’t understand him at all.”  He beamed cutely.  “You guys are perfect for each other.”

                “It sure feels that way, sometimes,” Marik chuckled.

                The sound of heavy feet on the stairs preceded the appearance of Grandpa Muto.  “How’s it going?  Has the mail come yet?” he asked Yugi before even seeing him standing there.  “Oh, hello Marik.”

                “Hello, Mr. Muto,” Marik said politely.

                “Not yet, Grandpa,” Yugi answered him.  “I’m waiting for it, too.”

                “Ahh, I see.”  Grandpa looked around, gauged the emptiness of the shop, and nodded to himself.  “Well, as long as you have everything under control here.  Let me know when the mail comes.”

                “I will.  You don’t mind if I talk to Marik, as long as he’s here?” Yugi added for confirmation.

               “Of course not.  As long as it doesn’t keep you from attending to customers.”  Grandpa Muto made a show of looking around again.  “And at the moment, it seems you’re in the clear.”

                Both young man laughed at that.  “Don’t worry, I won’t keep Yugi long,” Marik assured.   “I’ll be good.”

                Grandpa grinned cheerily at them.  “Good!  Well, then.  Perhaps I’ll take my daily walk now, as long as I have time to kill…”  He disappeared back up the stairs.

                Marik blinked at Yugi.  “Why are you guys waiting so eagerly for the mail?”

                “For something to do,” Yugi replied with a shrug.  “There should be invoices to enter and stuff.  But I’m kind of hoping there’s something more from the Tokyo Game Expo for me,” he added with a bright grin.  “We got the first flyer last week, so the registration packet should be here any day now.  I think I’m going to go, again.  It was such an eye-opening experience last year!”

                Marik smiled, remembering Yugi’s tales from a year prior, since he had arrived in Domino to serve as temporary bodyguard just afterward.  “I wish I had your job – when going to a game expo is good for business, that’s nice.  You’re unbelievably lucky.”  A thought crossed his mind, making him perk up.  “Hey, that reminds me.  Have you heard anything more about the Legendary Heroes game?”

                “Mm…not really,” Yugi thoughtfully answered, leaning on the counter again and glancing idly at the ceiling.  He didn’t want to say too much, on account the circumstance and direct source of his information, but talk of the game expo had reminded him of it, too.  “I haven’t been back since that meeting I told everybody about, and I’m not sure whether or not I’ll be asked to come in right before the game expo.  The only thing I know is that they’re kind of trying to put together some kind of demo for the show – and if they get it done in time, maybe I’ll be asked to game test it.  Maybe not.”  He shrugged again.  “I never really know.  I just know that I’m still on Kaiba’s payroll whenever he decides to call me and demand that I come in.”

                “Ah.  Well, remember, you promised everybody updates whenever that happens,” Marik smirked.  “I suppose, if the Tokyo show is the big event in gaming where companies premiere their products, they had better have something ready by then.   Even if the game itself won’t be ready till next year.”

                “As far as I know, that’s the plan,” Yugi nodded.   “It’s just a matter of waiting to see what pans out.”

                They stood around talking for a long time, occasionally serious but mostly irreverent as two old friends would be.  Assuming Grandpa Muto was out of the house, they even chatted about their respective love lives so long as there was no one to overhear.  One or two customers popped in while Marik was there, so the boys hushed their conversation and turned to blander subjects – like motorcycles, which Marik was thinking about a lot – until they left.  The pattern of their behavior made them both giggle, but never consider permanently changing the topic.  Once left in the clear again, Marik leaned his elbow on the counter and sighed happily at the thoughts he had been having while their talk was censored by the presence of a stranger.  “He told you about that, did he?” he wondered with an insolent grin.

                “He mentioned it, once,” Yugi grinned back.  “I couldn’t believe, of all people – you two?  Though I guess, being apart for so long, sooner or later you just wouldn’t be able to help yourself, no matter how shy or inexperienced you might be.”

                “It’s not like I planned it!” Marik protested, straightening up.  “It just kind of…happened.”

