The "Red Plan"
[The Players: seto_kaiba_ and joey_wheeler
The Scene:Serenity's just crashed, run, and landed back in New York City, and she's looking for a friendly berth. Joey thinks he's found her one, but it's going to take an act of kindness, sight-unseen, to make it happen. Backdated to Thursday, October 18th, 2007.]
*
As Seto's valet pulled the car away toward the garage, leaving Joey on the front stoop of his friend's New Rochelle home, he reflected on the events of the last few days, and the anticipated events of the next few weeks, and sighed. He felt quite like a puppy in a box: Free to a Good Home. Well, technically it would be Red in the box - Red-in-a-box, that's funny, he laughed to himself, a bit giddy, just before the front door opened and he found himself off-guard and face to face with the master of the house. ...He had really been hoping for a doorman.
"Hi, Seto," Joey said, a strained sigh shoved behind his voice, and smiled lopsidedly.
"Joey," Seto greeted him, standing aside to let the younger man pass. "What brings you out here? Shall we go into the living room?" While it was not inconceivable that Joey simply wanted to visit, the suddenness of the request coupled with Joey's caginess on the phone had Seto wary of trouble.
"Yeah, that'd be fine...can I have a glass of water or somethin'?" In planning, Joey hadn't been all that nervous about the scheme he had come to discuss with Seto. It was practical, and Seto was a good man. It'd work out fine, right? Besides, there wasn't time to be hesitant.
On the ride over, he'd gotten a bit more edgy. Dropping a plan this big into anyone's lap, even Seto's, was sure to cause a splash. But it'd still be okay. It had to be, and Seto would be cool about it.
But now that he was in the mansion, one on one with Seto, and a couple minutes away from asking him the biggest favor he'd ever asked anyone, ever, Joey wasn't feeling half as confident anymore. Fighting the urge to fidget, Joey toyed with the velcro of one pocket of his cargos and silently trailed Seto at a close but respectful distance.
"Make yourself at home," Seto told him, waving vaguely at the archway on the left. Continuing down the hall, Seto ducked into the den, the closest place with water. Pausing a brief moment, he regarded the painting over the mantle as he always did, then continued on to retrieve two bottles of water from the small refrigerator behind the bar.
Joey was never the easiest of men to read, so Seto didn't try. He simply handed Joey the bottle when he returned and took a seat on one end of the soft leather couch, and waited.
...Right. This being the point at which Joey explained what had made him phone Seto and show up on his doorstep with less than a day's warning, feeling like a time bomb and looking like intensity in a skin. He took a deep breath. Held it. Exhaled slowly. Then looked up to meet Seto's gaze, the weight of which he swore he could physically feel on his shoulders.
"...How d'I wanna begin." He huffed, drawing up his courage, and began. "Red's in a spot of trouble. Did...Did we ever tell you 'bout her ex?"
"Other than the fact that he didn't get her pregnant, no," Seto responded neutrally. He regarded Joey a moment longer, then dropped his eyes to his water bottle, twisting off the cap and taking a drink. As he did so, Seto marshalled all the facts he knew about Red- she was Joey's sister, unmarried, not living here, Joey was very touchy about her. That summed it up nicely, if quickly.
"Yeah, I...I didn't think we did, but. Steven's not a topic we like talkin' bout. At all." Joey gathered himself, holding his shoulders rigidly square, and breathed carefully. Then he reconsidered, toed his shoes off, and folded his legs up Indian-style beneath himself. Instantly he felt better, more confident, but he kept his back stiff as he he braced both hands on his knees and continued.
"She dated him in high school. He was real possessive, clingy. Territorial, yanno. Treated her like...like his Thing." A pause, and a tight exhale. "So she broke it off after a while, right? Suddenly I'm finding firebombs in dumpsters that nearly take my face off, and he's around every corner waitin' for her." Realizing belatedly that his voice had become an aggressive growl, Joey focused and again concentrated on breathing calmly and levelly. He refocused his wandering gaze on his friend, pushed out another deep breath in a hiss, and continued. "He ended up in jail. Restraining order, the works. We went on with our lives. She relaxed."
Here Joey paused, aware it probably came off as over-dramatic, but needing to concentrate and organize the things he next needed to say. He was making a conscious, concerted effort to drain all the emotion he could out of the account, make it as brusque and brief as possible, but still his blood boiled in the remembering. He understood how men could be driven to kill - sometimes, it seemed a very simple answer indeed.
"Well, he got out early," Joey said, jaw tight with frustration and anger and fear. "He found her. And she rabbited to Connecticut. That's why she's been there for the last year - that's why I didn't have my twin around, because that jack bastard--"
A very careful exhale then. "Sorry. So - yeah. He found her, she got scared, she set up shop there." Joey's gaze flickered up to Seto's face, down to his own hands in his lap, out to the windows, to the ceiling. Then made the circuit again. "But she can't stay there forever, right? Wants to come back, was thinkin' about it, too. Then she started getting these letters in the mail. Threats, basically, but they were nice-worded to start so she freakin' ignored them for--"
Joey dragged himself to a halt, closing his eyes to focus and control his frustration. He opened them to find Seto's steady blue gaze. "They burned down a barn. HE burned down a barn. To scare her, send her rabbiting again. She did. And she's in New York now, Seto, and she can't go anyplace he'd find her. She needs a new place to hide till we can...until, and I am never gonna ask you for something bigger than this in my life, so just...hear me out, okay?" Finally, he felt like he was at a pausing point, so Joey sagged back a little in his seat and watched Seto intently for a reaction.
Seto had been paying attention to Joey more than the story, although a part of his mind was following the narrative. There was a passion to him, greater than Seto had ever seen, a barely-subdued heat that fascinated Seto. Rage and pain and frustration in equal measure were clearly written in the aborted gestures and partial sentences. Seto had never seen Joey control himself like this, could almost hear the deliberateness like the hiss of brakes against a wheel. It was at once alarming and mesmerizing and drew Seto's full attention.
"Your sister is avoiding a stalker," he summed up. "Please continue."
Joey blinked hard, head jerking a little even though he didn't have to go anywhere to stare at his friend -- and then he began to laugh. It quickly grew, spiraled out of control, and before he knew it Joey was curling against the arm of the couch, holding on while manic laughter wracked him and brought tears to his eyes.
Some corner of his mind was concerned that this would adversely affect his sales pitch to Seto, and another corner worried that Seto would question his sanity, but most of him was busy questioning his own sanity. He'd never let himself really lose it over Steven, never had the chance, and now that he did have the luxury, all Joey could think was that it was no laughing matter at all, and that he'd almost rather be crying.
Seto watched him quietly, a small, quizzical look on his face. It had only been a few months since Tristan had given him nearly the same edgy, seemingly uncontrolled laughter, and Seto wondered what it was in him that inspired such manic behavior, and who would be next. A brief thought of Jai'son breaking into manical laughter brought an internal grin, before he sobered. "Are you alright?"
