Driving Songs, part 3a
[The Players: seto_kaiba_, serenityw, tristan_taylor_, joey_wheeler.]
[The Scene: With a safe harbor arranged, all that's left is for Serenity's personal motorcade to transport her there and help her settle in. Backdated to Friday October 19th, 2007]
******
"Shaddup already, wouldja, Bear?" Joey stretched out his seatbelt and twisted around in the passenger seat of a white Geo Metro rental to meet the wide gold stare of his sister's mouthy kitten.
"Nyow," Bear replied.
Joey snickered. "Yer a cute uglyface, but yer still an uglyface, so stuff it, okay? Sheesh." He laid one finger against the grille of the cat's carrier, meanwhile looking over his shoulder at his sister. "He doesn't know how to keep his damn mouth shu--OWWW! Bear!"
Yanking his finger away, Joey slumped down in his seat and tried - for the third time - to put his feet up on the tiny dashboard. It didn't work, even with his seat leaned back as far as it could go. Granted, that wasn't too far at all, given the bulk of boxes and suitcases filling the back seat. The Geo had very little trunk space, and though his twin hadn't brought everything she owned, it was a close thing.
Joey sighed, chewing his lip absently, and glanced in the rearview mirror. Tristan and the Victory hovered in reflection like a leather and steel guardian angel bringing up the rear of their little procession, and Joey felt a little better just for the visual reminder. All three of them had worked to get Serenity's things out of her dead Honda and into the Geo, and all told it hadn't taken that long; nor had it been too difficult to navigate their way to the unmissable monolith of Kaiba Corp. The only difficult part, really, had been on the boys' end - keeping their nerves in check while they worked, and then again when they got inside the building.
While his sister looped the block and Tristan idled in a ten-minute drop off zone, Joey had hopped out of the car and headed inside KaibaCorp - intimidated somewhat, as he always was, by its sheer looming presence above him - to greet the three guardian receptionists of Kaiba Corp - Ming Lao, Diana, and Julia. Julia called Seto's office, smiling a hello to Joey as he approached their receptionist's desk in the cavernous main lobby of the building. A faintly startled expression flickered over her face before she offered the phone to Joey, who took it with a not completely fabricated smirk for the rather displeased Ming-Lao. After a brisk greeting, Seto directed Joey to the KC parking deck where he would be waiting in a silver Infiniti, which they were to follow.
Thanking the guardians, Joey had hit the curb quickly, telling Tristan the plan while he waited for Serenity on her next circuit of the block. From there the trio headed to the deck, then tailed Seto's car out of the city and into New Rochelle. They reached Seto's mansion, where Serenity would live for the next few days, easily enough - but the purpose of the whole effort couldn't escape Joey for a minute.
So much effort to throw one girl's stalker off her trail, Joey sulked, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to ignore the yowling kitten in the back seat as they pulled up the long, smooth driveway of Seto's estate, the mansion looming larger and larger in the windshield. Fucking Steven and his fucking idiot obsession.
When he switched his attention back to the road, Joey found reason to jump to attention. "Is that a bunny? Out here? Look, Bear, meat!"
"MOWnyowl," said the kitten sulkily, indicating that long pig actually sounded much more to his taste. He began to wash himself in a highly improbable position.
Traffic had slowed their progress to a crawl for a while-- even Seto's Infiniti hadn't been able to skirt the sheer mass of cars, cars and more cars until they had made it beyond the usual roads and into more open country. Now, as the automated gates slid shut behind the Metro and the bike that followed, Serenity's eyes grew wider and wider. "Joey!" she hissed. "Just how-- this place is HUGE! Are you sure this's a good idea?"
"Huge means plenty'v space for you, girl," Joey assured her, folding his hands behind his head in a picture of perfect relaxation. "Just park the car."
In truth...he wasn't quite so cucumber-cool as he was acting. But his priority wasn't catering to his own second-guesses. It was for his sister's comfort - which was where this whole idea came from in the first place. So as soon as the car rolled to a stop, Joey was out of it, leaning gently on the open door and glancing to either end of their Geo: behind, Tristan was pulling his bike to a stop; ahead, Seto's was closing his driver's side door gently. Joey stood between the two, waiting for whichever one would give the next cue, looking (and mostly feeling) completely in control of and on top of his little world.
The image of the closing gate in Tristan's rearview mirror burned in his memory, fresh and aggravating. The long ride upstate had given Tristan time to think, and the whole thing had begun to feel too much like a long chase scene in a horror movie. He hated the gate with a passion, because he wished there wasn't the need.
The cars pulled in and powered down, the silence before the car doors opened like an intermission. Act One was over, Act Two had yet to start.
None of that anger was productive, of course. Tristan knew that. He took the respite before the others exploded into action again to focus on the minutia of the Victory, shutting everything and everyone else out. Deep breaths. Slow, deep breaths. Tristan removed his helmet, slid his shades from his breast pocket, and put them in place on the bridge of his nose. With that familiar motion, he was able to channel the pent-up fury at the situation (Trapped. He's the psychotic jackhole, but she's the one behind bars...) into nothing more than intense, restless energy. He dismounted and moved toward the others.
"Do we have much stuff to move?" Tristan asked.
The muted thunk of the car door closing behind Seto was quiet in the afternoon air. He took a moment to sweep his eyes around the grounds, noting with satisfaction the neatness of the landscape.
Nodding at Joey, Seto moved in unconscious mirror to Tristan, as they approached the Metro.
"Not all that much, not right now," said Serenity, distracted. "Just the stuff in the back seat-- Mrs. J's hanging onto the rest 'til I can get back up there to pick it up or whatever." She watched the unfamiliar man approaching the car from the direction of the house with more than a little apprehension.
"Tristan," Seto greeted the other man as he reached the driver's door. "It's good to see you." Then he turned his gaze down to the slight woman behind the wheel.
She was obviously Joey's sister, there were enough physical cues that even had Seto not known the relationship, he would have placed her in the family. She looked tired, to Seto's eye. "Ms. Wheeler. Welcome."
Serenity blinked and then looked up... and up. The term ' long drink of water' occurred to her, and she wondered briefly if maybe she'd been in the country long enough for irreparable damage to have occurred. "--Thank you." She pushed her hair back a little (okay, more than a little) self-consciously and smiled. "Hello-- ah-- Mr. Kaiba? Nice to meet you; Joey told me a little about you when he visited me this summer." Though you did NOT tell me the guy could land freaking aircraft on his lawn, the glance she shot her twin said.
On the far side of the car, Joey shrugged innocently, palms spread to the sunshine, and said nothing.
Seto glanced up at Tristan returning his smile of greeting, then at Joey in time to see his dismissive gesture over the roof of the car. Exquisitely and deliberately bland, he regarded the slighter man for a long moment, before looking back down over the door. As he drew breath to respond, Seto noticed the tightly packed interior of the car and was grateful that he had chosen one of the larger spare bedrooms to be aired and cleaned.
"You'll need some help with that," he said, nodding at the interior. Chin rising, Seto called out in a loud, clear voice, "Bert!" His head groundskeeper was nowhere in sight, but Seto knew that made little difference.
Part of the car's interior rattled. "I-- uh, I really appreciate you letting me stay like this, especially at such short notice." Serenity smiled up at her host tentatively. Behind her, the packed mass of cargo rattled again-- and added its own take on the current state of affairs.
