Seto was suffering after a very long night. Sleepless nights were part of his life. No stranger to him they usually came due to problems at work. However, after his first ‘taste’ of Toxic Pleasures his mind had been trouble for other reasons. He couldn’t decide which bothered him most; his actions or the fact that the white eyed one actually wanted him to come back. Nevertheless, he wasn’t sure he would ever return, how could he? That had to have been the most impersonal act he had ever committed in his life. Never before had he treated another person so thoughtlessly, at least not during sex, even he wasn't that crass. Sure, he had always kept people at arms length, but still...’

The door to his office slammed open without warning as Mokuba came storming in. Seto’s secretary looked in the door terrified. He nodded at her to close the door. “Good morning Mokuba. To what do I owe this pleasant visit?”

“Whatever.” Mokuba flopped in the nearest chair, “What were you doing at Toxic yesterday?”

That set him back; he closed his eyes trying to remember when Mokuba could have seen him? “I believe the policy states that would be between me and whomever I was or was not doing anything with.”

Mokuba snorted at him, “So what, was this a buyout attempt? Kaiba Corp going into the seedier line of toys? I’m sure you were there with some noble purpose in mind.” Blue gray eyes narrowed at Seto, “Or were you trying to check up on me, big brother?”

“Mokuba, for the last few months you’ve made it quite clear that you are now legally an adult. As I’m older than you, that makes me one as well. Therefore, as long as it doesn’t interfere with work, I don’t care what you do. I expect the same consideration from you.”

Mokuba looked his brother over, “Guess they don’t discriminate at Toxic after all, if they could find a room for you.” He stood before continuing, “I can just see it. Mirrored tiles, right? So you could see your own reflection no matter where you looked. That way you wouldn’t be all alone, while you jacked off. After all you’d never let someone get close enough for a fuck.”

Seto jumped up from his seat furiously, “You haven’t the slightest clue about me, and right now if you weren’t my brother...”

Mokuba, having already risen from his seat, walked to the door but smirked back at his brother, “You’d what? Throw me out the window?”

Seto stood there looking at the door after Mokuba slammed it behind him. Actually, he didn’t look at the door. He knew he was looking toward it, but through the blinding rage he tried to suppress, he couldn’t see much of anything. Pushing the intercom button on his desk, Seto told his secretary to hold his calls, no matter who was calling. He sat back down stunned at his brother’s words.

It took a long time to calm down again to the point where he didn’t feel like throwing something through the windows that seemed to suffocate him. Not that that would help, after all the windows were no longer made of glass but of one of the strongest see through materials on Earth. There would NOT be a repeat of what had happened long ago in this room. Seto had seen to that himself. Just because his adoptive father had once thought himself invincible didn’t mean Seto was unaware of his own mortality.

Seto got up, grabbed his coat and left his office. His secretary looked up when she heard the door swing open. “I’m leaving,” he told her. “Cancel everything today, take messages on all calls; you won’t be able to reach me.”

The girl just nodded taking notes as he left. “But what if Mr. Kaiba, the other Mr. Kaiba...”

“I’m out!” He looked back at her with an ‘I can freeze Hell over’ glare, suggesting that was the end of their conversation. He moved toward the elevator and pressed the button opening the doors. As they shut behind him, he reached over to press the garage button.

The elevator felt strangely claustrophobic. Even though he was alone, Seto felt like he was standing in a crowded room. No air, no room to move, and no reason to be there except that he was. He closed his eyes, imaging himself outside in a wide-open field.

Seto felt the elevator stop moving as it came to his floor. Stepping out of the elevator ha made his way over to the car. After getting in, he started the engine driving off with no destination in mind. He just knew he had to get out, away from what he had left behind. It surprised him then to find himself pulling up outside of Toxic Pleasures. He looked up at the building attempting to figure out what he was doing there.

Seto found himself walking in the front door of the building that housed Toxic for the second time in twenty-four hours. The girl at the front desk looked up as soon as she heard the door open. A smile lit up her face as if she was pleased to see him once again. It came to him that with all the money he had paid to walk in the place, he was her paycheck. Of course, she would be happy to see him.

“Good afternoon Sir and welcome back to Toxic Pleasures. Please slide your card at the door over there to enter. Enjoy your stay.”

