The Mythology Set

Weeded II

Joey hummed quietly, carefully arranging the petals of the bloom that had opened during the night, then flittered back and cupped his chin as he examined it. After a moment, he huffed and reached out to fix one of the outermost petals. "I just can't get ya t' cooperate, can I?"

"You can't get who to cooperate with you?"

The fairy turned sharply, then squealed. "Seto! You're back!"

Seto chuckled quietly as the tiny creature flew up to hug his cheek, lifting his hand to give him something to stand on. "I told you I'd be gone for a couple weeks."

"I didn't realize that weeks were so long!" Joey sighed, frowning, as he sat down on the brunet's palm. He looked up at the human and smiled again. "Mokuba took very good care of me."

"So I see," the brunet agreed, kneeling in front of the bush. Spying the orange bloom, he hummed and reached out to touch the petals.

Joey hissed and kicked his finger, making him just barely miss touching the flower. "I just fixed that!"

Seto jerked his hand away from the plant. "Ow!"

"I don't go tap dancin' on your laptop's keyboard when ya finish workin'!" the blond snapped, glaring at him in affront. "Jeez!"

The human grumbled, then reached out to violently poke the branch the flower was attached to. "Fine! I won't touch it!"

"Gah!" The fairy fluttered over to the flower and hurriedly began trying to rearrange the petals again. "Jerk!" He squealed as the brunet caught one of his wings, flapping the other one frantically, but could only hang from the man's grip. "What the hell!"

"Calm down. It's just a flower," Seto sighed, rolling his eyes. When the fairy continued to struggle and shake his fist at him, he sighed again and stood, taking a few steps away from his plant. "Joey, look at it. It's perfect the way it is."

Joey frowned petulantly but turned to look at it. "…I… guess it is okay like that…" He huffed and looked away quickly. "But it looked better after I'd fixed it!"

The brunet growled, slightly annoyed. "You're impossible."

"Shut up!" The fairy squirmed as he was set on one of the branches of his bush, then frowned and turned to look up at him. "Seto, some really weird people have been coming into the garden."

Seto grew concerned immediately. "Weird people? What do you mean by weird?"

"People that dig. They… they don't do anything to help the plants. They almost trampled some of the smaller plants. They just keep comin' in at night and diggin' around…" Joey frowned and hunched his shoulders. "I never hear what they're sayin'. I'm too scared t' leave my bush. But they've been diggin' around the irises lately. They started with the daisies first, though." He looked up at the brunet and bit his bottom lip. "I'm scared. I'm still weak. What if they start diggin' around me and then they—they accidentally chop off one of my roots? I don't know if we could handle that after everything!"

The human frowned, rubbing the back of his head. "People that just come and dig…" He glanced over at the irises and daisies. "…Have you met any of the other fairies here, Joey?"

"…I… I've been too afraid to go too far from my bush," the blond admitted in embarrassment. "I'm still so weak and tired… I spend a lot of time just sleepin' and soakin' up nutrients…"

"Would it make you uncomfortable if I asked you to try and learn something about these men from the other flowers?"

Joey frowned and turned his back to the human for a moment, looking at the frail branches of his plant. He had to admit he was scared; he knew that not all flora fairies were nice. …But Seto had rescued him, had saved him from dying… Kept the weeds from germinating with him and covered him with good things like fertilizer and compost. It was really the least he could do to help him, wasn't it? Especially since he could see his branches growing stronger—with that single blooming flower as proof that his plant was healthy again.

Turning back to the brunet, he shook his head. "That doesn't make me uncomfortable. I'll see what they have t' say. But ya may hafta wait until tomorrow. Fairies are most active when humans are gone, ya know."

Seto nodded a little and reached out to gently brush the blond's hair out of his face with the tip of his finger. "Thanks. I'll be back tomorrow or the next day, okay? I promised to spend time with Mokuba. We'll have you in for water and compost sometime." He couldn't help a smile as the fairy beamed at him. "If you make any friends, you can invite them in for water and compost too, okay?"

"Okay!" Even though he got compost outside, there was just something about going inside and sitting down with the Kaiba brothers that made it a lot more enjoyable. He waved as the human stood and walked away, then frowned and turned to look at the area the strange men had been digging last.

After hesitating a few minutes, he took a deep breath and flew over to the irises, perching atop one of the stalks and peering down at the muddy holes. He whistled quietly. "Gosh…" He gasped as he saw a trampled plant and rushed down to investigate, hurriedly grabbing the stem and propping it up. "You okay?"

The flower's weak energy flared for a moment. It was still alive.

Joey looked around frantically for something to hold the flower up, but the gardeners kept the flowerbeds too clean. There were no sticks he could use, and the grasses nearby were too healthy for him to rip to splint the plant to a stick anyway. Stupid gardeners! They didn't need to keep the flowerbeds so damn clean!

Oh! There was a stick! It looked strong enough to hold a viola up! Joey began toward it.

