Title: Boys Chase Boys
Summary: In a playful attempt to get the presidents of his top two tech companies to stop their long, "unnecessary" feud, Pegasus throws a mandatory party for all of his corporate partners and top investors. As soon as Siegfried of the Schroeder Corp arrives, the atmosphere goes from pleasant to downright dreadful. How can Pegasus ever get his two best partners to get along? Especially when Seto Kaiba is so horribly stubborn?
Contains: Yaoi, Lemon, Pegasus being Mischievous
Pairing: Seto X Siegfried
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or ANY of the characters.
Author's Note: I was commissioned to write a new fic with this pairing—but that's really just a great excuse to break out the old Rosenshipping! Will be a three/four part fic :)
( ) ( ) ( )
Pegasus leaned back at his desk, rubbing his temples and groaning as the two CEOs of his top two companies argued back and forth over video chat on the screen in front of them. He had had a large project in mind, wanting to combine the Schroeder Corp's newest, creative innovations and Kaiba Corp's reliable, patented technology.
He knew the conversation would eventually dissolve into a fight—the two boys being as different as oil and water—but he hadn't expected it to start so soon.
Something about the rose-haired gentleman really set Kaiba-boy off. As soon as Pegasus made his proposal, Kaiba started laying on insult after insult that Siegfried tried to ignore—for the sake of being professional—before he lost his temper and started screaming, sometimes in English, most often in German.
"How can you expect me to work with him!? You really have lost your edge, Pegasus. That man ruined my tournament! Why would I ever agree to work with him?"
"What happened to your tournament was your own fault! How could you not recognize the face of your own rival company!?"
"Kaiba Corp has no rivals! We're number one in the industry—there's no second best!"
"My products sell! My products are affordable to everyone! How can you say I'm not at least second best!?"
"At least? Your company is worthless—I've seen your reports. You're losing money. If it weren't for Pegasus losing his mind and buying into your pathetic company, you would've gone under years ago!"
"At least I have culture!" Of course, Siegfried was the one to make it personal. Kaiba never wanted anything to be personal. He probably would've liked it if the public began to believe that he was really a hologram born of a super computer, no past, no history.
"Culture!? You sabotaged my tournament and made a fool of yourself and your brother! How can you call that cultured?"
"I was sick!"
"Of course someone 'cultured' like you would consider being stupid and jealous a sickness."
"I was sick!" Siegfried's tone finally broke away from stern and began to sound hurt. If Kaiba pushed him much further, Pegasus knew his plan would never work. He had to get them to stop…but they were both so stubborn.
"You're crazy."
"I was sick…"
"Sick in the head."
"Stop it, both of you!" Pegasus shouted. "Or you'll both be dropped when contract time comes and I'll go to Fenz Incorporated!"
"Who the hell is Fenz Incorporated?" Kaiba snapped.
"They're run out of America. They make knock-off reproductions of your Duel Disks. Where do you think people keep getting specialized Duel Disks from?" Siegfried asked. His tone was still low, showing that his feelings were still hurt. Pegasus had a feeling that there was something more going on under the surface of Siegfried's rivalry with Kaiba Corp. Maybe it all started with his father's verbal abuse and excessive pushing—telling him he had to defeat the Kaiba's or prove that he was nothing but a useless mistake—but it has escalated from obsession to what looked like admiration.
"I always figured they were coming from you. It would be just like you to work with other snakes," Kaiba muttered. "But I guess you can't even get crooks to do business with you."
Pegasus' stomach sank as he watched Siegfried's eyes fill with hurt. He tried to think of something to say, opening his mouth but then closing it immediately and shaking his head, pink bangs swaying back and forth. A second later, his chat window turned black and he'd signed off.
"Do you see now why I told you that working with him was impossible?" Kaiba muttered.
"Working with you is impossible," Pegasus said, losing his humor. "Sieggy-boy is delightful. He's young, he's motivated—"
"I'm younger than him and I have to say, Pegasus, I think I have more motivation. I took my company. He inherited it after his father lost his mind."
"Siegfried is creative. He has good ideas. That's why I wanted him in on this project. If you can't work with him, I have no more reasons to work with you. The deal is off."
Pegasus ended the chat, not at all meaning that he would really let the project fall into the waste bin. He just liked to see Kaiba's eyes widen when he realized he wouldn't be allowed to take over the entire plan and could possibly lose millions of dollars.