"I'm - I'm," Joey struggled for breath, "I'm not -" A harsh inhale, which steadied him a little, then a cough as air went two ways at once. "I'm not - I'm not - "
Sobriety dropped over him like a lead blanket and the laughter dissolved in the space of one moment. Awkwardly, Joey pushed himself upright, using the couch arm for support, and met Seto's concerned gaze with a dark, heavy stare of his own.
"My sister's avoiding a stalker." A pause. "A stalker." The words had weight and threat in them, an eerie violence granted by Joey's deadly solemn tones. "My sister is avoiding a stalker, Seto," he managed finally, his voice rasping on the middle words. He'd never let himself think of it in precisely those terms before, but now that he had, the fear and mournful anger in his eyes spoke for itself.
"Yes, Joey," Seto replied quietly. "It happens." He offered a slight shrug. "People are cruel. Somewhere out there," Seto waved a vague gesture to the front of the house, "is a sniper who made a fairly determined attempt on my life, but was never caught. Yes, it is frightening. Yes, it makes one wary. It is not the end of the world." Seto's voice was calm, matter-of-fact.
*Unless you're killed* his serpent put in slyly. *Then it's the end of your world* Seto glared internally, but acknowledged the point in silence.
Meanwhile, Joey was both recovered and embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn' --" Joey swallowed, closed his eyes, exhaled carefully. By the time he opened his eyes again, he was under control again, and his blush was mostly gone.
"I just never've let myself think about it like that before. Not since it started, not for....god, it's been a decade, on and off, since he walked inta her life. It just...." Another swallow. "It sounds even worse when you say't like that."
And that's exactly why you are here, he reminded himself. Right. He could do this. Near-crazy attack or no near-crazy attack.
"Anyway. I'm sorry about that, I just...Kinda on edge from all of it, an' it seems like these days all it can do is get worse."
Seto regarded Joey silently before responding. "It's fine," he said, dismissing the incident. "What do you need from me, Joey? I could arrange a bodyguard, or would you like the services of a detective agency? Something-- in a greyer area, perhaps?"
"I - I don't--" It had honestly never occurred to Joey that a bodyguard could be hired for Serenity, and for a brief moment, the idea held serious shine.
"I dunno. Maybe. That wasn' my original idea, but maybe it's a better one. What-- What I was originally gonna ask you is..." He swallowed, knotting his hands together between his knees, and stared hard at the floor. "Red needs somewhere to crash that Steven can't find her, wouldn' think to look for her. I was gonna ask if you would be that place for her."
The silence that followed was long and deep. In truth, what surprised Seto the most was that--he didn't feel anything. Not apprehension as to having someone here, much less the target of a stalker. Not shock at the affrontery of the request. Not amusement, nor revulsion nor intrigue nor outrage, inside Seto was only a calm analysis of the situation. It was not that he was unaware of the encompassing nature of the request, or how significant of a change it would be for him, even for a few days.
"What length of time are you talking about, Joey?"
Joey caught himself staring. The silence was bad enough, had him fidgeting the whole way through, but that wasn't half as disconcerting as a straightforward practical question like that. He felt half-compelled to remind Seto that he'd skipped the part with the disbelief and the irritation.
"Ah, not long, not - just a few days, I think? We need ta put a plan together, an' we need a couple days to do it. She's at Jai's place right now, Duke talked him into it, but from what I know that's not goin' so great at all. Not enough space. And that was only for the couple nights anyway, she didn't plan ahead at all, showed up middle of the night." A breath. "Are you seriously - I mean, I didn't think you'd...want...to..." He trailed off, feeling awkward.
"Then why did you ask me?" Seto responded, diverted from the topic by this unexpected bit of information.
"Because I had to?" Joey answered, as though there could be no other answer. "Because you are safe and you could keep her safe." He spoke with absolute, bone-deep surety, then barreled onward. "And even though I've never spent a fucking overnight here and now I'm asking for my sister to, it just...it made sense. Here." He thumped one hand flat and firm against his own stomach, gaze steady on Seto's. "I live with my gut, and my gut said to ask Seto."
Suddenly it all made sense to Seto. The same quality that he had seen in Joey for Omega Ventures, the same reckless talent that allowed Joey to divine the proper approach to a seller or the one slim avenue that obtained results from widely diverse personalities was at work here. Seto trusted that ability, with his own unique talent for recognizing and utilizing the unseen in those he met.
"Very well." A previously tucked away comment resurfaced. "Although I do not know your sister, I can imagine Jai'son is an..." Seto paused, quirked a smile at Joey, "acquired taste. I can not imagine him suffering company well. For the sake of his productivity, will your sister be arriving here tomorrow?" He rose and began to pace.
"I"ll have to alert the staff. And security. Will she be bringing luggage? She will be looking for a new apartment, correct? The second bedroom, perhaps. I'll have them air it out tomorrow." Suddenly, he stopped and swung back to Joey. "Does she have any dietary requirements? I should tell the kitchen staff. She will be eating here, I take it?" Before Joey could answer, Seto was pacing off again. "Does she have a laptop? I'll have to make certain there's a secondary secure connection."
For the second time in five minutes, Joey caught himself staring at Seto. He shook himself out of it quickly, blinked hard to chase away the threat of tears, and leaped off the couch to Seto, catching him in mid-stride. And because the approach was so familiar to him, ingrained in his self as part of his reaction to gratitude - and because he was so very grateful - Joey kept going right into the thick of Seto's personal space and slung one arm around him in a brief and very definitive hug.
"Thank you," Joey whispered to him, hiding the words during the time when his face was turned down and Seto couldn't back up to see him. Then he backed away to give Seto all his space and more. Joey shoved both hands in his back pockets, rocked back on his heels, and glanced around the room to kill the little awkward post-hug moment. Then he turned his attention back to Seto with a brisk nod, and promptly rattled his way into all the practicalities Seto had laid out.
"Yeah, she's got a laptop, an' she'll probably try not to be too much of a nuisance or something, neither of us do too good with gifts, but I bet you could talk her into eating meals with you nights if you want. She's allergic to bananas, latex, n' penicillin - and yeah, I can have her over tonight if you need. Or tomorrow, whatever." Joey cleared his throat, pushing bangs back from his eyes: it was about to be a very busy next few hours. No time to panic on that, though, so he just moved on to the next item.
"Jai--" And as he said the name, Joey realized it didn't match the one Seto had used, but that was a curiosity for later -- "He can give her one more day, I guess. She's only got a small carful of stuff, lot of stuff's still at her old apartment. Um. I dunno what else, I know I'm forgettin' shit, but I'm kinda -- It's just. Thanks."
