Love Lies

How Much is too Much?

Seto cringed as he watched Joey suck down 5 shots of the “Jagermonster” in less than a minute.

Joey slammed the fifth shot glass down on the oak dining room table and pumped his fist in the
air.

“Yeah baby! Joey Wheeler’s on a roll tonight!”

Seto picked up the bottle Joey had been taking shots from and snatched it away.

“I think you’ve had enough, Pup. Let’s go find Mokuba and go home.”

Joey tipped back on his chair and tried to get the bottle away from Seto, but he lost his balance
and fell straight back. Joey crashed back onto the floor and burst out laughing.

“WHEEE! That was fun!”

Seo groaned as he set the bottle down on the table and kneeled down next to Joey. He reached
over and brushed Joey’s bangs out of his face.

“Come on Wheeler.......get your ass up.”

Joey, who was still laughing, propped himself up on his elbows and chuckled as he started
unzipping his jeans.

“Get my ass up? Here? Didn’t you get enough of my ass upstairs?”

Seto rolled his eyes as he picked up the chair and set it upright.

“Wheeler......shut up. We need to find Mokuba and go home.”

Joey pulled himself up using the chair as leverage and sat back down. He grabbed the bottle of
booze and took a long swig from it.

Seto crossed his arms and glared at the blonde.

“Joey, please....you bring the bottle with you. I just want to get you out of here before you start
acting stupider than normal.

Joey set the bottle down slowly and crossed his arms.

“I’m not leaving.” he said firmly while looking directly into Seto’s sparkling blue eyes.

Seto bit down hard on his bottom lip. He looked as though he wanted to rip Joey apart.

“You’re making us both look like asses, pup. I suggest you knock it off.”

All the alcohol Joey had consumed was starting to catch up with him. He glared up at Seto and
belligerently sat his ground.

“Fuck off, will ya? I ain’t gonna put up with you telling me what to do, rich boy.”

Joey’s harsh words sent Seto’s temper through the roof.

Seto grabbed Joey by the back of his shirt and forcefully pulled him to his feet. Joey tried to take
a swing at Seto, but he completely missed and ended up catching nothing but air. Seto quickly
slammed Joey against the wall with a resounding thud. Joey raised his fist to punch Seto, but
Seto caught the feisty drunken blondes fist and stopped it. Seto’s breathing grew rapid.

“I said we’re leaving you drunk ungrateful little fuck. Now move you’re skinny ass out that front
door.”

Joey just stood there staring at Seto.

“No, Kaiba. I’m not leaving. This is a party for fuck-sake!”

Seto clenched his fist and growled.

“Why I outta.......”

Joey cut Seto off mid sentence and smirked.

“You outta what? Punch me? Ha! Go for it! I’ll kick you’re rich boy ass!”

Seto took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He exhaled slowly as he reopened his eyes. Joey
was still drunkenly smirking.

“Would you please stop referring to me as ‘rich boy’?”

Joey started to laugh in Seto’s face.

“Why? Does it bother you?”

Seto’s eyes grew dark with anger as he gave Joey a shove.

“Fuck you, mutt. You’re drunk and talking a lot of shit. You know what? You can find your own
ride home. I’m going to go find my brother now, and after that I’m leaving.”

Joey rolled his eyes.

“You got a silver spoon stuck up your ass, Kaiba? Why can’t you just chill out and have a little
fun for once?”

Seto threw him hands down on the table and sighed.

“Damn it, Wheeler! FINE. We’ll stay for an hour yet.”

Joey smiled brightly and threw his arms around Seto.

“That’s my boy! Hey, wanna do shots with me?”

Seto made a sour face as he glanced at the bottle of booze Joey had been drinking. His eyes fixed
on the label.

“JagerMeister?”

Joey nodded his head eagerly.

“Yeah, you outta try some, I DARE YA!”

Seto groaned as a man wearing a red, white, and blue bandana sat down across from Joey with
an evil smirk.

“Did I just hear something about a dare?”

Seto lowered his eyes and scowled at the newcomer.

“Go figure, Bandit Keith......I should have known a rat like you would be here tonight.”

Keith snubbed Seto’s remark and focused on Joey.

“Twenty bucks says I can out drink you shot for shot, geek.”

Joey waved his hand in front of his and laughed.

“You’re on, man. I hope you brought a body bag, cuz you ain’t leavin’ here standing.”