Once Kaiba was gone, Pegasus tried to get Siegfried to take another call but the German declined. He waited for over an hour before trying again, but Siegfried didn't respond to any of the video requests, phone calls, or emails.
Pegasus realized he was going to have to try something else.
( ) ( ) ( )
Siegfried stared at the invitation that had been carefully laid on his desk by his secretary. It had come in a large, black envelope—odd when Industrial Illusions had always used white—and had gold-trimmed engravings around the edges. The invitation itself was made of high-quality card stock, the same black as the envelope, and was written on in elegant, white script.
It was beautiful—but then again, everything Pegasus put effort into was beautiful. There were so many cards that Siegfried had saved and never used, just to frame—just to have the artwork safe in his possession.
The invitation told him that he was going to be attending an evening dinner party at Pegasus' castle at Olde Duelists' Kingdom.
Olde Duelists' Kingdom… Pegasus was starting to have a midlife crisis and it was showing…
None of the pretty, white lettering prepared him for how forceful the invitation truly was. Apparently, if Siegfried chose not to appear at the party, their contracts would immediately be void.
Siegfried couldn't risk that. Pegasus really was the only steady business Schroeder Corp had was Industrial Illusions.
But it wasn't like Siegfried to turn down a party invitation. He was sociable when he wasn't having a manic fit. Large parties were just another way to network and meet more influential people—maybe even a date for once. He was so tired of being on his own.
(He tried to convince himself that the reason he was single was because of his dedication to his work and his limited amount of time in the sun, bur really it was because his heart was already busy being fixated on someone…)
Siegfried had a feeling this part might have something to do with his refusal to answer any of Pegasus' calls after the incident with Kaiba, but he wasn't going to let himself dwell on it. The only question he wanted to have in mind was what he should wear to get the most attention—possibly even appearing better dressed than Pegasus himself.
( ) ( ) ( )
Kaiba growled to himself the whole flight to the "Olde" Duelists' Kingdom. He took the helicopter as per Pegasus' request, but insisted that he fly his own. The last thing he needed was Pegasus playing some trick and leaving him stranded on the damned island. He even had a boat ready to come get him if he called. There was no way Pegasus was going to keep him on the island any longer than necessary.
He had been unable to get Pegasus to take him off the guest least, even though he complained as much as he could. He hated parties. There were too many people trying to touch him and talk to him. He just wanted left alone—he wanted to work, not converse with busybodies. He was a businessman, not a socialite.
When he landed the helicopter, three of Pegasus' servants immediately appeared to usher him inside the large, yellow fortress. Kaiba almost screamed when the first thing his eyes lit on in the reception area was a mess of pink hair.
Siegfried…
"Oh, good, Kaiba-boy. You made it," Pegasus said, approaching Kaiba with a wine glass in hand.
"You didn't give me much choice," Kaiba said bitterly. "What's he doing here?"
"Well, you ruined our conference call, so this was the only way I could get ahold of him," Pegasus said, grinning and taking a sip of wine.
"He's that much of a drama queen, huh?" Kaiba asked, narrowing his eyes as he met Siegfried's gaze from across the reception hall.
"Well of course! Just look at that outfit."
"Did he darken his hair just to match that suit?" Kaiba asked, only engaging in trivial gossip in hopes that it would make Pegasus let him leave sooner.
"Maybe. Sometimes I think his hair changes with his mood. When he was younger it was darker than Leon's is now."
"How fascinating," Kaiba muttered.
"You owe him an apology, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said, grinning.
"I don't owe him anything. He ruined my tournament and you signed him on as a partner! The one who deserves an apology is me."
"You lost that right when you refused to entertain my proposal. I want you and Sieggy-boy to get along and work with me on my new project! That can't happen if you upset him so much he won't take my calls."
"Maybe he shouldn't be so sensitive. I run a business, not a counseling service. If he can't handle some criticism, he doesn't deserve to work with me."
"Apologize to him, Kaiba-boy, or you lose your contract with me and I'll give it to him. That new and improved duel system you've got in the works?—will never happen." Pegasus shrugged nonchalantly and looked across the reception hall at Siegfried who was hiding by the champagne bar.