Seto was still standing silently where Joey had left him, as if he were involved in some metaphysical game of freeze-tag. He heard Joey's words, even if he was not entirely processing them right now but storing them for later retrieval.
His hands twitched briefly, in a futile, belated attempt at a reaction to the sudden, unexpected physical intimacy. The moment was there and gone and now Seto was once more in charge of the territory around his own body.
"Ah." The syllable meant nothing, but Seto knew how to use that sort of thing without thinking. Moving to the couch and seating himself once more bought Seto the time to push aside startlement and wariness, sorting thorough the information Joey had provided.
"If she can stay one more night, then that would give me a chance to inform the necessary parties." Seto eyed Joey warily from the corner of his eye. "Would she like to meet me at KaibaCorps tomorrow and follow me back here?"
"Yeah, I can - definitely. Don't think she's got anything else on her plate - if she'd got job interviews lined up 'fore she heard back from me on this, then I might hafta kick her ass or something, but she didn't, so that's..." He cleared his throat. "Completely theoretical. Kay. So. Right. Yeah, what time do you want us there? Her there? Can I tag along? Should I? I think I should. Wonder if we should have Tris along too. Probably. Um. If that's oka--heh, of course it's okay, you're great with Tris. Uh."
Joey laughed, realizing that now he was the one pacing, and turned on his heels to face Seto and grin broadly and somewhat giddily. "Yeah, jus' ignore me, man, the adrenaline's wearin' off and I'm gettin' pretty exhilarated 'stead of terrified on ya. Heh."
This was the Joey that Seto was familiar with, knew how to respond to, and he relaxed fractionally, tucking away the information that, upon occasion and with sufficient motivation, Joey could be both ruthlessly linear and startlingly ruthless. Joey had always been unpredictable. It was a known quantity, a fixed variable factored into his charm.
Seto gave Joey a nod and a small, brief smile. "Would you like something to eat? The staff only comes in mornings on the weekend, but the refrigerator is well stocked. We can work out the details in the kitchen." His datapad was on the endtable and Seto slid it into his hand as he rose.
Joey laughed, just a little, and returned Seto's smile with interest. "I can always eat, man, but yeah --" He patted his stomach with one palm-- "I'm kinda peckish right now, too. That sounds great. You got sandwich pieces?"
"I'm certain there is something usable," Seto answered, and swung a slightly wider than normal arc around Joey to lead them to the kitchen. Once there, he opened the pantry doors. "What kind of bread do you prefer for your sandwich? A hoagie roll? We also have rye, wheat, and enriched white. I believe the bakery sends us a variety every week."
To his credit, Joey didn't snicker. "I'll take rye. Which bakery?"
Seto shrugged, walking into the pantry to retrieve the bread. "Something in town. The staff uses them, if you want the name, I can look on my accounting spreadsheet." He emerged, the loaf in its clear wrapping making a sizeable round in his hands. "Let me see what sort of trappings we have for this."
"No, that's okay," Joey was quick to demur, "They're probably too fancy for me anyway." For the moment, he installed himself against one of the kitchen walls, getting a good glance past Seto's shoulder at the contents of the pantry, which displayed a distinct lack of any sort of boxed mix food whatsoever. In Joey's estimation, only closets should come in walk-in sizes, but he wasn't going to make a point of it - it was scaled to match the rest of the kitchen and house, at least. And more size meant more edible options, always a bonus.
When Seto headed for the refrigerator to find 'trappings,' Joey pushed off the wall and drew closer, holding one hand out to take the bread off his friend's hands and peering into the fridge once it was opened. "So...what's your favorite sandwich?" he asked, feeling instantly lame the moment that the words left his mouth.
Seto cocked his head to one side, holding the door open absently while he considered the question. "Open-faced turkey," he finally decided, and turned his eyes once more to the refrigerator. "With the right proportion of gravy to meat to bread. It looks like we have ham, pastrami, a leftover chicken breast, some cranberry sauce... cranberry sauce? I wonder what they intend to use that for. Also tomato, lettuce, pickles, various condiments... what would you like? I believe there's an onion in the pantry as well, we could slice that." Seto was still cataloging the contents of the refrigerator. "Oh, various cheeses. And garlic paste. And eggs, if you want to fry some of those. Mushrooms, we could make a sort of cheesesteak sans green pepper."
"I think it's better with," Joey muttered, staring into the fridge and trying not to laugh. The situation felt suddenly so completely absurd-- and yet totally right and comfortable-- that he was in serious danger of cracking up just from the novelty of it. "Do you have horseradish? I think I want somethin' with horseradish. But really, I eat everything, so you don't hafta much worry." He grinned, looking to Seto's reaction. "They usedta call me the garbage disposal, which doesn't sound all that dignified, but was kinda a point of pride for a while in there."
Turning his head, Seto regarded Joey with puzzlement. "It was?" Blinking, he looked back into the refrigerator. "I don't see any horseradish. We could have some delivered, if you want."
It took Joey a moment too long to realize that Seto wasn't joking at all. "Oh. No, not - way not important enough to bother with that, Seto, I'll just have mustard." The image of someone getting sent out on an errand just for his sandwich jarred him, and he used the other topic at hand to push it quickly away. "And, yeah, well, that was high school. It was cool to be able to do stupid human tricks." He shrugged. "And I was starving all the time then, anyway, so it kinda came naturally."
Not having any other direction, Seto began to pull the meat from the coolness of the dim interior and lay it on the counter. He felt awkward, uncertain how to respond. Why was making a sandwich more uncomfortable than being asked to put up a guest for a few days? Irritated at himself, Seto gestured to the refrigerator in a 'help yourself' motion, and moved back to the table and his waiting datapad.
"I did a lot of stupid human tricks in high school," Joey amended after a moment, filling the space that Seto's silence left while he put his sandwich together. "I was kinda an idiot. Bet you weren't, bet you had your shit together," he added on an impulse, glancing over his shoulder at Seto. "Can't really see you doing stupid human tricks." He paused. "...They are kinda fun, though. In a stupid way."
After taking a moment to finish his current entry, Seto looked up at Joey speculatively. "What was one..." he paused minutely, "stupid trick you did?"
"Jumped off a lot more staircases an' railings than was strictly necessary," Joey began, chewing his lower lip while he thought. "Did that whole 'make up crazy shit in the kitchen and see who can drink it without puking' thing. That was middle school, mostly. Umm..." He scratched his temple with the blunt end of his mayo knife, then turned halfway around, smiling briefly at Seto. "Oh, and there were a few incidents with model rockets...which isn't so much a stupid human trick as a stupid kid with no sense of safety, but hey. And sledding downhill face first on one of those plastic discs? I think that one's more stupid human than stupid kid." He snickered and turned back to the counter. "A whole boatload of 'em, basically. I was your typical cut-up, always getting attention, however it came."