                “Please tell me it wasn’t over the wireless duel disk…”

                “No, it wasn’t over the wireless duel disk.”  Marik snickered at some memory.  “That would have been taking it too far, yes.  No, it was over the phone.”  He turned around and leaned his back against the counter, his voice taking on a wistful tone as he recalled a particular night a couple of months ago.  “I had taken the phone into my room so I wouldn’t disturb my brother and sister, and I knew we’d probably be up late talking.  Ryo said something about missing me, we started talking about just what we missed…and the next thing I know…”  He laughed it off and glanced over his shoulder at Yugi, who was listening eagerly.  “I didn’t even think about it at the time.  It was just something I had to do, something Ryo and I both deserved.  It wasn’t until the next morning that I even thought, ‘damn, I had phone sex.’  It sounds like something dirty.”

                “Well, if you think about it…”  Yugi kept grinning widely.

                “It’s better off not to think,” Marik warned.  “Of course, after that…he was the one who asked me to do it again, and we actually had to plan a night where I’d be able to get some privacy and the phone.  That made me feel weird, but…we still did it.”  He laughed again and shook his head.  “It seems so silly, now.  But I guess that’s because I’m here now, and I don’t have to rely on whatever small moment of connection I can get with him.”

                “Oh, I can understand that,” Yugi assured.  “Yami and I go through some of the same thing, between rituals.   He’s not above whispering things over our mindlink, you know.”

                Marik gaped in a parody of a scandalized face.  “Really!  Boy, we’d better help him get his memory back soon, because he’s acting less and less like a pharaoh every day.”

                Yugi tilted his head back and laughed long.  “Don’t you dare!” he said when he could breathe again.  “I like him this way!  Besides…”  He winked at his friend.  “How do you know he wasn’t like this when he was a pharaoh?”

                “Hm…good point.”  Marik leaned on the counter and was about to make some kind of suggestive comment further on the subject, when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.  He shut up just in time, and instead smiled and said, “Hi, Mr. Muto.  Back from your walk already?”

                “Oh, Marik, you’re still here.”  Grandpa Muto came down the stairs and paused at the bottom to look around the shop.  “Doesn’t look like I missed anything exciting.”

                Yugi reached to the pile of mail now sitting by his elbow and handed it over his shoulder.  “Here you go, Grandpa.”

                “Ah, thank you, Yugi.”  Grandpa snatched the mail as he passed and went to the far door to the back room, where the office lay.  “Bills, bills…naturally.  Ah well.  This should give me something to do for a little while.”

                Yugi nodded to himself – he hadn’t had to straighten up or turn away from the counter for a second.  “Yeah, that’s all there is.  Nothing from the game expo or anything.”

                “Ah, it figures.”  Grandpa Muto gave them both a wave as he disappeared into the office.  “Keep up the good work!”

                The young men shared a glance and a grin across the counter at each other.  “Now we have to find something else to talk about,” Yugi sighed.

                “Well, as much as I hate to say it, I really ought to be going,” Marik sighed back at him.  “I’ve got a few more errands to run before I go back home and start dinner.  It’s going to be a production, tonight.”  He beamed cutely.  “I’m making Ryo an authentic Middle-Eastern dinner.  A taste of my home, for once.”

                “Wow!  Sounds like fun.”

                “You wouldn’t believe how hard it’s been trying to find what I need.”  Marik rolled his eyes.  “I was afraid I’d have to call Ishizu and have a care package sent, but I finally managed to get my hands on everything.  Now let’s see if I can get it right.”

                “Did you cook a lot, back home in Egypt?”

                “Not often, but sometimes.  Enough to know what I’m doing.”  Marik sighed again.  “It’s just time-consuming, to do it the old-fashioned way.  Unlike home, I can’t just go out to the store here and pick up the flatbread already made – I have to make it myself.”

                “Wow!” Yugi gasped again.  “If it turns out, I’m going to have to have you come over and make it for me sometime.  It sounds great.”

                “Maybe we’ll get the gang together and have a big family meal,” his companion offered.  “That’s if this turns out.   If not, I’m sure you’re going to hear some funny stories.”

                “Well, if you go out this week and get that motorcycle you were talking about,” Yugi said, reminding them of an earlier part of the conversation, “you have to bring it by here so I can see it, and then you can tell me how dinner went.”  He grinned cheerily.   “I hope Bakura appreciates all the work you have to put into it.”