"Mrrrrr? Mrrrwow? AOWW!"
Seto's eyes snapped back to the interior of the car just as a stout, ruddy man rounded the corner of the house. Rocking back slightly, Seto looked at the crowded interior for the source of the noise, eyes momentarily widening. It had sounded like...
The rattle caught Serenity's attention as well, and she hesitated for a moment before saying apologetically, "You... aren't allergic to cats, are you? I'm really sorry, but I have a--"
"Mrrrwl! Yowwwl!"
"--complication. A kitten-- I, um, guess I should've looked into a kennel, huh?" One hand reached back to crook fingers protectively through the bars.
"No, I...." Seto began, just as Bert arrived at the little grouping around the car.
"Mr. Kaiba," he said, ducking his head in a nod of greeting, glancing at Tristan and Joey with calm recognition.
"Bert." Seto acknowledged. "One moment please." His attention turned once more to the car, and the container he could now recognize. A thoughtful silence followed. "I will have to alert the staff," Seto told her, "and I would suggest you keep-- your kitten in your room as much as possible," he added. Then he turned to the waiting man. "Bert, would you get Paul and... let me see, is Ralph working today? Find another person to help Ms. Wheeler carry her things upstairs, please."
"I'll help, Seto," Joey offered over the car's hood. "If somebody just shows me where to put stuff, I'll carry..."
Serenity gave them a grateful look. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I guess Tristan and Joey filled you in on my situation." She drew in a deep breath, shoulders relaxing fractionally as her fingers unclenched. "Bear's always been with me; I would've hated to have left him somewhere, and I-- keeping him in my room's fine." She stopped at that point, more than a little tongue-tied and glanced a little desperately at her two brothers. Guys? Her eyes said; What do we do now?
Tristan watched the exchange with growing concern, but breathed through it, once again relying on the force of restless energy to get him through the somewhat awkward moment. He knew Seto wasn't phobic of cats, or allergic, but the man's response to Bear-- well, maybe he was afraid the kitten might get lost or damage something. It was a possibility. He looked down almost at the same instant Serenity looked up, as if magnetically drawn. One thing at a time, he thought, and smiled as reassuringly as he knew how. The kitten was a small factor. One thing at a time. "Let's start moving inside? It's chilly out here."
With the small contingent of helpers, it took little time to get Serenity's things out of the car and up to her room. Seto excused himself to alert the kitchen staff, so it was Bert who directed Joey, Tristan and Paul to the upper room where Serenity would be staying. The older man was respectful but friendly, interspersing his directions with one or two sly comments on the state of the world. When Paul made a disparaging remark about the absence of their mutual employer Bert's voice turned chilly, but otherwise the unloading proceeded without incident.
"You c'n all wait in 'ere," Bert told the trio when they descended the stairs with empty hands, Paul having already returned to his unspecified duties. "'S what 'e calls t' livin' room." After a sweep of his hands to the archway beside the front door, Bert slipped back outside.
Joey settled into Seto's overstuffed brown couch, looking around the living room that he hadn't had cause to visit since earlier in the year, after the summer Montana trip. He did his best to amuse himself with study of the furnishings and ceiling, but his fidgeting quickly translated to low-volume speech. "...Think they're getting on okay?" he asked Tristan, glancing at the exit of the room to watch for Seto's return, or their sister's.
Standing opposite where Joey sat, uncomfortable in the polished room after miles of direct exposure to road dust, Tristan pushed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. He tilted his head back, eyes roving ceilingward while he gave the question thought.
"About as well as two total strangers in ten minutes usually get along," he said, finally, looking back down to raise his brows at Joey, "or you mean the people with Red's stuff?"
"Fine, so'm aheada time," Joey grumped, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at his reflection in the massive black television screen. "I was just askin'."
"And I'm just saying, give it time," Tristan said more gently, choosing to acknowledge Joey's nerves and not his ruffled feathers. He shifted sideways and ducked, looking to catch Joey's eyes. "Hey? Take it easy."
Joey glanced grudgingly up in response, ready to be cranky, but his temper softened as soon as their eyes met. "...Yeah," he muttered, acknowledging the point in several shades, and repeated himself more gently: "Yeah."
The quiet duet of voices greeted Serenity as she closed the guestroom door behind her, glancing down at her ankles to make sure that Bear hadn't managed to sneak past. She needn't have worried; the kitten was currently far more interested in exploring his new surroundings (and the litterbox that she had just set up) than anything else.
Please don't let him claw up the furniture or anything, she thought silently as the conversation below dropped from worried tones into something less stressed. The guestroom had been quietly elegant in an understated way, all muted colors and polished wood, pretty much matching the little she had seen of the house so far.
Making her way down the stairs and back towards the hallway, she leaned against one curve of the arch leading into the living room. The two waiting there looked up, and she waved a small wave. "All settled," Serenity reported. "Bear's checking out his new kingdom."
"Yeah?" Tristan turned more fully toward the sound of Serenity's voice, smiling faintly, "what's his verdict?"
"I think he's happy to be practically anywhere that's not a car at this point," she answered with a wry shrug. "But His Majesty seems okay with the room. It's really nice."
"Hey, s'good, don't want the little guy nerving out or anything," Joey said, waving from his full-body slouch at his sister. He wanted to say, 'Don't want you nerving out either,' but knew that would have been pushing it too far.
"The staff has been alerted," Seto said, breezing into the room, "and security has the description of your kitten, in case he should be found wandering. Food, litter and a variety of..." Seto paused minutely, "feline toys will be delivered in a few hours. Would you like to stay for lunch?" he asked, looking from Joey to Tristan. "There will be more than enough." Seto had seen to that, and if the two men declined, he was certain the staff would take it home with them this evening.
"Love to, if I can wash up first," Tristan said, removed his hands from his pockets with a wry smile and held them open before him. He had to smile sometime or explode, and he fed it enough of his sheepishness to get him past inspection. Truth be told, the sudden complete and unexpected accommodation of Serenity's kitten had him quietly in stitches. He wondered if Seto had been the last one into the room because he'd been selecting a cat tree like the ones Tristan secretly cherished for Robin, and couldn't decide - Tristan spared a glance at the tasteful curtains that matched the upholstery in the living room - which color would coordinate. Given the current state of Tristan's own room (like a fall Pottery Barn advertisement), he could hardly throw stones. If anything, it was all the more amusing because he sympathized.
"I can always eat, Bossman," Joey smiled, pushing up from the couch. "But I'd like to, s' well."
His sister smiled a little shyly. "That'd be great. And thank you so much--" She paused and blinked; "--toys? Oh, Bear'll like that." A little of the tension in her shoulders fell away and she uncrossed her arms.
"Of course, Tristan," Seto replied, motioning at the archway with a sweep of his hand. "Just around the corner," he added in reflexive politeness.
"I had no real idea what your kitten would like," Seto continued, gaze moving back to Serenity, "So I simply chose a variety of things recommended for young cats. He... it is a he, correct?"
