Interlude

Title: Interlude
Author: Haikari Archersight
Beta: Jeff
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh!/ Discworld
Rating: PG
Genre: Anime Crossover
Pairing(s): N/A
Spoilers: N/A
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
Summary: Seto and a friend sit down for a drink.
Authors Note: This ‘one-shot’ is actually part of a much larger story that is still only in the outline stage. No idea if it will ever get written.

This world is different. This is the Discworld and it is not as other worlds.
In the vast gulf between stars it alone progresses through space supported by four elephants that in turn stand upon the back of a giant turtle ten thousand miles long. The people of the Disc call the turtle Great A’tuin. What the turtle calls his or her self… is unknown.

This is not the strangest world to exist, but it is where this event takes place. It’s starting right now.

The house was cold. Seto and the other player sat in a darkened corner of the room, across from them crackled a fire in an ornate fireplace that cast odd and ominous shadows on the walls and did little to heat the large nearly empty room. What other furniture there was had been covered in white dust sheets at some point in time, creating a resemblance to a snow covered countryside.

The once CEO gazed for a time across his steapled hands at the still figure sitting across from him before finally speaking.

“Did you want tea or perhaps something stronger, before we play?” The offer would have once seemed out of character and, for the most part still was but Seto had come to the realization that small gestures such as this made interaction between people… easier.

“NOT TEA PLEASE. ALBERT IS ALWAYS MAKNG ME TEA, SOMETHING STRONGER IF YOU WOULD.” The words had no sounds to them, only intentions. Seto had long since become used to the chill of not hearing his… friend’s voice.

“PERHAPS WITH ONE OF THOSE UMBRELLAS IN IT, AND A PIECE OF FRUIT?”

“Of course.” He rose to stride to the small table set against the wall, his long white hooded cloak snapping like a live thing behind him.

This was one of their rituals that had come into being after they both discovered that having a drink or two under their belts make it far easier to play each other. Sometimes after Seto had his third drink the urge to bury his face in his hands and mumble to himself in frustration almost went away.

The tall brunet busied himself making something new that he considered appropriate for the other and something for him that he had wanted to try ever since he had come across it in an old bartenders book that he had found stuffed under the cushions in the ladies parlor down the hall. What he had been doing in the ladies parlor was his own business, thank you very much.

He smirked as he crossed the room again and took his place once more in the high backed darkly upholstered chair.

His companion regarded him for a moment before turning his attention to the frosted glass that now sat beside him.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO IT?” The cowled head gave the impression of trying to peer closer at the nifty little umbrella as if he suspected it of somehow being tampered with.

Seto’s smirk got a bit more pronounced as he answered the figure that is known throughout the multiverse as Death. “It’s called a Rigor Mortis, it seemed… appropriate.”

Death made a show of not reacting. “AH, HA HA, THAT IS MOST AMUSING.” A skeletal hand picked up the drink before plucking the piece of orange from the rim and appeared to eat it before pausing.

“MAY I ASK WHAT YOU ARE HAVING?” A robe made of absolute darkness whispered almost noiselessly as the figure now known as Death gestured at the drink in Seto’s hands.

“This?” Seto looked down to avoid the others blue gaze. “It’s called Dragons Poison; it’s a long time favorite of mine.” Seto would never admit it but when he looked full into the face of Death and saw twin blue stars burning in the recesses of his new rivals face he could feel himself leaning closer to see for himself what grim truths the lights in that darkness illuminated. He had found it very hard to lie to the other because of this although he was not sure Death was not just humoring him. He was supposed to know things before they happened after all; it was all just a matter of remembering it.

“AH… WELL, BOTTOMS UP THEN AS THEY SAY.” Death was not given to meddling in the affairs of others. Well… there was the time with that horse, but that ended up being his business anyway. It was always his business In The End.


Seto grimaced as he took a large gulp of his aptly named drink and gestured at the table to draw the others attention back to the matter before them. “It’s your turn this time.”

Death nodded and looked at the board before him before speaking. “YES THAT’S RIGHT, WHITE GOES FIRST.” He moved a pawn forward starting the game and the two played silently for a time.

The white cloaked figure was the first to speak. “You have gotten better since last we played. You have been practicing?” This was not really a question, he already knew the answer.

The other player paused. YES, MY MANSERVANT ALBERT AND I HAVE BEEN HAVING A GAME BEFORE HE RETIRES FOR THE EVENING. YOU CAN TELL?” The hollow non-voice could almost be called pleased.

Seto smirked and made another move before answering. “Yes, you don’t ask me how the knight moves anymore and it’s been sometime since you looked at the little book up your sleeve.

Death made no move toward the sleeve in question but there was a suggestion hanging in the air that perhaps as soon as he returned to his own house he would make sure to bury any books with the words chess and or strategy under the sofa that no one actually used in the sitting room. To keep them safe of course, you never knew when some thief would sneak into ones house and take ones entire section on games with him when he left.

Death decided to change the subject. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN GETTING ON? NO FURTHER PROBLEMS SETTLING IN? There… that sounded like a suitable question for a friend and patron to ask.

Seto sat back before considering the question in depth. His first few weeks on the Disc had been, to put it bluntly, pure chaos. He had no idea where he was and had a totally erroneous idea of how he got there so he treated it as a VR game and made moves to secure a position and conquer the board as it were.

From the other players on the ‘board’ this had seemed like very threatening moves from what could be considered a new and inexperienced player. To take that comparison a bit further, so many players on various levels of the game tried to counter Seto at the same time they ended up making so much ruckus (and dead people) that Death himself turned up to see what the problem was. He still didn’t seem sure what to make of it.

Seto rested his chin on his fist while he considered what had gone before and all future moves he must make in his efforts to return to the world of his birth. If nothing else he felt as he had always felt, Mokuba’s safety and happiness were his first concern and if he could do that from here…well. He would have to see.

Seto leaned forward to checkmate Death in their first game of the evening. “I think I will be just fine. Can I get you another drink?”

END

Finished Jan/15/2005

Happy Birthday Obsidian!

Drinks Mentioned

Rigor Mortis
Fill glass with ice
1 ½ oz Vodka
1oz Amaretto
Fill glass with equal parts Orange and Pineapple Juice.
Shake. Garnish with an Orange and or a Pineapple wedge. Use umbrella only in an emergency.

Dragons Poison
One part Cherry Liqueur
One part Jack Daniels
One part Triple Sec
Two parts Smirnoff Black Vodka
Three parts cola

Put all ingredients into shaker except cola.
Shake and pour in a tall glass over ice (can do without ice if one wants)
Gently pour cola on top. Add a slice of lemon or lime to garnish.