Keith sat down at the table across from Joey grinned.

“We’ll see about that, twerp.”

A curious group on spectators surrounded the table. Separate shot glasses were placed in front of
the two men, and filled up.

They both glared at each other as they picked up their shots.

“You’re goin’ down, wannabe-Keith!” Joey mocked

Keith brought his shot glass up to his lips and smirked.

“I’ll be mopping the floor with your stupid ass before the night is over.”

Seto turned his back and started walking away as the contest began.

“How can you drink the crap?” he growled as Joey slurped down his shot.

Joey grinned back at Seto and gestured at himself.

“Cuz Joey Wheeler is DA’ MAN! Pour me another Jagerbomb!” he cackled as one of the
bystanders refilled his glass.

************************************************

Isis quickly crawled off of Mai when she heard the sound of a door opening.

She grabbed her dress off the floor and used it to cover herself.

“Marik!”

Marik was too stunned to respond. He just stood there staring blankly at the disheveled women.

“Answer me!” Isis said firmly.

Marik tried to speak, but no works came out of his mouth. He was too dazed to say anything.

Mai grinned at Isis as she ran her hand over her Egyptian lover’s soft long hair.

“Well this is a first.”

Isis bit down on her bottom lip. She couldn’t even look at Marik.

Mai turned to Marik with a cocky grin on her bright red lips.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Marik made a sour face and forced himself to look away.

“No thank you, Mai dear....I’ve got better things to do.”

Mai shrugged her shoulders and scooted closer to Isis. She seductively ran her hand down Isis’s
inner thigh.

“Suit yourself, rod boy!” she snickered as she gently nipped at Isis’s earlobe.

Marik turned away and grunted.

“Whatever. I’m out of here.”

Marik quickly ran up the stairs. He’d seen enough.

As he burst through the door leading into the kitchen, he walked right into Duke. A resounding
hollow thud on the other side of the door gave him the distinct impression that he’d just stopped
somebody dead in their tracks.

Marik grinned when he saw that he’d just wacked Tristan in the face with the door. Tristan
covered his nose with his hand and groaned.

“Hey man! Watch where you’re going next time!”

Marik crossed his arms and glared at Tristan.

“Go to hell, I hit you on purpose. Go play in traffic now before I wax the floor with you.”

Tristan glared at Marik, but didn’t say anything further. Marik was the kind of guy that would
actually use a person to wax a floor.

Marik than turned to Duke and cocked his head. Duke was only wearing his red and black boxer
shorts, and his hair was extremely messed up.

“So what did I miss?” Marik ask curiously.

Duke rolled his eyes and started twisting a lock of his raven hair around his finger.

“You didn’t hear? Tris and I just had a shot gun pulled on our asses.”

Marik nodded in amusement. A devious grin swept across his lips.

“Oh? Tell me more.”

Duke continued twisting his hair around his finger, something he only did when he was nervous,
and shared his little adventure with Marik.

“All Tris and I were doing was hanging out in the hot tub next door and Ryou’s neighbor went
all John Wayne on us. I swear, it doesn’t get much worse than that!”

Marik chuckled and pointed downstairs.

“Oh yeah? Tell me Duke, have you seen Mai around?”

Duke shook his head.

“No, why?”

Marik glanced down at Tristan, who was still looking a bit disoriented, and chuckled. He was
proud of himself for accidently smacking him in the face with the door. Marik took great pride
in his ability to inflict pain without putting much effort into it.

He grinned mischievously back at Duke and started walking away.

“I just saw her downstairs, you should go say hi to her. I think she would like that.”

Duke looked at Tristan and sighed.

“I should probably go talk to Mai. She’s probably feeling bad about our fight this morning.”

Tristan shrugged his shoulders.

“Go ahead, want me to come with you?”

Duke took a deep breath as he opened the basement door.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

*****************************************************************

Yami flipped through the booklet he’d just pulled out of one of the cd cases and made a strange
face. Bakura noticed Yami’s reaction and leaned closer to the pharaoh.

“Is there a problem?”

Yami pointed to a picture of four men dressed on strange leather costumes wearing colored face
paint.

“I didn’t realize they made cd’s in the Shadow Realm.”

Bakura pulled the cd out of Yami’s hand and looked it over with a big grin.

“This is one of Ryou’s cd’s. These musicians are not from the Shadow Realm. This cd isn’t very
good though, I’ll play you one of their better ones.”