Seto's eyes were mild as he stared at Joey's back. He could barely imagine it in one way, could not see Joey as anything other than who and what he was-- but in another way it made perfect sense. He could well imagine Joey skimming down a snowy hill, laughing carelessly while the wind reddened his cheeks.
"Ironic," Seto offered softly, turning his gaze back to the equipment in his hand, a place to rest his eyes. "I spent a lot of time trying to avoid attention-- however it came."
"And now all you do is get it," Joey nodded, "And I'm all tamed down an' domestic now. Weird. Where're the plates?"
"Top cupboard on the left," Seto answered, gesturing to the wall to Joey's left. "Will your sister need an alarm clock? She can call either the staff or myself when she needs in the front gate."
"Bet she'll have a ringer on her phone," Joey mused, retrieving two plates from the cupboard. After a moment of rearranging things, he turned to the table with one plate - each bearing a sandwich - in each hand. "I oughta give you her cell number, too, remind me to do that before I leave," he said, pulling out a chair for himself, and placed one plate in front of Seto. "I don't know how much mustard you like, so I kinda just put a medium amount on."
"Thank you, Joey. I'm sure it's fine." Setting aside his datapad, Seto began to eat. The sandwich was good, if a little larger than he would have made himself.
Pleased that Seto was pleased with the sandwich, Joey settled down with his own, satisfied to discuss the details of his sister's visit over their food. He had broken bread with Seto previously, but never had it felt so personal as this time did, in Seto's own kitchen and over food Joey had made himself, even if it was just sandwiches. It felt like it reaffirmed something in him - nothing he knew how to articulate, but something significant still. Maybe it meant their friendship was growing. Who knew.
"S'nice, Seto," Joey ventured, trying to speak his satisfaction anyway. "Thanks."
They ate in silence for awhile while Seto tried to find a topic of conversation. He was wary of discussing Joey's sister, since the most pertinent topics would likely set the man off again, and Seto Kaiba, who made it a point of having a small-talk question for every occasion, found himself struggling to come up with one. He hadn't had this much trouble since Aidan, and Seto wondered what that said about himself as a friend.
Rejecting the weather, family, politics and girlfriends, Seto finally settled on work. "Have they given you any new and interesting cases in the last few months? If that is something that you are allowed to speak of, of course."
"Actually, it's been drying up," Joey began, pushing his already-empty plate away from himself. "I usedta do a lotta...extracurricular, ya could call it, work, I'd spend a lotta time outta the office and with the kids, on the street, yanno, just keeping up with them, and recently...well, it's been desk-monkeying, mostly, an' conventional cases, and less running around, and more spendin' time at home with Tris, and less...I dunno. Part of me is okay with it and part'a me definitely misses the kids, misses the work I want to be doing."
"What do you do at home? Watch television? Play with your... Contremonde, is it?" Seto asked, knowing full well what the name of Joey's pet was.
"Yeah, that's her. And Robin, Tris's cat. And Miw. Who's kinda both of our cat, I guess, cause she used to be Red's. Serenity's, that is. And then she left her with her - our - folks when she went to Connecticut, an' then Tris and me rescued Miw from them. An' then Red went and found this rat of a foundling cat, Bear, so now Miw's ours for good." Joey found his eyes had drifted out the back window of the kitchen while he spoke, and fixed his gaze on Seto again with a smile. "So yeah, we hang with the pets a lot - we're really stupid-domestic I guess. I got no desire to go out or anything, dunno why, just don't. I read, some. Moren' I used to. Still not a lot."
"No more- stupid human tricks for Joey Wheeler, yes?" Seto finished the last bite of his sandwich and gathered up both his and Joey's plates, taking them to the sink. "You should come to the Grounds some weekend. I know what happens to the cars after we aquire them isn't extrordinarily interesting to you, but it would be nice to have your company at times." Before Joey could respond, Seto turned on the water to rinse the dishes off before setting them on the counter.
"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Joey nodded, idly watching Seto move, and consciously noticing that every motion Seto made, even something as banal as washing dishes, had a certain magnetic grace to it.
"Anyway, it's not that I don't care about the cars, I just - I don't know anythin' about them. And I tend to stay way clear of shit I don't understand, cause you cause trouble getting your nose in places. So...I dunno. I will if ya keep a leash on me, I guess. Don't wanna break something."
"You had the safety orientation along with Tristan and I," Seto reminded him, turning around with a towel in his hand and leaning the small of his back against the counter. "But I will keep an eye on you if that makes you more comfortable." In some corner of his mind that always kept track of such things, Seto counted the sort-of near-agreement as a victory. "Perhaps before the weather turns cooler." He hung the towel on the rack beside the sink, and walked back to the table.
"I think I have enough information about your sister for now. Anything further I can ask her in person, tomorrow."
"Yeah, I'd like that," Joey agreed, deciding not to pursue the 'break shit' thread: it wasn't Seto's fault that he'd misunderstood Joey, as Joey had instinctively phrased his statement to BE misleading, a sideways admission rather than a direct one that he didn't have the mechanical mind nor memory that the others owned. A ready enough distraction came in the topic of Serenity - Joey didn't know what time it was, but with Seto's politic nudge (Get going already, but couched in nicer words) he remembered the many candles, all burning from both ends, that needed to be dealt with. His parents, Serenity herself, Jai, Duke, Tristan, her cat - the list was nearly endless and in all parts insistent.
"You're right, though," Joey said, brushing bangs back from his face and sighing as he got up from his chair, "I'd better get outta your hair and get things in gear if we're gonna be ready for tomorrow. You have my number, call me if you need anythin'... I'll give her your business phone, kay?"
"Of course. Let me call a driver, it shouldn't be more than ten minutes." Seto pulled out his business phone and relayed the necessary information to the dispatcher. Snapping the phone closed, Seto turned his attention once more to Joey. "If there is anywhere else you need to stop on the way home, please let him know. And Joey?" Seto paused, glanced at the sink. "Thank you for the sandwich."
It was, on the surface, a ridiculous statement as the ingredients were Seto's in the first place.
Maybe it was ridiculous, but it got a big grin out of Joey anyway. It started small, a quirk on one side of his mouth, and spread, as a low, soft chuckle rumbled up from his chest as well.
"You're welcome, Seto," Joey returned, feeling all the tension that had so suddenly returned draining away just as quickly, a warmth settling in his shoulders and his heart. "Thanks for the talking."
"It was, as always, interesting," Seto answered sincerely.
It was a little more than the anticipated ten minutes before the driver arrived, but the two men barely noticed the time passing, comfortable in one another's presence. At last Seto's phone alerted him of the car, and he ushered Joey into it, pausing a moment to give the driver Joey's carte blanche as to the destination and number of stops.
Before the tail lights could even round the circle of the driveway, Seto was on his way back inside, plans and contingencies lighting his thoughts like wildfire. There was a lot to make ready, and Seto was determined not to fall short.