                “I’m sure he will,” Marik smiled.  “Even when he’s dead tired after a long day, he’s always very appreciative of anything I do to make him happy.  It’s sweet.  It makes me feel like all the trouble I’m going through to be able to live and work here is completely worth it.”

                “Well, good.  It ought to.”  Yugi’s smile changed to a smirk, then.  “And if he starts taking you for granted, we’ll just have to straighten him up, won’t we?”

                “Deal!” Marik laughed.

                They wrapped up with an extra-long goodbye, wandering through a couple more topics and reminders of things they promised to do or say for each other before finally forcing themselves to part and say farewell for now.  Yugi’s shift would be over soon, anyway, leaving him free to run his own errands while Grandpa Muto took over behind the counter.  He didn’t have time to be bored, for a couple of customers ducked in just after Marik left, giving Yugi reason to wait around and smile and hope he could be of help in some way.  Shortly after, he heard his grandfather come out of the back office and turned to give him a smile of greeting as he came into the shop.  “Oh, I didn’t hear Marik leave,” Solomon noted.  “I’m sorry I missed him.”

                “It’s okay.  He was just here for some company, and I wanted to find out how it went yesterday with getting his papers in order.”  Yugi favored his grandpa with a happy little grin.  “It’s so cool to have him around.  He and Bakura are doing really well, together.”

                “That’s good to hear,” Grandpa Muto said kindly.  He noticed, then, that Yugi had the flyer from the game expo on the counter in front of him, as if he had been staring longingly at it for lack of any other information coming in the mail.  “You know, Yugi,” he began with the air of someone about to spring some kind of news on the unsuspecting, “I’ve been thinking.  It’s been a whole year since I was able to get away for a vacation.  And I haven’t been to Tokyo in a couple of years.”

                Yugi smiled faintly at his hints, though inside, his heart began to fall.  It sounded as though his grandpa wanted to ask to be the one to go to the game expo this year.  “Yeah, that’s true,” he said casually.  “I bet you’d like to take a little vacation, now that I’m able to run the shop all by myself.”

                “Oh, I wouldn’t do that to you,” Grandpa demurred, waving a hand.  “I was about to say, it’s also been a very long time since we took a family vacation, you and me.   You were always so busy with school, and I ran the shop alone.  The last time we went anywhere together, it was to Kaiba’s Grand Prix tournament, and we all know how that one turned out.”

                “Not exactly a vacation, as usual,” Yugi chuckled.  “It sounds like a good idea, Grandpa, but can we really shut down the game shop for a long vacation?  Or is this something that would have to wait until Golden Week next spring when everybody in the country is off and we don’t have to worry?”

                “Of course not!” Grandpa snorted.  “I’m talking about the Tokyo Game Expo, my boy.  What do you say to both of us going, this year?  I have no problem closing the store for that weekend, not one worry at all.”

                “Well, in that case…”  Yugi perked up considerably.  “It sounds like a great idea, Grandpa!”

                “What are the dates, again?”

                Yugi swept up the flyer and gave it to him to see for himself.   “I already checked, we’ll miss the full moon by just a few days again.  It’s okay, though.  Yami doesn’t really care as much about the expo as I do, he’s just along for the ride.”

                Grandpa Muto looked over the flyer, consulted the calendar on the wall, and gave a firm nod.  “Then, I will make it official.  We’ll close the game shop down for that weekend so we can both go to Tokyo, and have ourselves a mini-vacation.”  He smiled at his grandson in a way that made his eyes twinkle.  “I know you want to see the Legendary Heroes demo Kaiba is working up.  I’ve got a few things I’d like to see myself, but there’s no reason for us to make it a lot of work.  We’ll just go and hang around, and let the game companies give us lots of freebies, and come home happy.  What do you say?”

                Yugi clasped his hands behind his back and practically bounced.   “I’d say it’s perfect!  Let’s do it!”

                Grandpa chuckled good-naturedly.  “All right, then.  I’ll trust you to keep an eye out for the registration booklet, and we’ll both sign up.”

                “Can do.”  Inwardly, Yugi enthused a little extra for his curious partner, who was listening.  Awesome!  That takes care of having to ask if I can go, this year.  This’ll be great!