Bakura pulled out a cd with a picture of the great sphinx of Giza sporting a trendy pair of black
sunglasses. The title read “Hot in the Shade.”

Yami looked completely bewildered as Bakura took out the cd and handed Yami the case.

Yami looked it over and shook his head.

“They are Egyptian too?”

Bakura rolled his eyes as he pressed the play button.

“How the fuck would I know?”

Yami sighed as he laid back on the blanket and rested his hands behind his head.

Bakura grinned as the music started to play. He reached down into the box of cd’s and pulled out
a small bottle.

“Yami?”

Yami closed his eyes.

“What, Bakura”

Bakura crawled over to Yami and laid on his stomach. He used his hand to prop up his chin.

“I just had an idea.”

“Oh really? Let me guess......you’re going to tell me about it now, am I correct?” Yami chuckled
sarcastically.

Bakura proudly held up a bottle of midnight blue nail polish and waved it in Yami’s face.

“Ever painted your nails before?”

Yami propped himself up on his elbows and looked at the little bottle Bakura was holding
between his fingers.

“Uh......no; Please don’t tell me you want to put that shit on my fingers.”

Bakura gently shook the bottle as he shrugged his shoulders.

“We could put it on your toes if you’d rather.”

Yami shook his head adamantly and backed away. Bakura opened the little bottle and set it
down in the hard floor. He slowly began to brush the dark laquer over his thumbnail. After a
couple more strokes of the brush, he had his entire left hand complete. He replaced the brush
back in the little bottle and admired his artwork in the dim red lighting.

Yami scooted away a little further.

“You actually wear that in public?”

Bakura nodded his head.

“Yes, I do, just not usually this color. I prefer plain black normally. Ryou was in a hurry when he
bought it and fucked up. It’s close enough to black though.”

“I should have guessed.” Yami sighed as he watched Bakura blow on the tips of his fingers.

“Yami?” Bakura ask between huffs.

“What” Yami responded flatly.

Bakura picked up the little bottle and held it out to Yami.

“I always fuck up on my right hand, can you do it for me?”

Yami pulled back and made a sour face.

“What do I look like? You’re slave? No, I will not paint your nails for you!”

Bakura wasn’t about to take no for an answer though! He grabbed Yami’s hand and forced him
to take the little bottle.

“Just do it and don’t be a bitch. Marik would do it if he was here, but obviously he got lost
upstairs. Now come on pharaoh, lighten up and paint my Ra-damn nails.”

Yami reluctantly opened the bottle and pulled out the brush. He sat with his legs crossed and
took Bakura’s cold hand into his own.

“Fine, but there’s no way you’re getting me to put this shit on.”

Bakura relaxed as Yami gently stroked the brush across his nails with precision.

“I wonder what happened to Marik.” Bakura mused as he watched Yami paint his nails like a
pro.

Yami looked up at Bakura without moving his head.

“Knowing Marik he’s outside biting the heads off of bats.”

A big grin spread across Bakura’s face as he burst into laughter.

“That’s a good one! I didn’t realize you had a sense of humor.”

Yami made a face at Bakura and snarled.

“Stop moving around, you’re messing me up.”

Bakura sighed as he contained his laughter. He observed how Yami took his time and made sure
every stroke of the brush was perfect.

“You’re good at this.” he noted seriously.

Yami smiled as he moved on to Bakura’s middle finger. Bakura’s long, narrow fingers stretched
all the way across Yami’s palm. He wore a gold ring with the head a cobra on his index finger.
The ring sparked Yami’s curiosity.

“From who’s tomb did you acquire that little novelty?” Yami chuckled as he moved onto
Bakura’s ring finger.

Bakura glanced at his ring and shrugged.

“I don’t know. I didn’t even notice I was wearing it. I haven’t the slightest idea where it came
from. Maybe my hikari had it on.”

Yami finished painting Bakura’s ring finger and moved to his pinky.

“Maybe. Speaking of hikari’s, do you mind telling me why your’s isn’t upstairs enjoying the
party? I find it quite odd that he’d be in his soul room on a night like this.”

Bakura waited for Yami to finish painting his last nail before answering him. Once Yami had
brushed on the finishing touches, Bakura pulled his hand away and started to blow on his freshly
painted nails. Yami twisted the cap back onto the bottle and set it down on the floor.

“I don’t know. All he said was “Bakura, I’m giving you control. I need to think”

Yami nodded his head.