The Scene:Serenity's just crashed, run, and landed back in New York City, and she's looking for a friendly berth. Joey thinks he's found her one, but it's going to take an act of kindness, sight-unseen, to make it happen. Backdated to Thursday, October 18th, 2007.]
*
As Seto's valet pulled the car away toward the garage, leaving Joey on the front stoop of his friend's New Rochelle home, he reflected on the events of the last few days, and the anticipated events of the next few weeks, and sighed. He felt quite like a puppy in a box: Free to a Good Home. Well, technically it would be Red in the box - Red-in-a-box, that's funny, he laughed to himself, a bit giddy, just before the front door opened and he found himself off-guard and face to face with the master of the house. ...He had really been hoping for a doorman.
"Hi, Seto," Joey said, a strained sigh shoved behind his voice, and smiled lopsidedly.
"Joey," Seto greeted him, standing aside to let the younger man pass. "What brings you out here? Shall we go into the living room?" While it was not inconceivable that Joey simply wanted to visit, the suddenness of the request coupled with Joey's caginess on the phone had Seto wary of trouble.
"Yeah, that'd be fine...can I have a glass of water or somethin'?" In planning, Joey hadn't been all that nervous about the scheme he had come to discuss with Seto. It was practical, and Seto was a good man. It'd work out fine, right? Besides, there wasn't time to be hesitant.
On the ride over, he'd gotten a bit more edgy. Dropping a plan this big into anyone's lap, even Seto's, was sure to cause a splash. But it'd still be okay. It had to be, and Seto would be cool about it.
But now that he was in the mansion, one on one with Seto, and a couple minutes away from asking him the biggest favor he'd ever asked anyone, ever, Joey wasn't feeling half as confident anymore. Fighting the urge to fidget, Joey toyed with the velcro of one pocket of his cargos and silently trailed Seto at a close but respectful distance.
"Make yourself at home," Seto told him, waving vaguely at the archway on the left. Continuing down the hall, Seto ducked into the den, the closest place with water. Pausing a brief moment, he regarded the painting over the mantle as he always did, then continued on to retrieve two bottles of water from the small refrigerator behind the bar.
Joey was never the easiest of men to read, so Seto didn't try. He simply handed Joey the bottle when he returned and took a seat on one end of the soft leather couch, and waited.
...Right. This being the point at which Joey explained what had made him phone Seto and show up on his doorstep with less than a day's warning, feeling like a time bomb and looking like intensity in a skin. He took a deep breath. Held it. Exhaled slowly. Then looked up to meet Seto's gaze, the weight of which he swore he could physically feel on his shoulders.
"...How d'I wanna begin." He huffed, drawing up his courage, and began. "Red's in a spot of trouble. Did...Did we ever tell you 'bout her ex?"
"Other than the fact that he didn't get her pregnant, no," Seto responded neutrally. He regarded Joey a moment longer, then dropped his eyes to his water bottle, twisting off the cap and taking a drink. As he did so, Seto marshalled all the facts he knew about Red- she was Joey's sister, unmarried, not living here, Joey was very touchy about her. That summed it up nicely, if quickly.
"Yeah, I...I didn't think we did, but. Steven's not a topic we like talkin' bout. At all." Joey gathered himself, holding his shoulders rigidly square, and breathed carefully. Then he reconsidered, toed his shoes off, and folded his legs up Indian-style beneath himself. Instantly he felt better, more confident, but he kept his back stiff as he he braced both hands on his knees and continued.
"She dated him in high school. He was real possessive, clingy. Territorial, yanno. Treated her like...like his Thing." A pause, and a tight exhale. "So she broke it off after a while, right? Suddenly I'm finding firebombs in dumpsters that nearly take my face off, and he's around every corner waitin' for her." Realizing belatedly that his voice had become an aggressive growl, Joey focused and again concentrated on breathing calmly and levelly. He refocused his wandering gaze on his friend, pushed out another deep breath in a hiss, and continued. "He ended up in jail. Restraining order, the works. We went on with our lives. She relaxed."
Here Joey paused, aware it probably came off as over-dramatic, but needing to concentrate and organize the things he next needed to say. He was making a conscious, concerted effort to drain all the emotion he could out of the account, make it as brusque and brief as possible, but still his blood boiled in the remembering. He understood how men could be driven to kill - sometimes, it seemed a very simple answer indeed.
"Well, he got out early," Joey said, jaw tight with frustration and anger and fear. "He found her. And she rabbited to Connecticut. That's why she's been there for the last year - that's why I didn't have my twin around, because that jack bastard--"
A very careful exhale then. "Sorry. So - yeah. He found her, she got scared, she set up shop there." Joey's gaze flickered up to Seto's face, down to his own hands in his lap, out to the windows, to the ceiling. Then made the circuit again. "But she can't stay there forever, right? Wants to come back, was thinkin' about it, too. Then she started getting these letters in the mail. Threats, basically, but they were nice-worded to start so she freakin' ignored them for--"
Joey dragged himself to a halt, closing his eyes to focus and control his frustration. He opened them to find Seto's steady blue gaze. "They burned down a barn. HE burned down a barn. To scare her, send her rabbiting again. She did. And she's in New York now, Seto, and she can't go anyplace he'd find her. She needs a new place to hide till we can...until, and I am never gonna ask you for something bigger than this in my life, so just...hear me out, okay?" Finally, he felt like he was at a pausing point, so Joey sagged back a little in his seat and watched Seto intently for a reaction.
Seto had been paying attention to Joey more than the story, although a part of his mind was following the narrative. There was a passion to him, greater than Seto had ever seen, a barely-subdued heat that fascinated Seto. Rage and pain and frustration in equal measure were clearly written in the aborted gestures and partial sentences. Seto had never seen Joey control himself like this, could almost hear the deliberateness like the hiss of brakes against a wheel. It was at once alarming and mesmerizing and drew Seto's full attention.
"Your sister is avoiding a stalker," he summed up. "Please continue."
Joey blinked hard, head jerking a little even though he didn't have to go anywhere to stare at his friend -- and then he began to laugh. It quickly grew, spiraled out of control, and before he knew it Joey was curling against the arm of the couch, holding on while manic laughter wracked him and brought tears to his eyes.
Some corner of his mind was concerned that this would adversely affect his sales pitch to Seto, and another corner worried that Seto would question his sanity, but most of him was busy questioning his own sanity. He'd never let himself really lose it over Steven, never had the chance, and now that he did have the luxury, all Joey could think was that it was no laughing matter at all, and that he'd almost rather be crying.
Seto watched him quietly, a small, quizzical look on his face. It had only been a few months since Tristan had given him nearly the same edgy, seemingly uncontrolled laughter, and Seto wondered what it was in him that inspired such manic behavior, and who would be next. A brief thought of Jai'son breaking into manical laughter brought an internal grin, before he sobered. "Are you alright?"