"What would I even say? That I'm sorry he's insane and ruined my tournament?"
"That's you're sorry you're too uncivilized to handle a video conference and that you'd be honored to work with his creative genius on my project."
Kaiba rolled his eyes and shouldered past Pegasus into the crowd in the reception hall. There was no chance he'd actually apologize, but he'd make peace in his own words. He had no choice.
( ) ( ) ( )
Siegfried couldn't help but cringe when he spotted Seto Kaiba walking toward him. It was the first time they were together face to face since the botched tournament and he had a lingering fear that Kaiba was going to break every bone in his body. Why had Pegasus forced him to come here? Kaiba couldn't even bear to have a telechat with him—what was he going to do now that they were here in one room together?
"Look, you snake, if I know anything about Pegasus—and I'm convinced I know a lot more than you—he's got you cornered. Either we work on this stupid fantasy project of his or he terminates our contracts."
"He can't just back out of a contract," Siegfried mumbled, trying to make himself sound arrogant, trying to sound smug, but he couldn't. He was still embarrassed about what he'd done.
"Who's to stop him?" Kaiba asked.
"It's not a difficult project," Siegfried said. "The hardest part is working in close proximity to you."
"Don't act so confident. You were practically crying when you ended the video conference. I know the kind of person you are."
Siegfried sighed and bowed his head. He felt that Pegasus could've asked any company—and lone company—to complete his project. He didn't need Kaiba Corp or Schroeder Corp, and he definitely didn't need them together. Pegasus planned this whole thing. Perhaps it was his form of punishment, to irritate Kaiba for always questioning Pegasus's motives and to torture Siegfried for turning a Duel Monsters tournament into a horrible disaster.
"It's an easy job. With your technology, we can probably have a prototype ready in less than six months." Whenever he'd been backed into corners before, by his father or anyone else, Siegfried always knew flattery to work best. "I do have some ideas…"
"I can do this on my own. Knowing you, you'll try to find some way to sabotage me."
"I would not! I'm back on my medication," Siegfried said, not without a degree of humiliation.
"So you admit that you're crazy."
"I was sick!" Siegfried yelled.
"Whatever. You can give yourself whatever kind of excuse you want, you're still a failure."
"What you think of me doesn't matter! Pegasus wants us to work together on this project, and I'm not going to let your judgments and your tasteless attitude make me lose my partnership with him!"
"I'll work with you, but if you try to sabotage me, I'll burry your pathetic company."
"Fine," Siegfried said. "I have no interest in ruining your company. My reputation is bad enough as it is. Let's just… Let's just get this over with, alright?"
Siegfried held out his hand for Kaiba to shake, partly for show so Pegasus would see and stop watching them likes hawks from across the room—and partly to feel Kaiba's skin against his own.
They'd met before, as children. They'd shook hands then. Siegfried remembered meeting Seto Kaiba's gaze for the first time. Those blue eyes. They were perfectly blue, not like his own—not muddled with yellows or greens.
Siegfried had seen many beautiful people, even by that point in his life. Though Kaiba's eyes had stricken him to the core, he would've forgotten them within weeks if not for his father. If his father didn't force him to constantly have Seto Kaiba in his mind, he would've found other blue eyes to look at and think about—obsess over and long for.
It was horrible to have to compete with Seto. He was brilliant—he grew to be handsome and powerful. He was everything Siegfried had ever wanted…
His father made him obsessed with Kaibas—those blue eyes made him obsessed with Seto…
Obsession, fascination, madness…
"Fine."
Siegfried's heart fluttered in his chest when Kaiba grasped his hand and shook it, firmly like a real businessman. It would be a lie if Siegfried said he didn't blush.
( ) ( ) ( )
Kaiba growled deep in his throat as he approached the large, grey, stone castle. Pegasus was forcing him to work with Siegfried in the Von Schroeder labs. That meant Kaiba was forced to go to the Schroeder castle. The guy lived in a damned castle! It was like he and Pegasus were extensions of the same being—long hair, effeminate mannerisms, flashy castles. It was no wonder Pegasus was so found of the pink-haired freak.
"Herr Kaiba?" asked a woman standing by the massive front doors of the castle.
"Who else?" Kaiba replied.