She nodded, taking grateful refuge in small talk about something important but less urgent than her situation. "A little more than four months old now; kind of scrawny for his age, but he loves to play. I'm sure he'll love whatever you choose." Her eyes softened. "I've raised him, pretty much-- I don't know if Joey mentioned it, but I found him abandoned in the woods; he's... important to me." Serenity looked up at the tall man a little hesitantly; it was hard to know what to say without sounding as if she were babbling. "...would you like to meet him later?" she asked tentatively.
Listening with grave attention, Seto let the silence after Serenity's question linger as his eyes turned distant. Ostensibly he was looking at her shoulder, but his mind was very far away indeed. "I believe," he said, returning to the room with a deep inhale, "I should at least greet my other guest. Thank you."
Sensing Tristan returning behind him, Seto pivoted. "Once the others are ready," he said, "lunch should be as well." He glanced back to Joey and Serenity, once more struck by how they looked together. He was faintly envious, in a way he had not been for quite a number of years. Quashing it, Seto once more gestured toward the doorway. "Next?" he quipped, attempting casualness.
"Ladies first," Joey grinned, mock bowing for his sister's and his friend's benefit.
His sister gave him a Look. "Ahh-- I'm fine," she murmured.
"A'right, then gimme just a minute," Joey replied, crossing between Seto and Serenity to leave the room.
Tristan remained behind Seto until Joey had passed. During his absence the tension in the room somehow seemed to have doubled, or maybe it was just too much adrenaline on his part. He scrubbed the rough edge of his jaw thoughtfully with the side of his thumb, then the back of his neck to soothe his unexpected edginess. In so doing, he got a straight look at Serenity, and smiled. Not because he really felt like smiling, but ...Right. That was probably it. With The Mission over, there were no orders, which left him at loose ends with Serenity Wheeler: the one person whom he had no idea what to do with.
Fuck, what was he supposed to do now?
"S'like we're playing musical chairs, only with the bathroom," Tristan whipped both hands down and kept them at pocket level without actually shoving them in his pockets, because he'd just washed. "So what'd I miss?"
"Not too much." The redhead had her chin down and glanced up at him from beneath a fringe of her hair, the way she always had before when nervous or unsure. "Me talking about Bear... How's Miw, by the way? I've missed her." Serenity smiled at him a little shyly. "'S been good knowing that you two've been taking care of her."
"Miw is... good, Miw is very good." Tristan nodded, smiling for real this time, as much from gratitude as enthusiasm. "It's kind of a zoo at our place with the cats and the guinea pig and Joey, but I like it that way." His gaze flicked to Seto, concentrating intensely for a moment before he brightened. "You met Miw, I think. She's the one with the neat spots."
A flicker of startled recognition lit Seto's eyes, and was as quickly banked. A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth but his gaze was in distant memory as he answered. "Ah, yes. The soft, regal lady." His smile deepened as he returned his attention to the room, meeting Tristan's gaze, but by the time he turned to Serenity he was again composed. "You have a beautiful cat, Ms. Wheeler."
"No she don't, Bear's an uglyface," Joey commented, scooting back into the room with his hands in his back pockets. His bangs were damp, evidence he'd splashed water on his face. He came to a stop beside Tristan, which unintentionally arranged the room in a guys-versus-girl lineup. "Bathroom's free."
"Not THAT one, goofball, the other one-- Miw. And really," added Serenity (her own smile a bit more genuine now), "she's Joey and Tristan's cat. Now, anyway; I couldn't take her away after she's moved twice already, it wouldn't be fair. 'Sides," and her voice took the faintest teasing edge, "I wouldn't want to break up the Wheeler Feline-Rodent Alliance. She seems to've made friends with Joey's guinea-pig," Serenity explained.
"Robin still can't figure that one out," Tristan quipped, "I watch her watch 'em and I swear she's thinking "but that's food!"
Seto turned an dryly incredulous look on Joey, but only said "Really? I'd like to hear about that. However, I believe lunch is ready now." Having already washed up for lunch before he rejoined his guests, Seto led the way down the hall and into the kitchen.
The table was a fair size but not large, square, wooden, solid and covered with food. Four places were set, not with china but plain white plates with a bold tracery outlined in black and gold around the edges. Matching serving plates held a variety of sandwiches- turkey on foccacia, ham on rye, tuna salad slipped between sturdy white slices. There were small crocks of condiments and a large bowl of macaroni salad. Crisp slices of apple ringed a silver tray, interlaced with orange wedges, while in the center were three kinds of cheese, cubed and arranged amid a mound of grapes. A chilled, cut-glass pitcher of iced tea stood on one end of the table and a matching one filled with lemonade on the other.
Seto moved to the side of the table closest to the door, and after nodding briefly to the sturdy woman working at the counter, pulled out the chair and tilted his head at Serenity.
The young woman blinked, then took her seat with a nod of thanks. "This looks wonderful," she murmured.
Nonplussed, Seto stood a moment, readjusting his parameters, the chair he'd held out for Serenity was *not* the one he was used to sitting in. Still, the only way to smoothly recover without making it obvious was to take it himself.
Seto was comfortable enough with Joey and Tristan that, had it been only the three of them, he would have swung himeself into it without hesitation. However-- Seto was the host, and he didn't just... couldn't switch between one set of behavior patterns and another. So he relaxed his body, a visible signal of an ease he didn't feel, while waiting for the other men to be seated.
Moving around the table to the opposite side, Tristan watched with surreptitious interest and had to tighten his jaw to subdue a sympathetic smile. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't expected a similar chain of events as Seto had, but as it was, he was hard put not to give in to the gentle amusement over Seto left - not holding the bag - but holding the chair.
If nothing else, the urge to laugh soothed him. Tristan relaxed further, and was quick to claim two halves of a turkey sandwich as he sat. "Man, thank you, Seto."
On Tristan's right, Joey settled into his chair with a unnecessary but reflexive glance at his sister - You alright? - and then a smile for both his friends.
"Hope you weren't plannin' on leftovers, Seto," he teased, grinning.
"I do hope you enjoy it," Seto answered, taking his own seat once everyone was settled.
There was much less conversation for awhile, while the four of them applied themselves to lunch. Seto was covertly pleased that the food was so obviously appreciated, evidenced by how little of it was left. With a raised finger, he signaled the other woman in the kitchen, who brought a large pot of coffee to the table.
"Miss Wheeler, this is Maria, the head of internal affairs," he said, the title laced with thread of humor as she smiled at her employer. "In other words, she is in charge of the household staff. Her kitchen assistant is Amber, who is not working at the moment. Please consider her your first resource if you need anything during your time here."
Maria nodded to Serenity, giving her a warm smile. "You just let me know, alright?" and then she set the pot down on the table, gathering up the empty serving dishes. "So, how many cups for coffee?" she asked.
"Oh, me," Joey volunteered quickly, beaming at Maria. "Me please." He grinned at Seto. "I know the kinda coffee I can get around here."
"I wouldn't mind a little myself," answered Serenity after her brother, looking far more relaxed and less gunshy than she had earlier; the company and the excellent food had done much to reassure her, and now she smiled at Maria. "Thanks, Maria, nice to meet you. I'll try not to be too much've a bother."
"None for me, but thank you," Tristan smiled and raised a quelling hand. He leaned forward and folded one arm on the table, fingering the condensation on the dregs of his iced tea. His expression smoothed, gaze focused on the leftover chunks of green pepper and elbow macaroni.