"I'm - I'm," Joey struggled for breath, "I'm not -" A harsh inhale, which steadied him a little, then a cough as air went two ways at once. "I'm not - I'm not - "
Sobriety dropped over him like a lead blanket and the laughter dissolved in the space of one moment. Awkwardly, Joey pushed himself upright, using the couch arm for support, and met Seto's concerned gaze with a dark, heavy stare of his own.
"My sister's avoiding a stalker." A pause. "A stalker." The words had weight and threat in them, an eerie violence granted by Joey's deadly solemn tones. "My sister is avoiding a stalker, Seto," he managed finally, his voice rasping on the middle words. He'd never let himself think of it in precisely those terms before, but now that he had, the fear and mournful anger in his eyes spoke for itself.
"Yes, Joey," Seto replied quietly. "It happens." He offered a slight shrug. "People are cruel. Somewhere out there," Seto waved a vague gesture to the front of the house, "is a sniper who made a fairly determined attempt on my life, but was never caught. Yes, it is frightening. Yes, it makes one wary. It is not the end of the world." Seto's voice was calm, matter-of-fact.
*Unless you're killed* his serpent put in slyly. *Then it's the end of your world* Seto glared internally, but acknowledged the point in silence.
Meanwhile, Joey was both recovered and embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn' --" Joey swallowed, closed his eyes, exhaled carefully. By the time he opened his eyes again, he was under control again, and his blush was mostly gone.
"I just never've let myself think about it like that before. Not since it started, not for....god, it's been a decade, on and off, since he walked inta her life. It just...." Another swallow. "It sounds even worse when you say't like that."
And that's exactly why you are here, he reminded himself. Right. He could do this. Near-crazy attack or no near-crazy attack.
"Anyway. I'm sorry about that, I just...Kinda on edge from all of it, an' it seems like these days all it can do is get worse."
Seto regarded Joey silently before responding. "It's fine," he said, dismissing the incident. "What do you need from me, Joey? I could arrange a bodyguard, or would you like the services of a detective agency? Something-- in a greyer area, perhaps?"
"I - I don't--" It had honestly never occurred to Joey that a bodyguard could be hired for Serenity, and for a brief moment, the idea held serious shine.
"I dunno. Maybe. That wasn' my original idea, but maybe it's a better one. What-- What I was originally gonna ask you is..." He swallowed, knotting his hands together between his knees, and stared hard at the floor. "Red needs somewhere to crash that Steven can't find her, wouldn' think to look for her. I was gonna ask if you would be that place for her."
The silence that followed was long and deep. In truth, what surprised Seto the most was that--he didn't feel anything. Not apprehension as to having someone here, much less the target of a stalker. Not shock at the affrontery of the request. Not amusement, nor revulsion nor intrigue nor outrage, inside Seto was only a calm analysis of the situation. It was not that he was unaware of the encompassing nature of the request, or how significant of a change it would be for him, even for a few days.
"What length of time are you talking about, Joey?"
Joey caught himself staring. The silence was bad enough, had him fidgeting the whole way through, but that wasn't half as disconcerting as a straightforward practical question like that. He felt half-compelled to remind Seto that he'd skipped the part with the disbelief and the irritation.
"Ah, not long, not - just a few days, I think? We need ta put a plan together, an' we need a couple days to do it. She's at Jai's place right now, Duke talked him into it, but from what I know that's not goin' so great at all. Not enough space. And that was only for the couple nights anyway, she didn't plan ahead at all, showed up middle of the night." A breath. "Are you seriously - I mean, I didn't think you'd...want...to..." He trailed off, feeling awkward.
"Then why did you ask me?" Seto responded, diverted from the topic by this unexpected bit of information.
"Because I had to?" Joey answered, as though there could be no other answer. "Because you are safe and you could keep her safe." He spoke with absolute, bone-deep surety, then barreled onward. "And even though I've never spent a fucking overnight here and now I'm asking for my sister to, it just...it made sense. Here." He thumped one hand flat and firm against his own stomach, gaze steady on Seto's. "I live with my gut, and my gut said to ask Seto."
Suddenly it all made sense to Seto. The same quality that he had seen in Joey for Omega Ventures, the same reckless talent that allowed Joey to divine the proper approach to a seller or the one slim avenue that obtained results from widely diverse personalities was at work here. Seto trusted that ability, with his own unique talent for recognizing and utilizing the unseen in those he met.
"Very well." A previously tucked away comment resurfaced. "Although I do not know your sister, I can imagine Jai'son is an..." Seto paused, quirked a smile at Joey, "acquired taste. I can not imagine him suffering company well. For the sake of his productivity, will your sister be arriving here tomorrow?" He rose and began to pace.
"I"ll have to alert the staff. And security. Will she be bringing luggage? She will be looking for a new apartment, correct? The second bedroom, perhaps. I'll have them air it out tomorrow." Suddenly, he stopped and swung back to Joey. "Does she have any dietary requirements? I should tell the kitchen staff. She will be eating here, I take it?" Before Joey could answer, Seto was pacing off again. "Does she have a laptop? I'll have to make certain there's a secondary secure connection."
For the second time in five minutes, Joey caught himself staring at Seto. He shook himself out of it quickly, blinked hard to chase away the threat of tears, and leaped off the couch to Seto, catching him in mid-stride. And because the approach was so familiar to him, ingrained in his self as part of his reaction to gratitude - and because he was so very grateful - Joey kept going right into the thick of Seto's personal space and slung one arm around him in a brief and very definitive hug.
"Thank you," Joey whispered to him, hiding the words during the time when his face was turned down and Seto couldn't back up to see him. Then he backed away to give Seto all his space and more. Joey shoved both hands in his back pockets, rocked back on his heels, and glanced around the room to kill the little awkward post-hug moment. Then he turned his attention back to Seto with a brisk nod, and promptly rattled his way into all the practicalities Seto had laid out.
"Yeah, she's got a laptop, an' she'll probably try not to be too much of a nuisance or something, neither of us do too good with gifts, but I bet you could talk her into eating meals with you nights if you want. She's allergic to bananas, latex, n' penicillin - and yeah, I can have her over tonight if you need. Or tomorrow, whatever." Joey cleared his throat, pushing bangs back from his eyes: it was about to be a very busy next few hours. No time to panic on that, though, so he just moved on to the next item.
"Jai--" And as he said the name, Joey realized it didn't match the one Seto had used, but that was a curiosity for later -- "He can give her one more day, I guess. She's only got a small carful of stuff, lot of stuff's still at her old apartment. Um. I dunno what else, I know I'm forgettin' shit, but I'm kinda -- It's just. Thanks."
Seto was still standing silently where Joey had left him, as if he were involved in some metaphysical game of freeze-tag. He heard Joey's words, even if he was not entirely processing them right now but storing them for later retrieval.