                “Yugi,” Yami reminded him, “what about Alastair?  What if he’s living in Tokyo by then, and wants to take you out to some clubs like he promised?”

                “Oh, I’m sure Grandpa won’t have a problem giving permission,” Yugi assured him across their mental bond.  “Once I explain to him about Alastair’s change of heart, that is.   I’m an adult, I can handle myself…”

                Yami chuckled deeply.  “As long as I’m around to watch over you.”

                “And watch me,” Yugi teased him.  “Well, we’ll have to wait and see.  Alastair’s away at his job interview right now – I hope it goes well.  Maybe in a month, we’ll all be out on the town in Tokyo, having the best time ever…”

                At that very moment, Alastair was silently thinking to himself that he had come a very long way for nothing.  The interview was nearing its end, but rather than answer all the questions he had been suffering with for the past few days, it was leaving him even more in flux than ever.   The position Sony was offering him was only temporary, a consulting position similar to Yugi’s with KaibaCorp that would be over in just a couple of months.  They were rather impressed with his credentials and in plenty of agreement that their security needed some massive upgrades to make it hacker-proof, but not enough to consider him for a permanent position with the company.  He had sat quietly and listened while the personnel managers discussed his past involvement with Para-Deus with awe and a little fear, and admitted that seeing that on his résumé was part of what attracted him to them.  They seemed a little scared to know that was where he had learned his computer skills, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to sway them to offer him anything more long-term.  Inwardly, Alastair knew that the security upgrades they were asking him to perform might take anyone else a couple of months, but for him, it could be finished in mere weeks, making the job even less desirable.  He patiently listened to everything they had to say and then gave them a cool, superior look.  “My residency situation is not fixed at the moment.  Would I be able to have a few days to think it over and make some arrangements, before I make a decision?”

                “Of course, of course,” the head of personnel agreed, bobbing his head enthusiastically.  “Finding a place of residence is naturally a priority.  If there is anything Sony can do to assist you with landlord fees, please let us know.  Will one week be enough time for you?”

                “I think I can arrive at a decision in a week, yes,” Alastair said with a calm nod.

                The manager slid his card across the desk to his applicant.   “Here is my direct extension.  Please call as soon as you know.  If we do not hear from you by the week’s end, I will assume you have found another alternative and are no longer interested.”

                “You will hear from me by then,” Alastair assured.  “Thank you for your time.”

                Once outside the office, he breezed through the building and departed immediately, his mind racing to calculate every last detail of the job offer and the logistics of living in Tokyo.  Office drones glanced curiously at the tall foreigner in the big, dark coat sweeping through their midst, whispering curiously to each other about who he might be and why he came out of the personnel department.  He had his sunglasses on before he even stepped out onto the street, and paused only to double-check his location before heading for the nearest train station.  He was feeling less and less like staying in the city and sightseeing, but he had wanted to bring Mokuba back something, and considered a conversation he had had with the younger Kaiba a few nights before about music.  Considering how much he knew about internet commerce security, Alastair understood Seto’s rankled demand that Mokuba not go looking for CDs at online stores and thought to himself that perhaps the big Tower Records downtown might have something he could not get in Domino.  That errand took almost no time, however, and left Alastair back out on the sidewalk pondering his next move.   He began to head back for the station, which brought him to the chaos of Shibuya Crossing just down the block.  There, standing alone in a sea of anonymous faces rushing this way and that in their hurry to cross the massive intersection before the light changed, Alastair suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness that threatened to break over his head like a wave and drown him.  He stood on one corner and just let all the people swirl by around him, his senses numbed by the noise of traffic and hundreds of briskly-striding feet, his eyes going out of focus, no longer seeing all the strangers among whom he stood out like a beacon.  Behind his sunglasses, none of them could see the sad, lost look growing in his gray eyes, as his mind’s turmoil came into sharp focus.  He didn’t know what he was doing there, why he couldn’t move from that spot, but he gradually became aware that he didn’t belong there and needed to leave, now – leave Tokyo, get back to the safe haven that was the Kaiba estate halfway across the country in a much smaller city.  After a bit, Alastair shook himself alert and turned on his heel, aiming for the correct train line that would take him to the shinkansen station.