The flower let out a weak pulse of distress as it began to fall again. The fairy squeaked and hurriedly rushed back to hold it up again. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He looked back at the stick and groaned, then looked up at the poor viola. "…I can't help ya if ya won't let me get that stick t' help prop ya up…"

"I'll get it for you!"

Joey turned sharply to find a smaller fairy flittering over to the stick. Landing delicately on the ground, he picked up one end and began dragging it over. "Thanks!"

The other fairy nodded quickly as he dropped the stick nearby. "Let me go get some of my drier leaves! We can use them to tie the stick to it!"

"Okay," the blond agreed, using one arm to keep the viola steady as he squatted down and reached over to get his fingertips on the stick. He used the slight grip to roll the stick closer and finally grabbed it, then stood, carefully placing it against the stem. "Here. You're gonna be okay." His eyes narrowed. "As long as those stupid humans don't come through here diggin' again!"

The other fairy returned quickly with long, thin leaves. He hurried to tie the stick to the viola's stem. "This should work. Humans are terrible!"

Joey frowned as he carefully released the stick. "…Not all humans," he murmured, frowning, as he looked up at the injured flower.

The smaller fairy frowned and stepped back to examine their handy work as well. "…I guess," he agreed after a minute. "But a lot of them are terrible." They stared at the flower a little longer before the fairy turned toward him abruptly. "I saw you talking to that human."

The blond flinched, then looked away quickly. "…He rescued me."

"Rescued your plant, you mean."

"Rescued. Me," Joey hissed, turning back to him angrily. "Weeds were going to force me to germinate with them, so he rescued me. Once I was safe, he rescued my plant."

"…Oh." The other fairy at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "…I'm sorry. He just… He doesn't usually come out here, and… when he does, he doesn't really look at the plants…"

The blond blinked at him. "So he just stands out here like an idiot?"

The smaller boy laughed. "No, he's usually on his box thing because his brother told him to go out and get some fresh air."

"His box thing…? You mean his laptop?" Joey brightened. "Sometimes Mokuba opens up some weird thing on the light part of it and lets me jump on the buttons. It makes marks on it!" He held his hand out to shake. "My name is Joey. What's yours?"

"Yugi." Yugi shook his hand, then frowned. "Um… So what were you and that human talking about?"

"Seto?" The rose fairy sighed and crossed his arms. "The weird people that keep coming in at night and digging around. He wanted me to find out what they were doing." He looked at the smaller fairy and frowned. "Is your plant near here? Do you know what those humans wanted?"

Yugi pointed toward a wild iris plant. "That's my plant right there. The humans almost tore my roots up!"

The blond gasped and rushed over to examine the mud around the other fairy's plant. "No!"

"Yeah! I almost had a panic attack!" The iris fairy flew back into his plant and disappeared for a moment, then reappeared, carefully brushing his leaves out into precise lines. "And they messed up my leaves! I'd just finished getting them straight and pretty after the gardeners messed with them!"

Joey gasped again. "Seto just messed up the petals of my flower after I'd arranged them, too!"

Yugi looked outraged. "Why even put in the effort when humans just undo all our hard work! Just look, don't touch, thank you!"

"Yeah, but… they do pick the weeds…" the blond whispered, shuddering when he remembered his… mishap. "They're good for pickin' weeds…"

"…I guess so," the younger fairy conceded. "But that's about all they're good for."

"…He gives me compost, too."

"Compost!" Yugi tackled him. "You mean I could just talk to him and he'd give me compost?"

Joey scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah. And he invites me in for water and compost, sometimes, and I even get a little cup and a little plate and a little spoon to use at my own little table with my own little chair."

The iris fairy stared up at him, wide-eyed with awe. "All that just because you talk to the humans?"

"Just Seto and Mokuba. They told me to hide from any other humans…" the blond mumbled. "That's why I wanna help them—'cause they're so nice t' me, I wanna repay 'em. Seto seems really upset about the whole 'people diggin' at night' thing, and I just wanna help him figure out what's goin' on…"

Yugi frowned and took a few steps back, turning to look down at the mushy ground. He kicked a pebble and sighed, brows furrowing together. "…I heard what they were whispering, a little. But I don't know what they were talking about… It's just… They kept using words, and…"

"I'm pickin' up some human idioms. Maybe I can figure it out?" Joey smiled a little. "I mean, I figured out ya meant Seto's laptop when ya said his box thing…"

"I guess." The smaller fairy tilted his head. "They were talking about… about bugs." He nodded a little. "Bugs to make his box thing sick." He looked up at the other boy and shrugged. "Apparently his step-dad realized Seto was getting too smart for him to handle and had special bugs made. I guess genetically? To make his box thing sick."

"Hmm. Well, he does flip out when things get in his computer, like dust and stuff. I guess bugs would be bad too." The blond smiled brightly. "I'll tell Mokuba that I'm brinin' someone t' 'tea' and we can tell him and Seto aaaall about it!"