His hands twitched briefly, in a futile, belated attempt at a reaction to the sudden, unexpected physical intimacy. The moment was there and gone and now Seto was once more in charge of the territory around his own body.
"Ah." The syllable meant nothing, but Seto knew how to use that sort of thing without thinking. Moving to the couch and seating himself once more bought Seto the time to push aside startlement and wariness, sorting thorough the information Joey had provided.
"If she can stay one more night, then that would give me a chance to inform the necessary parties." Seto eyed Joey warily from the corner of his eye. "Would she like to meet me at KaibaCorps tomorrow and follow me back here?"
"Yeah, I can - definitely. Don't think she's got anything else on her plate - if she'd got job interviews lined up 'fore she heard back from me on this, then I might hafta kick her ass or something, but she didn't, so that's..." He cleared his throat. "Completely theoretical. Kay. So. Right. Yeah, what time do you want us there? Her there? Can I tag along? Should I? I think I should. Wonder if we should have Tris along too. Probably. Um. If that's oka--heh, of course it's okay, you're great with Tris. Uh."
Joey laughed, realizing that now he was the one pacing, and turned on his heels to face Seto and grin broadly and somewhat giddily. "Yeah, jus' ignore me, man, the adrenaline's wearin' off and I'm gettin' pretty exhilarated 'stead of terrified on ya. Heh."
This was the Joey that Seto was familiar with, knew how to respond to, and he relaxed fractionally, tucking away the information that, upon occasion and with sufficient motivation, Joey could be both ruthlessly linear and startlingly ruthless. Joey had always been unpredictable. It was a known quantity, a fixed variable factored into his charm.
Seto gave Joey a nod and a small, brief smile. "Would you like something to eat? The staff only comes in mornings on the weekend, but the refrigerator is well stocked. We can work out the details in the kitchen." His datapad was on the endtable and Seto slid it into his hand as he rose.
Joey laughed, just a little, and returned Seto's smile with interest. "I can always eat, man, but yeah --" He patted his stomach with one palm-- "I'm kinda peckish right now, too. That sounds great. You got sandwich pieces?"
"I'm certain there is something usable," Seto answered, and swung a slightly wider than normal arc around Joey to lead them to the kitchen. Once there, he opened the pantry doors. "What kind of bread do you prefer for your sandwich? A hoagie roll? We also have rye, wheat, and enriched white. I believe the bakery sends us a variety every week."
To his credit, Joey didn't snicker. "I'll take rye. Which bakery?"
Seto shrugged, walking into the pantry to retrieve the bread. "Something in town. The staff uses them, if you want the name, I can look on my accounting spreadsheet." He emerged, the loaf in its clear wrapping making a sizeable round in his hands. "Let me see what sort of trappings we have for this."
"No, that's okay," Joey was quick to demur, "They're probably too fancy for me anyway." For the moment, he installed himself against one of the kitchen walls, getting a good glance past Seto's shoulder at the contents of the pantry, which displayed a distinct lack of any sort of boxed mix food whatsoever. In Joey's estimation, only closets should come in walk-in sizes, but he wasn't going to make a point of it - it was scaled to match the rest of the kitchen and house, at least. And more size meant more edible options, always a bonus.
When Seto headed for the refrigerator to find 'trappings,' Joey pushed off the wall and drew closer, holding one hand out to take the bread off his friend's hands and peering into the fridge once it was opened. "So...what's your favorite sandwich?" he asked, feeling instantly lame the moment that the words left his mouth.
Seto cocked his head to one side, holding the door open absently while he considered the question. "Open-faced turkey," he finally decided, and turned his eyes once more to the refrigerator. "With the right proportion of gravy to meat to bread. It looks like we have ham, pastrami, a leftover chicken breast, some cranberry sauce... cranberry sauce? I wonder what they intend to use that for. Also tomato, lettuce, pickles, various condiments... what would you like? I believe there's an onion in the pantry as well, we could slice that." Seto was still cataloging the contents of the refrigerator. "Oh, various cheeses. And garlic paste. And eggs, if you want to fry some of those. Mushrooms, we could make a sort of cheesesteak sans green pepper."
"I think it's better with," Joey muttered, staring into the fridge and trying not to laugh. The situation felt suddenly so completely absurd-- and yet totally right and comfortable-- that he was in serious danger of cracking up just from the novelty of it. "Do you have horseradish? I think I want somethin' with horseradish. But really, I eat everything, so you don't hafta much worry." He grinned, looking to Seto's reaction. "They usedta call me the garbage disposal, which doesn't sound all that dignified, but was kinda a point of pride for a while in there."
Turning his head, Seto regarded Joey with puzzlement. "It was?" Blinking, he looked back into the refrigerator. "I don't see any horseradish. We could have some delivered, if you want."
It took Joey a moment too long to realize that Seto wasn't joking at all. "Oh. No, not - way not important enough to bother with that, Seto, I'll just have mustard." The image of someone getting sent out on an errand just for his sandwich jarred him, and he used the other topic at hand to push it quickly away. "And, yeah, well, that was high school. It was cool to be able to do stupid human tricks." He shrugged. "And I was starving all the time then, anyway, so it kinda came naturally."
Not having any other direction, Seto began to pull the meat from the coolness of the dim interior and lay it on the counter. He felt awkward, uncertain how to respond. Why was making a sandwich more uncomfortable than being asked to put up a guest for a few days? Irritated at himself, Seto gestured to the refrigerator in a 'help yourself' motion, and moved back to the table and his waiting datapad.
"I did a lot of stupid human tricks in high school," Joey amended after a moment, filling the space that Seto's silence left while he put his sandwich together. "I was kinda an idiot. Bet you weren't, bet you had your shit together," he added on an impulse, glancing over his shoulder at Seto. "Can't really see you doing stupid human tricks." He paused. "...They are kinda fun, though. In a stupid way."
After taking a moment to finish his current entry, Seto looked up at Joey speculatively. "What was one..." he paused minutely, "stupid trick you did?"
"Jumped off a lot more staircases an' railings than was strictly necessary," Joey began, chewing his lower lip while he thought. "Did that whole 'make up crazy shit in the kitchen and see who can drink it without puking' thing. That was middle school, mostly. Umm..." He scratched his temple with the blunt end of his mayo knife, then turned halfway around, smiling briefly at Seto. "Oh, and there were a few incidents with model rockets...which isn't so much a stupid human trick as a stupid kid with no sense of safety, but hey. And sledding downhill face first on one of those plastic discs? I think that one's more stupid human than stupid kid." He snickered and turned back to the counter. "A whole boatload of 'em, basically. I was your typical cut-up, always getting attention, however it came."