                The nice thing about the shinkansen at the middle of the day was that it wasn’t all that crowded.  Alastair had a nice corner to himself far away from any other passengers, most of whom were inclined to give the dark-coated foreigner a wide berth anyway.  All the way back to Domino, he sat in silence watching the countryside flash by at insane speed while turning things over in his head.  He was disappointed, but only slightly.  A spark of hope, or maybe relief, countered it – he didn’t have to be away from Seto if he didn’t want to.  The offer of a mere temporary consulting position meant that he had even less reason to leave Domino, no compelling purpose to move or seek his fortune in the much bigger city.  Domino was actually city enough for him, as he had his fill of cities around the world and Tokyo was not really that much more interesting than Berlin or Prague or London or Los Angeles.  Its draw had vanished the minute he heard that Sony didn’t need him for more than a couple of months.  He could live in Domino and commute to Tokyo when called upon, even for a few days at a time, if he desired to actually take the job.  Or, this could be his opportunity to turn it down and look for something in Domino instead.  He sighed to himself and rested his head on the window, his attention turning inward to the tangle of ideas fighting each other for dominance in his head.  He asked me what I wanted them to say, he remembered from the night before.  But this didn’t even enter my mind.  I couldn’t have predicted this at all.  Now what am I supposed to do?  Alastair sighed long.   Is this my chance to stay near Seto, or have I been left completely adrift with absolutely nothing?

                Taking the Sony job and commuting to Tokyo was a perfectly viable option.  So was turning it down because it wasn’t anything remotely like what he was hoping for – what he needed.  He needed a stable, steady job that he could settle into, so he could make enough to live on and build himself a real life that may or may not include the partner he so desperately wanted.  Seto still resisted any insinuation that they had a relationship, but they had something, and only by staying close to him and trying could Alastair have any hope to make it work.  Even if Kaiba was right, and it eventually imploded and left them hating each other again, Alastair could not just let it go without first trying.  In order to do so, he needed stability – a job and life of his own.  A frown curved his graceful lips; it also meant he needed a place of his own.  He couldn’t live with Seto, not so soon, not when so much was still tentative and questioning between them.  If he stayed at the Kaiba estate, he would always be dependent on Kaiba for something, and he knew deep down that both of them would resent that in their own way.  If he decided to live in Domino, he needed a place of his own to live, which meant needing money, which brought him back to Sony.  Even if it was temporary, it was something.  He couldn’t just pick up and move out on his own without having any kind of job at all, he would never even make the first month’s rent.  The more he thought about it, the more it became a vicious cycle, beginning and ending with both hating and needing Sony’s pathetic offer.  It left him so confused and frustrated that he had to force himself to stop thinking about it and just close his eyes and dream, perhaps revisit the past night’s fun and contemplate how to get himself into that kind of situation more often.  Upon returning to Domino, Alastair took a taxi back to the estate and let himself in with the security codes Kaiba had given him that morning – an enormous sign of trust – and went upstairs to the guest room.  It would be a while before either of the Kaiba brothers got home, leaving Alastair with a chance to take a nap and forget about his transient situation for a while.  He was exhausted after having gotten up so early, after hardly sleeping last night, and within minutes of flopping down on the bed, he was fast asleep.

                Naturally, Mokuba got home first, and as he went up to put his backpack in his room and change out of his uniform, he noticed Alastair’s door standing half-closed.  He crept up to the door and peeked curiously in, finding their visitor back from Tokyo, but asleep.  Mokuba wisely decided not to pester him and went on his way, considering waiting until his brother got home to let him take care of everything.  All part of the master plan.  When Kaiba finally arrived home, later than he had expected, his younger brother hopped down the stairs to meet him.  “Hey, Alastair’s back, already,” he informed his brother.

                Kaiba’s eyebrow twitched only slightly.  “Oh?”

                “Yeah, he’s up in his room taking a nap.”  Mokuba tossed his head in the direction of the second level of the house behind him.  “I didn’t want to disturb him right away.  You should go find out what happened – I’m gonna go check and see if dinner’s ready yet.”   Without leaving his elder brother much choice in the matter, he bounced the rest of the way down the stairs and vanished in the direction of the kitchen.