"You just ask," Maria reiterated to Serenity, putting the silver coffee caraffe down and slipping a serving bowl out of the way. She bustled to the counter and busied herself for a moment.
Seto filled the space of her activity with a question. "Would your kitten like a saucer of cream?" he asked Serenity. "I could have one sent up." As he finished speaking, Maria returned to the table, the handles of three matching white coffee cups threaded through her fingers, a small silver tray with three sorts of sugar, regular cream, flavored creams and half-and-half decanted into containers and spoons arranged on top.
"There you go," she said cheerfully, pouring the coffee into the cups before setting them down at each place.
"Thanks, Maria." The redhead's eyes crinkled in amusement at the mental image of Bear sedately sipping his own cup of coffee, one clawed pinky held out as the kitten gripped the cup in a cartoon-character grasp. "And that'd be great. Watch out, though, he's good at sneaking out open doors-- I think maybe there was some ninja in his background somewhere." Her attempt at a joke was a little lame in her own ears, but as she breathed in the coffee-aroma wafting from the cup she offered her host a small smile. He's nice. Kind of... hard to approach, but really nice. Maybe this really will work for a couple of days.
Joey looked from his sister's peaceful face to Seto's placid expression, and bit back the lame comment about pirates (and ninjas) that the back of his brain cooked up. While he was trying not to overthink the situation, he couldn't deny it was going well, and the happy glow that he got off of that was getting hard to keep off his face. Sitting around grinning like an idiot wouldn't really help anything, but it was what he felt like doing. Serenity was home, or what passed for home, and under Seto's care she would be safe. How could Steven storm the mansion? Things would work out. Joey didn't know how, or when, but he knew that eventually, there would be a straight, clear path in front of them to follow.
"Coffee's good," he murmured over the rim of his own cup, holding it between both curved palms. "Seto, would ya mind if I -" He looked to Tristan, then revised himself. "If we hung round here a little while after lunch, helped get stuff settled, yanno, kept company?"
The table now clear, Maria walked from the kitchen with a cardboard carton and a small bowl, winking at Serenity just before she passed out the door.
"Of course," Seto answered Joey, and caught himself just before he gave a polite nod. Yes, he was the host, he had no idea what to expect from this reticent young woman, he was on edge with nerves, but this was his kitchen, and Joey and Tristan were the closest thing he had... No, Seto corrected himself even before he could finish the thought, they are your friends. Stop it.
"Did you want to help your sister unpack? Would you care to ... I have a deck of cards, if you were thinking of something more," he hesitated an instant, "social. Or did you have something in mind?"
Joey visibly perked up, grinning. "Aw, man, cards. Can we all play somethin'? There's no rush to unpack, is there, Red?" He looked across the table at his twin, one eyebrow raised in a bit of challenge. "I bet I could still kick your ass at Egyptian Rat Screw." Then he paused to think and looked to Serenity's left, at their host. "Ooor maybe Go Fish or somethin' like that."
His twin gave him a look back, her own eyebrow mirroring his. "Bet you couldn't; Mrs. J and I used to sit up half the--" She faltered for half a second, expression darkening before going on. "--the night playing for pennies; I taught her, and she taught me Cheat Your Neighbor." Serenity recollected herself a moment later and reddened. "Uh-- up to you two," she added belatedly, glancing at her host askance as if trying to picture him playing a game even remotely named something like 'Rat Screw'.
No good; it just wouldn't work. "Tristan?"
Tristan twitched at his name and jerked his chin up from where it rested on folded knuckles. He blinked at Serenity with a spin of vertigo. Lost in his own thoughts, his attention had drifted several minutes ago down considerably darker paths, and the exchange prior to the sound of his name had been lost. "Uh?" he said intelligently, speaking before his aural hindbrain caught up, "What? Egyptian whatscrew?"
Seto had been thinking much the same thing, and hearing Tristan say it eased him in some undefinable way, made it alright to relax, to speak as he would were it just the three of them. As if he were channeling some of Tristan's easy manner, he chuckled, low and soft. "I believe we can find another game. I hesitate to think of what the rules would be involving a deck of cards and a fornicating rodent. Does everyone know Rummy? You could explain Go Fish to me if you'd rather."
Joey recoiled from Seto's comment, which sounded perfectly rational and even-handed and made Joey feel low and dull for even liking a game with a - a fornicating rodent, indeed. Keeping the hurt out of his voice, he hoped, he sat back in his chair, coffee mug raised so he could breathe in the vapors of the brew and calm down. "Rummy. Forgot about that one. 'Course."
Tristan felt detached, separated from the others' chuckles. He'd been thinking, he should have known better. But trying not to think about the reason they were here, the jumble of Serenity's possessions in another room, the damned gates was like trying not to think of a blue cow. How could they make it safe for her, one hundred percent? How could they fix this? God he hated feeling exposed. Who did he know that could--
--and on, and on. It made a deep smoke grey barrier between him and enthusiasm, and pretending to be fine was not an option. He needed air. "I... don't know Rummy either," he admitted, in a low voice, getting up from the table, "...would you all mind if I went outside a while?"
"Of course not," Seto answered at once, rising as well, becoming the polished host once again "I should make a few more phone calls in any case. Turn right out the door, then right again at the hallway, and you will find my office," he told the others, "if you need anything before I return. You have the run of the house and grounds, for as long as you wish it. Ms. Wheeler," he said, turning to the young woman in question, "please make yourself at home."
"Thank you," she said quietly. Serenity's gaze followed her other-brother as he left the room, worry breaking up into fine lines between her eyes. "I... maybe I'd better go on upstairs and unpack before Bear does it for me. Joey? Want to help, or--" She looked at Tristan's empty chair and then back at her twin. Her expression spoke for itself before she smoothed it back into calm again.
...Friggin' brilliant. Twelve inches from throwing a fit right there at the table - well, not actually, but it'd feel nice to just indulge sometime, wouldn't it? - Joey looked from his sister to his best friend and partner's retreating back and tried to figure out which choice would leave him less fucked. Tristan might not want to be followed, but then again, this might be one of those times when he did. And Serenity was holding it together quite well - or was she? Joey was still wounded from Seto's untentional slight and didn't trust himself to measure the mood of anyone else, much less his sister. More to the point, he didn't know which one he wanted to be around right then - which one would be the bigger comfort. Tristan had obviously not kept up his play of Egyptian Rat Screw in college like Joey had, or he'd remember the game better; then again, Joey had always liked it much better than his friend. Regardless, he'd added to Joey's hurt, and that made the blond a bit sore on him.
But then, something was wrong. Probably. So: Take the gamble that Tristan didn't actually want to be alone - and worsen the situation on both their accounts if he was wrong. Or, go cuddle his sister's cat.
Discretion, valor, all that.
"Let's go see the uglyface," Joey decided, spreading his palms on the table to push himself up from his chair. The smile he gave his sister was stiff but not as transparent as he'd feared it would be. Progress. Not thinking about what Seto might be thinking about him, Joey circled the table to his sister's side and pulled her loosely against him with a familiar arm slung around her hips. "C'mon. We'll see how he likes the new digs."
The sister in question closed her eyes briefly in what looked like an internal counting-to-ten moment, then sighed. "Right," she said, looking just a little like what she wanted to say was Wrong. She gave her host a shy smile and stepped away, tugging at her twin's arm. "We'll be back down in a bit."