Seto's eyes were mild as he stared at Joey's back. He could barely imagine it in one way, could not see Joey as anything other than who and what he was-- but in another way it made perfect sense. He could well imagine Joey skimming down a snowy hill, laughing carelessly while the wind reddened his cheeks.
"Ironic," Seto offered softly, turning his gaze back to the equipment in his hand, a place to rest his eyes. "I spent a lot of time trying to avoid attention-- however it came."
"And now all you do is get it," Joey nodded, "And I'm all tamed down an' domestic now. Weird. Where're the plates?"
"Top cupboard on the left," Seto answered, gesturing to the wall to Joey's left. "Will your sister need an alarm clock? She can call either the staff or myself when she needs in the front gate."
"Bet she'll have a ringer on her phone," Joey mused, retrieving two plates from the cupboard. After a moment of rearranging things, he turned to the table with one plate - each bearing a sandwich - in each hand. "I oughta give you her cell number, too, remind me to do that before I leave," he said, pulling out a chair for himself, and placed one plate in front of Seto. "I don't know how much mustard you like, so I kinda just put a medium amount on."
"Thank you, Joey. I'm sure it's fine." Setting aside his datapad, Seto began to eat. The sandwich was good, if a little larger than he would have made himself.
Pleased that Seto was pleased with the sandwich, Joey settled down with his own, satisfied to discuss the details of his sister's visit over their food. He had broken bread with Seto previously, but never had it felt so personal as this time did, in Seto's own kitchen and over food Joey had made himself, even if it was just sandwiches. It felt like it reaffirmed something in him - nothing he knew how to articulate, but something significant still. Maybe it meant their friendship was growing. Who knew.
"S'nice, Seto," Joey ventured, trying to speak his satisfaction anyway. "Thanks."
They ate in silence for awhile while Seto tried to find a topic of conversation. He was wary of discussing Joey's sister, since the most pertinent topics would likely set the man off again, and Seto Kaiba, who made it a point of having a small-talk question for every occasion, found himself struggling to come up with one. He hadn't had this much trouble since Aidan, and Seto wondered what that said about himself as a friend.
Rejecting the weather, family, politics and girlfriends, Seto finally settled on work. "Have they given you any new and interesting cases in the last few months? If that is something that you are allowed to speak of, of course."
"Actually, it's been drying up," Joey began, pushing his already-empty plate away from himself. "I usedta do a lotta...extracurricular, ya could call it, work, I'd spend a lotta time outta the office and with the kids, on the street, yanno, just keeping up with them, and recently...well, it's been desk-monkeying, mostly, an' conventional cases, and less running around, and more spendin' time at home with Tris, and less...I dunno. Part of me is okay with it and part'a me definitely misses the kids, misses the work I want to be doing."
"What do you do at home? Watch television? Play with your... Contremonde, is it?" Seto asked, knowing full well what the name of Joey's pet was.
"Yeah, that's her. And Robin, Tris's cat. And Miw. Who's kinda both of our cat, I guess, cause she used to be Red's. Serenity's, that is. And then she left her with her - our - folks when she went to Connecticut, an' then Tris and me rescued Miw from them. An' then Red went and found this rat of a foundling cat, Bear, so now Miw's ours for good." Joey found his eyes had drifted out the back window of the kitchen while he spoke, and fixed his gaze on Seto again with a smile. "So yeah, we hang with the pets a lot - we're really stupid-domestic I guess. I got no desire to go out or anything, dunno why, just don't. I read, some. Moren' I used to. Still not a lot."
"No more- stupid human tricks for Joey Wheeler, yes?" Seto finished the last bite of his sandwich and gathered up both his and Joey's plates, taking them to the sink. "You should come to the Grounds some weekend. I know what happens to the cars after we aquire them isn't extrordinarily interesting to you, but it would be nice to have your company at times." Before Joey could respond, Seto turned on the water to rinse the dishes off before setting them on the counter.
"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Joey nodded, idly watching Seto move, and consciously noticing that every motion Seto made, even something as banal as washing dishes, had a certain magnetic grace to it.
"Anyway, it's not that I don't care about the cars, I just - I don't know anythin' about them. And I tend to stay way clear of shit I don't understand, cause you cause trouble getting your nose in places. So...I dunno. I will if ya keep a leash on me, I guess. Don't wanna break something."
"You had the safety orientation along with Tristan and I," Seto reminded him, turning around with a towel in his hand and leaning the small of his back against the counter. "But I will keep an eye on you if that makes you more comfortable." In some corner of his mind that always kept track of such things, Seto counted the sort-of near-agreement as a victory. "Perhaps before the weather turns cooler." He hung the towel on the rack beside the sink, and walked back to the table.
"I think I have enough information about your sister for now. Anything further I can ask her in person, tomorrow."
"Yeah, I'd like that," Joey agreed, deciding not to pursue the 'break shit' thread: it wasn't Seto's fault that he'd misunderstood Joey, as Joey had instinctively phrased his statement to BE misleading, a sideways admission rather than a direct one that he didn't have the mechanical mind nor memory that the others owned. A ready enough distraction came in the topic of Serenity - Joey didn't know what time it was, but with Seto's politic nudge (Get going already, but couched in nicer words) he remembered the many candles, all burning from both ends, that needed to be dealt with. His parents, Serenity herself, Jai, Duke, Tristan, her cat - the list was nearly endless and in all parts insistent.
"You're right, though," Joey said, brushing bangs back from his face and sighing as he got up from his chair, "I'd better get outta your hair and get things in gear if we're gonna be ready for tomorrow. You have my number, call me if you need anythin'... I'll give her your business phone, kay?"
"Of course. Let me call a driver, it shouldn't be more than ten minutes." Seto pulled out his business phone and relayed the necessary information to the dispatcher. Snapping the phone closed, Seto turned his attention once more to Joey. "If there is anywhere else you need to stop on the way home, please let him know. And Joey?" Seto paused, glanced at the sink. "Thank you for the sandwich."
It was, on the surface, a ridiculous statement as the ingredients were Seto's in the first place.
Maybe it was ridiculous, but it got a big grin out of Joey anyway. It started small, a quirk on one side of his mouth, and spread, as a low, soft chuckle rumbled up from his chest as well.
"You're welcome, Seto," Joey returned, feeling all the tension that had so suddenly returned draining away just as quickly, a warmth settling in his shoulders and his heart. "Thanks for the talking."
"It was, as always, interesting," Seto answered sincerely.
It was a little more than the anticipated ten minutes before the driver arrived, but the two men barely noticed the time passing, comfortable in one another's presence. At last Seto's phone alerted him of the car, and he ushered Joey into it, pausing a moment to give the driver Joey's carte blanche as to the destination and number of stops.
Before the tail lights could even round the circle of the driveway, Seto was on his way back inside, plans and contingencies lighting his thoughts like wildfire. There was a lot to make ready, and Seto was determined not to fall short.