                Kaiba frowned very slightly to himself, but he was entertaining some of the same thoughts Mokuba had suggested.  Having worn a regular business suit to work that day, he reached to his throat and loosened his tie on his way up the stairs, taking each step slowly.  He was fiercely curious to know how the interview had gone, but at the same time, his old protective walls were going up to keep him from openly hoping that the outcome would benefit him and the relationship between them in some way.   He pushed open the door to the guest room and drifted silently inside, noting that Alastair was still sleeping, curled up on his side and wrinkling the nice dress shirt Kaiba had loaned him for the interview.  Seto stepped up beside the bed and slowly sank down to a seat beside him, tempering his curiosity by just gazing at his lover’s beautiful face for a while.  He didn’t want to disturb him, as much as he hungered to know what had happened in Tokyo, so he settled for gently stroking Alastair’s hair for a while in the hopes that the touch might wake him.   But Alastair remained peacefully sleeping, his eyelashes fluttering slightly against his cheeks as he dreamed.  The vividly red hair cascading through Kaiba’s fingers was as soft as rose petals, impossible to resist.  Yet, as much as he could have sat there all night and stroked his hand through it, Kaiba had more urgent things to consider and forced himself to speak Alastair’s name to get him to wake up.  It took a minute, and saying it a few times with slightly more insistence each time, but at last Alastair’s eyes blinked open, and he took a deep breath before stretching and turning his head.   Kaiba withdrew his hand, but Alastair still smiled faintly at him.  “I thought I was dreaming,” he murmured.  “I didn’t think you could really be touching me so tenderly…but I guess it wasn’t a dream.”

                Kaiba’s face remained unmoved, even if his heart did something strange within his chest.  “How early did you get back?”

                “I don’t know.  Three?”  Alastair pushed himself up to a sitting position and ruffled a hand through his hair, taking a moment to bring himself to full alertness.  “What, did you just get home?”

                “More or less.”  Kaiba fixed him with a steady look.  “How did it go?”

                A long sigh heaved Alastair’s shoulders, making him sag down even more tiredly.  “It’s not exactly what I was expecting out of them.  In fact, it’s pretty lousy.”  He went ahead and told Seto everything, to the smallest detail laid out by Sony’s managers, somewhat glad to have the other man’s steady, solid presence to rail against.  Kaiba would hardly react unless the news somehow affected him, so he just sat and listened in silence while Alastair explained it all.  “I don’t know what to do,” he confessed at the end of it.  “Every option has an equal downside, there isn’t any one that’s totally appealing to me.  I’m really going to need time to think about it.”

                Kaiba gave the subtlest of nods.  “I can’t help you with that.  The decision is yours to make.”

                Alastair lowered his gaze.  “There is one decision I’ve already made.  One I had to make.  Either way, whether I decide to take it or tell them ‘no thanks’ and stay in Domino…I can’t keep living here.”  He kept his gaze turned away as he spoke in a low but confident tone.  “I shouldn’t live with you.  It’s all right for the temporary situation, but in the long term, I…I really need my own place and my own things to make my own life.”  He cautiously lifted his eyes to find Kaiba still listening without reaction.  “It’s the only way to know for sure that I can live without you, that I still love you even when I don’t need you.  To make sure I’m not using you, either.”

                Seto’s only response was to blink steadily.  “I’ve considered the same thing,” he said after a heavy moment.  “Having you living here isn’t right.  It’s the quickest way to make sure that…it doesn’t last.”  A wry smirk began to lighten his features.  “Though it is kind of nice having someone close at hand when I’m feeling restless.”

                “Yeah,” Alastair accepted with a modest chuckle.  “But you’re right.  Common sense overrides the convenience of just being able to slip down the hall to see you.  I’m glad you agree.  I don’t want to stop seeing you, I just know…I can’t live here.  Not yet.”

                “Right.”  Kaiba sat gazing at him a moment, and then, acting on some unnamed instinct deep within, reached and brushed his hand across Alastair’s cheek, brushing his tousled hair out of the way and tracing his fingers briefly along his jawline.  “But beyond that…”

                “I’m totally at a loss,” Alastair sighed, closing his eyes and leaning into the caress.  “Do I take the job and move, and hope that when it’s over, I’ll be able to use my contacts to get a new job before I run out of money?  Do I take it but live here and commute?  Or do I blow them off completely and try to find a place around here?”  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing that Kaiba was not going to try to answer any of his questions.  “I suppose I could start by looking around Domino and seeing what single flats cost before deciding – see whether I have enough saved up to get my fresh start here, or whether I need Sony’s money to do it.”