[The Scene: With a safe harbor arranged, all that's left is for Serenity's personal motorcade to transport her there and help her settle in. Backdated to Friday October 19th, 2007]
******
"Shaddup already, wouldja, Bear?" Joey stretched out his seatbelt and twisted around in the passenger seat of a white Geo Metro rental to meet the wide gold stare of his sister's mouthy kitten.
"Nyow," Bear replied.
Joey snickered. "Yer a cute uglyface, but yer still an uglyface, so stuff it, okay? Sheesh." He laid one finger against the grille of the cat's carrier, meanwhile looking over his shoulder at his sister. "He doesn't know how to keep his damn mouth shu--OWWW! Bear!"
Yanking his finger away, Joey slumped down in his seat and tried - for the third time - to put his feet up on the tiny dashboard. It didn't work, even with his seat leaned back as far as it could go. Granted, that wasn't too far at all, given the bulk of boxes and suitcases filling the back seat. The Geo had very little trunk space, and though his twin hadn't brought everything she owned, it was a close thing.
Joey sighed, chewing his lip absently, and glanced in the rearview mirror. Tristan and the Victory hovered in reflection like a leather and steel guardian angel bringing up the rear of their little procession, and Joey felt a little better just for the visual reminder. All three of them had worked to get Serenity's things out of her dead Honda and into the Geo, and all told it hadn't taken that long; nor had it been too difficult to navigate their way to the unmissable monolith of Kaiba Corp. The only difficult part, really, had been on the boys' end - keeping their nerves in check while they worked, and then again when they got inside the building.
While his sister looped the block and Tristan idled in a ten-minute drop off zone, Joey had hopped out of the car and headed inside KaibaCorp - intimidated somewhat, as he always was, by its sheer looming presence above him - to greet the three guardian receptionists of Kaiba Corp - Ming Lao, Diana, and Julia. Julia called Seto's office, smiling a hello to Joey as he approached their receptionist's desk in the cavernous main lobby of the building. A faintly startled expression flickered over her face before she offered the phone to Joey, who took it with a not completely fabricated smirk for the rather displeased Ming-Lao. After a brisk greeting, Seto directed Joey to the KC parking deck where he would be waiting in a silver Infiniti, which they were to follow.
Thanking the guardians, Joey had hit the curb quickly, telling Tristan the plan while he waited for Serenity on her next circuit of the block. From there the trio headed to the deck, then tailed Seto's car out of the city and into New Rochelle. They reached Seto's mansion, where Serenity would live for the next few days, easily enough - but the purpose of the whole effort couldn't escape Joey for a minute.
So much effort to throw one girl's stalker off her trail, Joey sulked, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to ignore the yowling kitten in the back seat as they pulled up the long, smooth driveway of Seto's estate, the mansion looming larger and larger in the windshield. Fucking Steven and his fucking idiot obsession.
When he switched his attention back to the road, Joey found reason to jump to attention. "Is that a bunny? Out here? Look, Bear, meat!"
"MOWnyowl," said the kitten sulkily, indicating that long pig actually sounded much more to his taste. He began to wash himself in a highly improbable position.
Traffic had slowed their progress to a crawl for a while-- even Seto's Infiniti hadn't been able to skirt the sheer mass of cars, cars and more cars until they had made it beyond the usual roads and into more open country. Now, as the automated gates slid shut behind the Metro and the bike that followed, Serenity's eyes grew wider and wider. "Joey!" she hissed. "Just how-- this place is HUGE! Are you sure this's a good idea?"
"Huge means plenty'v space for you, girl," Joey assured her, folding his hands behind his head in a picture of perfect relaxation. "Just park the car."
In truth...he wasn't quite so cucumber-cool as he was acting. But his priority wasn't catering to his own second-guesses. It was for his sister's comfort - which was where this whole idea came from in the first place. So as soon as the car rolled to a stop, Joey was out of it, leaning gently on the open door and glancing to either end of their Geo: behind, Tristan was pulling his bike to a stop; ahead, Seto's was closing his driver's side door gently. Joey stood between the two, waiting for whichever one would give the next cue, looking (and mostly feeling) completely in control of and on top of his little world.
The image of the closing gate in Tristan's rearview mirror burned in his memory, fresh and aggravating. The long ride upstate had given Tristan time to think, and the whole thing had begun to feel too much like a long chase scene in a horror movie. He hated the gate with a passion, because he wished there wasn't the need.
The cars pulled in and powered down, the silence before the car doors opened like an intermission. Act One was over, Act Two had yet to start.
None of that anger was productive, of course. Tristan knew that. He took the respite before the others exploded into action again to focus on the minutia of the Victory, shutting everything and everyone else out. Deep breaths. Slow, deep breaths. Tristan removed his helmet, slid his shades from his breast pocket, and put them in place on the bridge of his nose. With that familiar motion, he was able to channel the pent-up fury at the situation (Trapped. He's the psychotic jackhole, but she's the one behind bars...) into nothing more than intense, restless energy. He dismounted and moved toward the others.
"Do we have much stuff to move?" Tristan asked.
The muted thunk of the car door closing behind Seto was quiet in the afternoon air. He took a moment to sweep his eyes around the grounds, noting with satisfaction the neatness of the landscape.
Nodding at Joey, Seto moved in unconscious mirror to Tristan, as they approached the Metro.
"Not all that much, not right now," said Serenity, distracted. "Just the stuff in the back seat-- Mrs. J's hanging onto the rest 'til I can get back up there to pick it up or whatever." She watched the unfamiliar man approaching the car from the direction of the house with more than a little apprehension.
"Tristan," Seto greeted the other man as he reached the driver's door. "It's good to see you." Then he turned his gaze down to the slight woman behind the wheel.
She was obviously Joey's sister, there were enough physical cues that even had Seto not known the relationship, he would have placed her in the family. She looked tired, to Seto's eye. "Ms. Wheeler. Welcome."
Serenity blinked and then looked up... and up. The term ' long drink of water' occurred to her, and she wondered briefly if maybe she'd been in the country long enough for irreparable damage to have occurred. "--Thank you." She pushed her hair back a little (okay, more than a little) self-consciously and smiled. "Hello-- ah-- Mr. Kaiba? Nice to meet you; Joey told me a little about you when he visited me this summer." Though you did NOT tell me the guy could land freaking aircraft on his lawn, the glance she shot her twin said.
On the far side of the car, Joey shrugged innocently, palms spread to the sunshine, and said nothing.
Seto glanced up at Tristan returning his smile of greeting, then at Joey in time to see his dismissive gesture over the roof of the car. Exquisitely and deliberately bland, he regarded the slighter man for a long moment, before looking back down over the door. As he drew breath to respond, Seto noticed the tightly packed interior of the car and was grateful that he had chosen one of the larger spare bedrooms to be aired and cleaned.
"You'll need some help with that," he said, nodding at the interior. Chin rising, Seto called out in a loud, clear voice, "Bert!" His head groundskeeper was nowhere in sight, but Seto knew that made little difference.
Part of the car's interior rattled. "I-- uh, I really appreciate you letting me stay like this, especially at such short notice." Serenity smiled up at her host tentatively. Behind her, the packed mass of cargo rattled again-- and added its own take on the current state of affairs.