Was it that easy? No questions asked this time, just enter? He was still waiting for the let down. Maybe this time when he walked through the door instead of the computers and machines he would find himself back outside while their laughter followed him. The truth was he knew that wouldn’t happen. Mokuba had been there enough times before for it to be a fraud. After swiping his card through the reader, the door in front of Seto opened admitting him. There at the desk in the middle of the room was the same woman from yesterday. The one with all the questions. Maybe she’d be the one with the answers today.

"Good afternoon, Sir. Your card please?” Seto handed her the plastic card he’d received the day before and watched as she inserted it into her terminal. "Please, have a seat I’ll just need a blood sample again. It will only take a moment.”

Seto started to protest, he wasn’t there for that. “I just wanted to ask you few questions. Nothing else.”

"Not a problem, but we will need to go to another room, in case someone else arrives and to do that I'll need a blood sample. No one leaves this room other than through the front door otherwise.” The both sat there in silence as she went through the process of collecting the droplets of blood and running them through the machinery. When he was cleared by the computer the woman buzzed someone else to take her place. “Please, follow me.” She got up, walked to the door and slid a small card of her own into the key slot.

Seto followed her through the door and down the hallway. It amused him slightly that she at least knew where she was going, for even though she was in heels and shorter legged than he, Seto had a time keeping up with her. She stopped short at one of the doors, “My ‘office’.” A quick key swipe and the door opened on a room like no office he had seen before. Seeing the look on his face she added, “I’m never in here, no need for frills.” The room was bare except for a chair, sofa and a bar. She threw a hand towards the furniture, “Have a seat. Would you like a drink?” She took his silence for a no, but poured herself something. Sitting down on the couch she asked him, “What did you want to know?”

Seto thought about that and then asked the most logical thing he could, “How honestly will you answer? Is it worth my time to even ask?”

“Within reason, as long as it doesn’t affect anyone’s privacy. I’ll answer anything you ask, if I can. Why would I lie? It’s not as though I need to sell our services to you. You came back; you’ll be back again, until you find whatever it is you need to find.”

He looked at her, “I don’t need anything.” Even as the words come out of his mouth, he didn’t believe it.

“You wouldn’t have come here, if you weren’t. That’s what this place is all about.”

Why was he there? It had started out for Mokuba’s sake and curiosity. However, he was back...even before, when he refused to believe he would, he knew he was lying to himself. It was sex, pure and simple. Okay, maybe not so simple but it was without attachment. That made things a lot easier, after all who wanted to deal with all the other shit that relationships came with. No questions, no making nice, no emotions needed, “Hmpf, perhaps I’m done looking?”

“Not yet you’re not,” she told him. “When you are, you won’t be back. But I think right now you found an outlet.”

This line wasn’t going anywhere, but Mokuba had said something earlier that raised another question. “Who designs the rooms around here? This one is a big difference from the one I saw last night.”

“Of course it is. I told you, I’m not in here much. The clients all get a room for themselves; you had a specific in mind last night, so we skipped over those details then. Part of the ‘dues’ of our club are for the maintenance of the systems but a lot of it is used for your own comfort. You can pick any unused room in the building, tell us the colors, style, whatever you want there and we’ll have it ready for you tomorrow. We try to use some of the answers you gave us yesterday to add to the décor, things you might need based on some of your preferences. Anything else you may want, just let us know. You can then place an ad in our paper or invite a ‘friend’ or two.”

“I’ll get back to you on that.” Seto got up, he was ready to leave feeling he had a least learned something. Maybe not what he planned on learning, but still, it was useful and had gotten him away from work and his brother for a while. They left the room and walked back down the hall to their original entrance. Going through the door, Seto ran straight into Mokuba as he was attempting to enter.

“You’re supposed to be at work,” he said leaving out the obvious observation that he should also be there.

“Fuck off. I’m going to. Excuse me, ladies.” Mokuba pushed past his brother their bodies brushing against each other.

Seto's eyes followed Mokuba until finally the door closed between them. Fists clinched at his side he stood starring at a door following his brother’s overly dramatic exit. He turned to exit through the other door but before going out he asked the one girl, “No limits on the rooms?”

“Whatever you want, so long as it’s legal.”

“Good I’ll let you know later tonight. I’ll be back then.” He had decided there was no way he was going to let Mokuba ruin this for him. Mokuba might have found the place first, but Seto felt he had found a place where he just might find what he had missed for the last several years...
 

onward