                “That sounds like a smart enough plan.”  Seto gazed unflinchingly at him, his face its usual mask of sullen indifference.  “The decision is yours to make, I’m not going to give advice or try to sway you one way or another.   Your happiness depends on you alone, nothing I say would affect it.”

                A sad wisp of a smile crossed Alastair’s features.   “You underestimate yourself.  I think you have considerable effect on my happiness.”

                “Nevertheless, I’m not going to make up your mind for you.”   Kaiba sat back a little to withdraw himself.   “I won’t be responsible for the direction of your life.  If you want to stay in Domino because of me, then it’s your choice.  I don’t think,” he added, looking away as he braced a hand on the bed to push himself to his feet, “that I can be trusted to give you unbiased advice at this point.”

                Alastair nodded slowly.  “Fair enough.  I’ll take it one step at a time.  I’ll go around and check out flats tomorrow, and go from there.  The sooner the better, I think.  I only have a week to make my decision.”

               “Fine.”  Kaiba pushed himself up at last, turning fully away.  A plan of his own was forming inside his mind, but he kept it to himself.  “Dinner should be ready shortly, if it isn’t already.  I’ll see you down there.”

                “Yeah, all right.”  Alastair hungrily watched him go, but a smile returned to his lips as he considered the tender touch that he had mistaken for merely a dream.  After a moment or two, he also got up and began unbuttoning his shirt, deciding to change into something more comfortable.

                As he walked down the hallway to his room to get out of his suit, Kaiba considered Alastair’s position and made a decision of his own.  He had plenty of business associates and allies within the community who either owed him or worked often with him, contacts he could call up and inquire as to whether they had any computer positions open that suited Alastair’s talents.   Perhaps if one of them could offer a job, Alastair wouldn’t have to worry over whether or not to accept Sony’s consulting job – he could have the best of every opportunity.  As much as he had spoken of considering all sides equally, Kaiba knew that going with Sony was already Alastair’s last choice.  He knew his former rival wanted to stay there in Domino, to be close to him, no matter how much he discouraged such dependency.  It was going to happen whether he wanted it or not, so the least he could do was make it easier on Alastair.  Then again, he realized as he stripped off his shirt and flung it recklessly on the floor in a pile with the rest of his clothes, though he had asked Alastair the night before what he hoped Sony would say, he hadn’t asked himself the same question.  Even now, he didn’t know if he was glad or annoyed or indifferent to hear Sony’s offer, because he didn’t want to admit to himself that the thought of Alastair moving to Tokyo permanently and only visiting him on occasion made him uncomfortable.  It actually mattered to him, and that alone was enough to concern him.  If some part of him really did want Alastair to stay close by, for whatever reason, he had to make an effort to help despite all his insistence that he would offer nothing and leave it up to Alastair.  Sony sure wasn’t being any kind of help – they had made the situation even worse.   Growling to himself, Seto fished a more comfortable outfit out of a drawer and made himself presentable to go back downstairs to dinner.  Whatever he might be able to privately do on Alastair’s behalf would have to wait until tomorrow, and hopefully by then, sleeping on it hadn’t changed his mind entirely.  Whatever magnetic attraction was making it impossible to repel Alastair, Kaiba began to see that he was stuck with it.  His usual defense mechanisms had failed, because Alastair was so alike to him that he saw through every single one.  But then, remembering the little chill that had gone through his heart earlier that morning, when he thought of Alastair sitting in Sony’s offices in Tokyo and imagined him lighting up with excitement when they presented him with a hacker’s dream job running security for the entire multinational corporation or something, Kaiba realized he had to stop deluding himself.  He had been afraid that Alastair might walk out of his life as abruptly as he had come into it, and now, he had the chance to do something to ensure that it wouldn’t happen.  A grim look came into his eyes as he made his choice, and promised to do something about it in the morning, at the office, where no one would be any wiser.

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