"Mrrrrr? Mrrrwow? AOWW!"
Seto's eyes snapped back to the interior of the car just as a stout, ruddy man rounded the corner of the house. Rocking back slightly, Seto looked at the crowded interior for the source of the noise, eyes momentarily widening. It had sounded like...
The rattle caught Serenity's attention as well, and she hesitated for a moment before saying apologetically, "You... aren't allergic to cats, are you? I'm really sorry, but I have a--"
"Mrrrwl! Yowwwl!"
"--complication. A kitten-- I, um, guess I should've looked into a kennel, huh?" One hand reached back to crook fingers protectively through the bars.
"No, I...." Seto began, just as Bert arrived at the little grouping around the car.
"Mr. Kaiba," he said, ducking his head in a nod of greeting, glancing at Tristan and Joey with calm recognition.
"Bert." Seto acknowledged. "One moment please." His attention turned once more to the car, and the container he could now recognize. A thoughtful silence followed. "I will have to alert the staff," Seto told her, "and I would suggest you keep-- your kitten in your room as much as possible," he added. Then he turned to the waiting man. "Bert, would you get Paul and... let me see, is Ralph working today? Find another person to help Ms. Wheeler carry her things upstairs, please."
"I'll help, Seto," Joey offered over the car's hood. "If somebody just shows me where to put stuff, I'll carry..."
Serenity gave them a grateful look. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I guess Tristan and Joey filled you in on my situation." She drew in a deep breath, shoulders relaxing fractionally as her fingers unclenched. "Bear's always been with me; I would've hated to have left him somewhere, and I-- keeping him in my room's fine." She stopped at that point, more than a little tongue-tied and glanced a little desperately at her two brothers. Guys? Her eyes said; What do we do now?
Tristan watched the exchange with growing concern, but breathed through it, once again relying on the force of restless energy to get him through the somewhat awkward moment. He knew Seto wasn't phobic of cats, or allergic, but the man's response to Bear-- well, maybe he was afraid the kitten might get lost or damage something. It was a possibility. He looked down almost at the same instant Serenity looked up, as if magnetically drawn. One thing at a time, he thought, and smiled as reassuringly as he knew how. The kitten was a small factor. One thing at a time. "Let's start moving inside? It's chilly out here."
With the small contingent of helpers, it took little time to get Serenity's things out of the car and up to her room. Seto excused himself to alert the kitchen staff, so it was Bert who directed Joey, Tristan and Paul to the upper room where Serenity would be staying. The older man was respectful but friendly, interspersing his directions with one or two sly comments on the state of the world. When Paul made a disparaging remark about the absence of their mutual employer Bert's voice turned chilly, but otherwise the unloading proceeded without incident.
"You c'n all wait in 'ere," Bert told the trio when they descended the stairs with empty hands, Paul having already returned to his unspecified duties. "'S what 'e calls t' livin' room." After a sweep of his hands to the archway beside the front door, Bert slipped back outside.
Joey settled into Seto's overstuffed brown couch, looking around the living room that he hadn't had cause to visit since earlier in the year, after the summer Montana trip. He did his best to amuse himself with study of the furnishings and ceiling, but his fidgeting quickly translated to low-volume speech. "...Think they're getting on okay?" he asked Tristan, glancing at the exit of the room to watch for Seto's return, or their sister's.
Standing opposite where Joey sat, uncomfortable in the polished room after miles of direct exposure to road dust, Tristan pushed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. He tilted his head back, eyes roving ceilingward while he gave the question thought.
"About as well as two total strangers in ten minutes usually get along," he said, finally, looking back down to raise his brows at Joey, "or you mean the people with Red's stuff?"
"Fine, so'm aheada time," Joey grumped, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at his reflection in the massive black television screen. "I was just askin'."
"And I'm just saying, give it time," Tristan said more gently, choosing to acknowledge Joey's nerves and not his ruffled feathers. He shifted sideways and ducked, looking to catch Joey's eyes. "Hey? Take it easy."
Joey glanced grudgingly up in response, ready to be cranky, but his temper softened as soon as their eyes met. "...Yeah," he muttered, acknowledging the point in several shades, and repeated himself more gently: "Yeah."
The quiet duet of voices greeted Serenity as she closed the guestroom door behind her, glancing down at her ankles to make sure that Bear hadn't managed to sneak past. She needn't have worried; the kitten was currently far more interested in exploring his new surroundings (and the litterbox that she had just set up) than anything else.
Please don't let him claw up the furniture or anything, she thought silently as the conversation below dropped from worried tones into something less stressed. The guestroom had been quietly elegant in an understated way, all muted colors and polished wood, pretty much matching the little she had seen of the house so far.
Making her way down the stairs and back towards the hallway, she leaned against one curve of the arch leading into the living room. The two waiting there looked up, and she waved a small wave. "All settled," Serenity reported. "Bear's checking out his new kingdom."
"Yeah?" Tristan turned more fully toward the sound of Serenity's voice, smiling faintly, "what's his verdict?"
"I think he's happy to be practically anywhere that's not a car at this point," she answered with a wry shrug. "But His Majesty seems okay with the room. It's really nice."
"Hey, s'good, don't want the little guy nerving out or anything," Joey said, waving from his full-body slouch at his sister. He wanted to say, 'Don't want you nerving out either,' but knew that would have been pushing it too far.
"The staff has been alerted," Seto said, breezing into the room, "and security has the description of your kitten, in case he should be found wandering. Food, litter and a variety of..." Seto paused minutely, "feline toys will be delivered in a few hours. Would you like to stay for lunch?" he asked, looking from Joey to Tristan. "There will be more than enough." Seto had seen to that, and if the two men declined, he was certain the staff would take it home with them this evening.
"Love to, if I can wash up first," Tristan said, removed his hands from his pockets with a wry smile and held them open before him. He had to smile sometime or explode, and he fed it enough of his sheepishness to get him past inspection. Truth be told, the sudden complete and unexpected accommodation of Serenity's kitten had him quietly in stitches. He wondered if Seto had been the last one into the room because he'd been selecting a cat tree like the ones Tristan secretly cherished for Robin, and couldn't decide - Tristan spared a glance at the tasteful curtains that matched the upholstery in the living room - which color would coordinate. Given the current state of Tristan's own room (like a fall Pottery Barn advertisement), he could hardly throw stones. If anything, it was all the more amusing because he sympathized.
"I can always eat, Bossman," Joey smiled, pushing up from the couch. "But I'd like to, s' well."
His sister smiled a little shyly. "That'd be great. And thank you so much--" She paused and blinked; "--toys? Oh, Bear'll like that." A little of the tension in her shoulders fell away and she uncrossed her arms.
"Of course, Tristan," Seto replied, motioning at the archway with a sweep of his hand. "Just around the corner," he added in reflexive politeness.
"I had no real idea what your kitten would like," Seto continued, gaze moving back to Serenity, "So I simply chose a variety of things recommended for young cats. He... it is a he, correct?"
She nodded, taking grateful refuge in small talk about something important but less urgent than her situation. "A little more than four months old now; kind of scrawny for his age, but he loves to play. I'm sure he'll love whatever you choose." Her eyes softened. "I've raised him, pretty much-- I don't know if Joey mentioned it, but I found him abandoned in the woods; he's... important to me." Serenity looked up at the tall man a little hesitantly; it was hard to know what to say without sounding as if she were babbling. "...would you like to meet him later?" she asked tentatively.