"Herr Schroeder wartet auf Sie," the woman said, opening the door and leading Kaiba inside. He didn't think it would help if he told her he didn't speak German, but what she wanted was self-explanatory. Her boss was expecting him…
Kaiba was led through hallway after hallway until finally he approached a pair of massive, carved wooden doors. The servant knocked and announced him before opening the door and leading him inside. Kaiba was surprised that beyond the old-fashioned, classic doors lie an almost modern office.
Siegfried had been on the phone with someone, but as soon as his eyes met Kaiba's, he abruptly ended the conversation and hung up the phone.
"How nice of you to join me, Herr Kaiba. You're two days late."
"I left when I had the time to waste on you and this project. Now stop wasting my time complaining. What have you finished?"
"Always so impatient, Herr Kaiba," Siegfried said, all of his smugness back in his attitude now that he was in his own home. "Come, I have some things to show you."
Siegfried stood up from his desk and flipped a long lock of his hair over his shoulder in one fluid motion. He was so…effeminate. The more he spoke, the more he moved, Kaiba began to wonder if Siegfried weren't actually a woman. He wondered how flustered he could get Siegfried to become if he asked.
It was an inappropriate question, but it would be worth it to get that arrogance out of Siegfried's tone as he showed Kaiba into his makeshift lab. There wasn't much that could be done with the space since it was housed in a castle—a cold, damp, temperamental castle—but it still served its purpose. There were schematics and charts hung on almost every wall, bits of wire and metal fragments piled in odd spaces on the floor, and there was some large computer in the dead center of the room. Nothing was organized, nothing looked elegant and graceful like the rest of the German CEO's appearance or style.
Perhaps he actually could do work. Who would've guessed?
"We both know Pegasus is a very…particular person. When he has an idea, he wants it to turn out the way he envisioned it—and he'll never let on about what he has in mind because he'd rather watch us squirm than lend a hand in design," Siegfried said, starting up the computer and unlocking it with keycard and password combination. "I've managed to show him some designs that he wants me to combine, but I don't know the best way to combine them or how I could wire it to work. That's not my specialty."
"So what you're telling me is you got electrocuted working on your last project and that's why you act like a woman." Kaiba held back his smirk when he was the look of pure irritation and rage cross Siegfried's face.
"I would be careful if I were you, Herr Kaiba. You're in my home now, and if you make me mad I can just walk off and you'll be lost for hours trying to find your way back to the door."
"I have an iconographic memory. I don't get lost. If I got here, I know the way back. So unless you have walls that move, I'm not too worried."
Siegfried glared at him and then turned his focus back to his computer. As much as Kaiba hated to admit it, Siegfried did have a lot of design ideas that would easily please Pegasus. Too often Kaiba had been told that his old duel towers and duel arenas were too modern and too unappealing to the eye. Siegfried, it seemed, knew how to make technology look stylish and yet approachable and sleek. When he thought of Siegfried designing technology, he pictured frills and lace and bows crafted from steel—not rounded edges and aerodynamic ridges.
"Hm. Not bad," Kaiba said, pleased when the German didn't get all emotional when he was finally given a compliment. "It's definitely the kind of design that would please Pegasus."
"It needs work," Siegfried said, almost in resignation as he brought up a horrible circuit chart on the computer screen.
"That will never work. Ever," Kaiba said, almost cringing at the horrible schematic. "It's no wonder Pegasus wanted me here. You haven't tried to make this work yet, have you?"
"No. I had a feeling it would short itself out and ruin the board. The ones I have are expensive. I can't afford to go through more ten of them on a project."
"Ten? You've burned through ten boards on projects before?"
"More than ten," Siegfried muttered. Kaiba rolled his eyes. It really was no wonder Pegasus wanted him here to babysit. Siegfried was likely to get himself electrocuted or set his entire house on fire if someone didn't check his work. It was a wonder the guy was still alive when he came up with charts like that.
"That adaptor isn't even strong enough for this kind of device. You need to triple it—maybe even more than that."
"Oh?" Siegfried said, his tone a little too agreeable. Kaiba began to feel suspicious. There was no way the Schroeder Corp had made it so far if Siegfried was really that incompetent. Was he really just playing dumb?
Either way, Kaiba was glad Siegfried was stepping aside and letting him work. This whole visit would be so much worse if Siegfried fought every one of his moves and ideas. Playing dumb beat being wrong and stubborn about it.