Yugi grinned. "Great! …What's tea?"

The rose fairy frowned. "I don't know. But they seem to like it. …Seto prefers coffee, but Mokuba doesn't like him havin' so much caffeine that late in the day, or somethin'…"

"…What's coffee?"

"I don't know that either."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"More compost?"

Joey smiled. "Please!" He dipped his head in a short bow when more was scooped onto his plate, then began shoveling it in his mouth again. "Thanks!"

"…You're gonna choke on that…" Yugi muttered, eating his own compost at a more sedate pace. He looked up at the two humans and beamed at them. "Thank you for having me in."

Mokuba smiled back at him. "Thanks for coming in!"

Seto took a sip of his tea. "So, you said you'd found out what those men were doing?"

"Yeah. Well, sort of." The two fairies nodded, and Joey continued, "Those men haven't been back, so we've just been thinkin' over what Yugi heard that one night."

The brunet didn't bother to tell them that he'd increased security so that they were lucky they could go about the garden at night. "And what did you hear?"

Yugi sighed, frowning a little. "The men were digging for something your step-dad hid in the garden. They said something about bugs… bugs to make your box thing sick."

Seto and Mokuba stared at him for a moment, baffled. "…Bugs… to make my… box thing sick?"

"Your laptop!" Joey explained, then reached for his cup of water. "Bugs to make your laptop sick!"

The brunet stared a little longer. "…You mean bugs to give my laptop a virus?" he asked after a moment, stunned.

Yugi frowned and leaned toward the blond in confusion. "Didn't we just say that?"

"No one ever said humans were smart," Joey whispered. They jumped as the brunet stood and strode out quickly, then turned to the younger human. "Where's he going?"

"Probably out to go check the garden," Mokuba mumbled, scowling. He set his tea aside. "Excuse me. I'll make sure he doesn't kill anything."

Joey pointed at the laptop on the table behind the couch, where the brunet had set it so he wouldn't be rudely typing away while they ate and drank. "Can I jump on it?"

"Huh? Oh." Mokuba grabbed the laptop to set it on the table beside them, opening the specific program for him to play on. "Here. Try not to ruin anything."

"Okay!" The blond smiled gleefully and rubbed his hands together, standing. He hopped over to the laptop. "Yay!"

"Make sure to watch for other plants' roots!" Yugi called after the younger human, then stood and wandered over to watch the blond begin to bounce around on the keys with cheerful little tap-tap-taps. "So you just bounce around on these?"

Joey nodded. "Yep! Come on. It's fun!"

The lily fairy frowned, looking around the room anxiously, then sighed and shrugged. "Okay, I guess." Clambering onto the large box, he hesitated before hopping onto one of the large buttons. He yipped as it sank beneath his feet. After a few seconds, though, he laughed and began hopping about as well. "This is fun!"

"I know, right! I don't even know why Seto gets so mad about this!" the rose fairy replied, bouncing about quite happily.

They continued to hop around the keyboard for quite some time, playing tag and just goofing off. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.

This one came to an end that could only be described as grumpy.

"—Can't believe they thought this outdated shit could ever do anything to my—WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Seto roared, feeling dirty, tired, and gross, even as he dropped the old metal briefcase on the floor.

Joey squealed and grabbed Yugi's hand, dragging him off the laptop and leaping into the air. The two fairies couldn't help giggling, however, as they fluttered out the window. "We'll come in for water and compost again soon!"

"Yeah, you better run!" the brunet snarled, rushing to the window to shake his fist after them.

Mokuba frowned and bent down to pick up the briefcase, grimacing at the mess on the ground; the maids would kill them for sure. "Relax, Seto. It's not like they were doing anything wrong. I locked the screen on the notepad."

Seto hissed and stomped over to his laptop, examining the screen for any software damage—because somehow, the mischievous Joey managed to screw something up every time whether or not the screen was locked to notepad or not—

"…Oh. My God," the brunet whispered.

"What?" The younger boy wandered over to look at his screen. Once he saw what his brother had exclaimed over, however, his jaw dropped as well. "Is that one of your firewall programs?"

The CEO nodded slowly. "Yes. There's a few typos and mistakes, but basically… yes."

"…We should have them tap dance on your laptop more often. This is amazing," Mokuba muttered in disbelief.

"…Fairies are taking over my fucking home-life. What the hell. This isn't what I imagined I'd be doing when I went to go get Mom and Dad's rosebush." Seto sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, instead just closing his laptop. "I'm going to take a nap. A very, very long nap."

The younger boy held up the mud-covered briefcase. "What should I do with this, Seto?"

"I don't know. Burn it? Sell it to a moron stupid enough to think that outdated crap could cripple my laptop? I don't care. I'm going to bed," Seto stated firmly. Nothing was going to stop him now. Nothing.