Listening with grave attention, Seto let the silence after Serenity's question linger as his eyes turned distant. Ostensibly he was looking at her shoulder, but his mind was very far away indeed. "I believe," he said, returning to the room with a deep inhale, "I should at least greet my other guest. Thank you."
Sensing Tristan returning behind him, Seto pivoted. "Once the others are ready," he said, "lunch should be as well." He glanced back to Joey and Serenity, once more struck by how they looked together. He was faintly envious, in a way he had not been for quite a number of years. Quashing it, Seto once more gestured toward the doorway. "Next?" he quipped, attempting casualness.
"Ladies first," Joey grinned, mock bowing for his sister's and his friend's benefit.
His sister gave him a Look. "Ahh-- I'm fine," she murmured.
"A'right, then gimme just a minute," Joey replied, crossing between Seto and Serenity to leave the room.
Tristan remained behind Seto until Joey had passed. During his absence the tension in the room somehow seemed to have doubled, or maybe it was just too much adrenaline on his part. He scrubbed the rough edge of his jaw thoughtfully with the side of his thumb, then the back of his neck to soothe his unexpected edginess. In so doing, he got a straight look at Serenity, and smiled. Not because he really felt like smiling, but ...Right. That was probably it. With The Mission over, there were no orders, which left him at loose ends with Serenity Wheeler: the one person whom he had no idea what to do with.
Fuck, what was he supposed to do now?
"S'like we're playing musical chairs, only with the bathroom," Tristan whipped both hands down and kept them at pocket level without actually shoving them in his pockets, because he'd just washed. "So what'd I miss?"
"Not too much." The redhead had her chin down and glanced up at him from beneath a fringe of her hair, the way she always had before when nervous or unsure. "Me talking about Bear... How's Miw, by the way? I've missed her." Serenity smiled at him a little shyly. "'S been good knowing that you two've been taking care of her."
"Miw is... good, Miw is very good." Tristan nodded, smiling for real this time, as much from gratitude as enthusiasm. "It's kind of a zoo at our place with the cats and the guinea pig and Joey, but I like it that way." His gaze flicked to Seto, concentrating intensely for a moment before he brightened. "You met Miw, I think. She's the one with the neat spots."
A flicker of startled recognition lit Seto's eyes, and was as quickly banked. A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth but his gaze was in distant memory as he answered. "Ah, yes. The soft, regal lady." His smile deepened as he returned his attention to the room, meeting Tristan's gaze, but by the time he turned to Serenity he was again composed. "You have a beautiful cat, Ms. Wheeler."
"No she don't, Bear's an uglyface," Joey commented, scooting back into the room with his hands in his back pockets. His bangs were damp, evidence he'd splashed water on his face. He came to a stop beside Tristan, which unintentionally arranged the room in a guys-versus-girl lineup. "Bathroom's free."
"Not THAT one, goofball, the other one-- Miw. And really," added Serenity (her own smile a bit more genuine now), "she's Joey and Tristan's cat. Now, anyway; I couldn't take her away after she's moved twice already, it wouldn't be fair. 'Sides," and her voice took the faintest teasing edge, "I wouldn't want to break up the Wheeler Feline-Rodent Alliance. She seems to've made friends with Joey's guinea-pig," Serenity explained.
"Robin still can't figure that one out," Tristan quipped, "I watch her watch 'em and I swear she's thinking "but that's food!"
Seto turned an dryly incredulous look on Joey, but only said "Really? I'd like to hear about that. However, I believe lunch is ready now." Having already washed up for lunch before he rejoined his guests, Seto led the way down the hall and into the kitchen.
The table was a fair size but not large, square, wooden, solid and covered with food. Four places were set, not with china but plain white plates with a bold tracery outlined in black and gold around the edges. Matching serving plates held a variety of sandwiches- turkey on foccacia, ham on rye, tuna salad slipped between sturdy white slices. There were small crocks of condiments and a large bowl of macaroni salad. Crisp slices of apple ringed a silver tray, interlaced with orange wedges, while in the center were three kinds of cheese, cubed and arranged amid a mound of grapes. A chilled, cut-glass pitcher of iced tea stood on one end of the table and a matching one filled with lemonade on the other.
Seto moved to the side of the table closest to the door, and after nodding briefly to the sturdy woman working at the counter, pulled out the chair and tilted his head at Serenity.
The young woman blinked, then took her seat with a nod of thanks. "This looks wonderful," she murmured.
Nonplussed, Seto stood a moment, readjusting his parameters, the chair he'd held out for Serenity was *not* the one he was used to sitting in. Still, the only way to smoothly recover without making it obvious was to take it himself.
Seto was comfortable enough with Joey and Tristan that, had it been only the three of them, he would have swung himeself into it without hesitation. However-- Seto was the host, and he didn't just... couldn't switch between one set of behavior patterns and another. So he relaxed his body, a visible signal of an ease he didn't feel, while waiting for the other men to be seated.
Moving around the table to the opposite side, Tristan watched with surreptitious interest and had to tighten his jaw to subdue a sympathetic smile. He wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't expected a similar chain of events as Seto had, but as it was, he was hard put not to give in to the gentle amusement over Seto left - not holding the bag - but holding the chair.
If nothing else, the urge to laugh soothed him. Tristan relaxed further, and was quick to claim two halves of a turkey sandwich as he sat. "Man, thank you, Seto."
On Tristan's right, Joey settled into his chair with a unnecessary but reflexive glance at his sister - You alright? - and then a smile for both his friends.
"Hope you weren't plannin' on leftovers, Seto," he teased, grinning.
"I do hope you enjoy it," Seto answered, taking his own seat once everyone was settled.
There was much less conversation for awhile, while the four of them applied themselves to lunch. Seto was covertly pleased that the food was so obviously appreciated, evidenced by how little of it was left. With a raised finger, he signaled the other woman in the kitchen, who brought a large pot of coffee to the table.
"Miss Wheeler, this is Maria, the head of internal affairs," he said, the title laced with thread of humor as she smiled at her employer. "In other words, she is in charge of the household staff. Her kitchen assistant is Amber, who is not working at the moment. Please consider her your first resource if you need anything during your time here."
Maria nodded to Serenity, giving her a warm smile. "You just let me know, alright?" and then she set the pot down on the table, gathering up the empty serving dishes. "So, how many cups for coffee?" she asked.
"Oh, me," Joey volunteered quickly, beaming at Maria. "Me please." He grinned at Seto. "I know the kinda coffee I can get around here."
"I wouldn't mind a little myself," answered Serenity after her brother, looking far more relaxed and less gunshy than she had earlier; the company and the excellent food had done much to reassure her, and now she smiled at Maria. "Thanks, Maria, nice to meet you. I'll try not to be too much've a bother."
"None for me, but thank you," Tristan smiled and raised a quelling hand. He leaned forward and folded one arm on the table, fingering the condensation on the dregs of his iced tea. His expression smoothed, gaze focused on the leftover chunks of green pepper and elbow macaroni.
"You just ask," Maria reiterated to Serenity, putting the silver coffee caraffe down and slipping a serving bowl out of the way. She bustled to the counter and busied herself for a moment.