“I see.”

Bakura leaned closer to Yami and smirked. There faces were almost touching.

“So what’s wrong with your hikari? What is he hiding from? If I remember correctly, he was the
one that arranged this party.”

Yami shrugged his shoulders as he moved his face away from Bakura’s.

“He said he wanted “alone time.”

Bakura chuckled evilly as he shifted uncomfortably close to Yami.

“We should go break down their soul room doors and throttle the little bastards for leaving us in
this situation.”

Yami pulled away from Bakura again and got to his feet.

“That isn’t such a bad idea. I’m rather be back in the puzzle than down here making you pretty.”

Bakura tilted his head and shook his hair in a seductive manner.

“You think I’m pretty?”

Yami’s cheeks flushed a new shade of red. He quickly turned his head away and hid his face.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” he shot back quickly.

Bakura got to his feet and chuckled.

“What’s wrong pharaoh? Was it something I said?”

Yami didn’t respond. He walked crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he looked downward.

Bakura crept up behind the smaller pharaoh and wrapped his arms loosely around Yami’s
shoulders. Yami flinched from Bakura’s touch. Bakura reached up with one hand and brushed a
strand of Yami’s hair behind his ear. He gently kissed the nape of Yami’s neck while looking up
at the uncomfortable pharaoh.

“I think you’re pretty.......pharaoh.”

Yami cringed and tried to pull away. Bakura aggressively tightened his grip around Yami’s
shoulder and pulled him back even closer. Yami’s breathing grew faster.

“What’s the matter, Yami? Do I make you feel......uneasy?

Yami bit down on his bottom lip as he clenched his eyes tightly shut.

“Yes, you do.”

Bakura playfully nipped at Yami’s ear and chuckled. Something was starting to come alive in
Yami’s jeans, and Bakura couldn’t help but notice Yami was becoming aroused.

“Why is that now?” he ask him a sultry whisper.

Yami took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Bakura, please stop. I love Yugi. What happened earlier can’t happen again.”

Bakura ran his tongue down Yami’s neck and gently bit down on the tender white flesh.

Yami parted his lips and moaned accidentally.

Bakura smiled with evil satisfaction. He furthered his teasing and started running his hand along
Yami’s slender thigh.

“Yugi doesn’t need to know.” he purred in the pharaoh’s ear.

Yami opened his eyes and shook his head.

“No Bakura......that would be wrong. I refuse to lie to Yugi.”

Bakura released Yami from his grip and started to laugh.

“You’re too much pharaoh! Please!”

Yami pulled away and wrapped his arms around himself protectively.

Bakura quickly threw his hands on Yami’s chest and pushed him back against the wall.

“Do you think I can’t see through you? I know the truth about what you did, pharaoh. You’re the
reason Yugi is in his soul room brooding.”

Yami took offense to Bakura’s comment and glared at the white haired yami.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he snapped back sharply.

Bakura released Yami and stood back. He crossed his arms and stood in front of Yami with a
cocky grin.

“You made Yugi break his relationship with the Wheeler kid off for your own selfish desires.
Wouldn’t that be considered lying?”

Yami’s eyes burned with anger.

“I did no such thing, Bakura.” he stated firmly.

Bakura stood his ground and chuckled.

“You don’t see me forcing Ryou and Malik apart now do you? I find it quite ironic that
somebody who’s considered “good” could do something that cold-hearted.”

Yami crossed his arms and looked away.

“I’m going to ignore that last comment, Bakura. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Bakura sighed as he walked over to the door.

“Believe what you want; But I know you have another secret. I followed you from Duke
Devlin’s tavern the other night. I know where you went after the bar closed, pharaoh.”

Yami’s eyes got huge. He was visibly outraged by Bakura’s remark.

Bakura opened the door and grinned.

“I’m going to go find Marik and the beer, all this chit chat has made he quite thirsty.”

*****************************************************************

Mokuba sat out on the curb with his legs stretched out in front of him. He picked up a stone and
tossed it into the empty street. He got up slowly and stretched his arms.

“I better go find Seto, this party is no fun anymore.” he said to himself.

Mokuba turned to walk back to the house, but was quickly pulled into the bushes by an unseen
person.

“Hey! What the.....!” He screamed. A hand covered his mouth and prevented him from making
any more noise. Something hard hit him on the back of the head and knocked him out cold.

********************************************************************