Seto filled the space of her activity with a question. "Would your kitten like a saucer of cream?" he asked Serenity. "I could have one sent up." As he finished speaking, Maria returned to the table, the handles of three matching white coffee cups threaded through her fingers, a small silver tray with three sorts of sugar, regular cream, flavored creams and half-and-half decanted into containers and spoons arranged on top.
"There you go," she said cheerfully, pouring the coffee into the cups before setting them down at each place.
"Thanks, Maria." The redhead's eyes crinkled in amusement at the mental image of Bear sedately sipping his own cup of coffee, one clawed pinky held out as the kitten gripped the cup in a cartoon-character grasp. "And that'd be great. Watch out, though, he's good at sneaking out open doors-- I think maybe there was some ninja in his background somewhere." Her attempt at a joke was a little lame in her own ears, but as she breathed in the coffee-aroma wafting from the cup she offered her host a small smile. He's nice. Kind of... hard to approach, but really nice. Maybe this really will work for a couple of days.
Joey looked from his sister's peaceful face to Seto's placid expression, and bit back the lame comment about pirates (and ninjas) that the back of his brain cooked up. While he was trying not to overthink the situation, he couldn't deny it was going well, and the happy glow that he got off of that was getting hard to keep off his face. Sitting around grinning like an idiot wouldn't really help anything, but it was what he felt like doing. Serenity was home, or what passed for home, and under Seto's care she would be safe. How could Steven storm the mansion? Things would work out. Joey didn't know how, or when, but he knew that eventually, there would be a straight, clear path in front of them to follow.
"Coffee's good," he murmured over the rim of his own cup, holding it between both curved palms. "Seto, would ya mind if I -" He looked to Tristan, then revised himself. "If we hung round here a little while after lunch, helped get stuff settled, yanno, kept company?"
The table now clear, Maria walked from the kitchen with a cardboard carton and a small bowl, winking at Serenity just before she passed out the door.
"Of course," Seto answered Joey, and caught himself just before he gave a polite nod. Yes, he was the host, he had no idea what to expect from this reticent young woman, he was on edge with nerves, but this was his kitchen, and Joey and Tristan were the closest thing he had... No, Seto corrected himself even before he could finish the thought, they are your friends. Stop it.
"Did you want to help your sister unpack? Would you care to ... I have a deck of cards, if you were thinking of something more," he hesitated an instant, "social. Or did you have something in mind?"
Joey visibly perked up, grinning. "Aw, man, cards. Can we all play somethin'? There's no rush to unpack, is there, Red?" He looked across the table at his twin, one eyebrow raised in a bit of challenge. "I bet I could still kick your ass at Egyptian Rat Screw." Then he paused to think and looked to Serenity's left, at their host. "Ooor maybe Go Fish or somethin' like that."
His twin gave him a look back, her own eyebrow mirroring his. "Bet you couldn't; Mrs. J and I used to sit up half the--" She faltered for half a second, expression darkening before going on. "--the night playing for pennies; I taught her, and she taught me Cheat Your Neighbor." Serenity recollected herself a moment later and reddened. "Uh-- up to you two," she added belatedly, glancing at her host askance as if trying to picture him playing a game even remotely named something like 'Rat Screw'.
No good; it just wouldn't work. "Tristan?"
Tristan twitched at his name and jerked his chin up from where it rested on folded knuckles. He blinked at Serenity with a spin of vertigo. Lost in his own thoughts, his attention had drifted several minutes ago down considerably darker paths, and the exchange prior to the sound of his name had been lost. "Uh?" he said intelligently, speaking before his aural hindbrain caught up, "What? Egyptian whatscrew?"
Seto had been thinking much the same thing, and hearing Tristan say it eased him in some undefinable way, made it alright to relax, to speak as he would were it just the three of them. As if he were channeling some of Tristan's easy manner, he chuckled, low and soft. "I believe we can find another game. I hesitate to think of what the rules would be involving a deck of cards and a fornicating rodent. Does everyone know Rummy? You could explain Go Fish to me if you'd rather."
Joey recoiled from Seto's comment, which sounded perfectly rational and even-handed and made Joey feel low and dull for even liking a game with a - a fornicating rodent, indeed. Keeping the hurt out of his voice, he hoped, he sat back in his chair, coffee mug raised so he could breathe in the vapors of the brew and calm down. "Rummy. Forgot about that one. 'Course."
Tristan felt detached, separated from the others' chuckles. He'd been thinking, he should have known better. But trying not to think about the reason they were here, the jumble of Serenity's possessions in another room, the damned gates was like trying not to think of a blue cow. How could they make it safe for her, one hundred percent? How could they fix this? God he hated feeling exposed. Who did he know that could--
--and on, and on. It made a deep smoke grey barrier between him and enthusiasm, and pretending to be fine was not an option. He needed air. "I... don't know Rummy either," he admitted, in a low voice, getting up from the table, "...would you all mind if I went outside a while?"
"Of course not," Seto answered at once, rising as well, becoming the polished host once again "I should make a few more phone calls in any case. Turn right out the door, then right again at the hallway, and you will find my office," he told the others, "if you need anything before I return. You have the run of the house and grounds, for as long as you wish it. Ms. Wheeler," he said, turning to the young woman in question, "please make yourself at home."
"Thank you," she said quietly. Serenity's gaze followed her other-brother as he left the room, worry breaking up into fine lines between her eyes. "I... maybe I'd better go on upstairs and unpack before Bear does it for me. Joey? Want to help, or--" She looked at Tristan's empty chair and then back at her twin. Her expression spoke for itself before she smoothed it back into calm again.
...Friggin' brilliant. Twelve inches from throwing a fit right there at the table - well, not actually, but it'd feel nice to just indulge sometime, wouldn't it? - Joey looked from his sister to his best friend and partner's retreating back and tried to figure out which choice would leave him less fucked. Tristan might not want to be followed, but then again, this might be one of those times when he did. And Serenity was holding it together quite well - or was she? Joey was still wounded from Seto's untentional slight and didn't trust himself to measure the mood of anyone else, much less his sister. More to the point, he didn't know which one he wanted to be around right then - which one would be the bigger comfort. Tristan had obviously not kept up his play of Egyptian Rat Screw in college like Joey had, or he'd remember the game better; then again, Joey had always liked it much better than his friend. Regardless, he'd added to Joey's hurt, and that made the blond a bit sore on him.
But then, something was wrong. Probably. So: Take the gamble that Tristan didn't actually want to be alone - and worsen the situation on both their accounts if he was wrong. Or, go cuddle his sister's cat.
Discretion, valor, all that.
"Let's go see the uglyface," Joey decided, spreading his palms on the table to push himself up from his chair. The smile he gave his sister was stiff but not as transparent as he'd feared it would be. Progress. Not thinking about what Seto might be thinking about him, Joey circled the table to his sister's side and pulled her loosely against him with a familiar arm slung around her hips. "C'mon. We'll see how he likes the new digs."
The sister in question closed her eyes briefly in what looked like an internal counting-to-ten moment, then sighed. "Right," she said, looking just a little like what she wanted to say was Wrong. She gave her host a shy smile and stepped away, tugging at her twin's arm. "We'll be back down in a bit."