Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. The song Splendor in the Grass belongs to Pink Martini.
Claimer: The little brunette is mine, and so is the story.
Notes: Set when Jou is 23 and Seto is 24.
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Jou was tired of the same routine over and over. He lay on the sunny side of a grassy hill halfway between the high school and Kame Game Shop. He closed his eyes as he heard Seto sit down next to him.
"Tch." The noise Jou made was amused rather than sarcastic.
"Hn." Seto responded, no real emotion behind it, more an acknowledgement that the other was there.
The brunet shifted so he was laying on his back like Jou, his eyes also closed.
The pair had been visiting the same spot on sunny days for two years. The first time had caused a fight that led to a half-confession from both young men before they decided it was best to enjoy the time together.
"I can see you're thinking baby
I've been thinking too
About the way we used to be
And how to start anew," sang a nearby set of portable speakers, from where a little girl sat braiding a chain of dandelions.
Jou cracked an eye open and glanced at Seto who was looking at the clouds but seeming to see past them somehow and mouthing the words to the song. Seto was a Pink Martini fan?
But the lyrics did hold a significance. Jou thought of their high school rivalry -how far away it seemed now- and how he'd really like to be with the less-icy-than-before CEO.
Jou closed his eyes and started to mouth the lyrics too, he knew them backwards and forwards.
"Maybe I'm a hopeless dreamer
Maybe I've got it wrong
But I'm going where the grass is green
If you'd like to come along," the speakers continued to produce the sounds that the wind floated up to the pair of boys.
Maybe Seto didn't really feel the same way though, maybe he didn't want to start over. Maybe Jou was just nuts. But hey, the grass was soft, the quickly setting sun was warm, the breeze made the temperature just perfect, and Seto was there.
Jou worried his lip a little while Seto kept mouthing the lyrics, though the blond couldn't see it.
"Back when I was starting out
I always wanted more
But every time I got it
I still felt just like before
Fortune is a fickle friend
I'm tired of chasing fame
And when I look into your eyes
I know you feel the same,"
Duel Monsters had really gone to his head, he'd just wanted his fifteen minutes. Whenever he won he started looking for another opponent. It never satisfied him, never quenched his desires. But money had turned out to not be all it was cracked up to be and he was tired of chasing down titles in tournaments.
Jou turned to look at Seto and saw a pair of cobalt eyes staring straight back into his copper.
Seto felt exactly what Jou did. They turned back to the sky, but unconsciously scooted closer.
"All these years of living large
Are starting to do us in
I won't say it wasn't fun
But now it has to end
Life is moving oh-so-fast
I think we should take it slow
Rest our heads upon the grass
And listen to it grow,"
Jou agreed one hundred percent and then some. It was time to call the life of stardom quits and to do something else he enjoyed. If they kept it up, it would destroy them from the inside out. They'd had a good run, and maybe they could do a comeback later, but it was time to just relax now.
Shizuka and Mokuba were already in college. Yugi and Atem had recently been married. Anzu and Mai were starring in some Broadway musical or another. Ryuji and Honda had begun developing a painless tattoo needle. Kuro and Ryou were in England, studying for degrees in archeology. And God only knew where Malik and Marik had gotten off to. Seto's business deals made one day blend with another until he wasn't sure whether it was week or weekend. And Jou's volunteering at the local orphanage was causing time to fly.
Jou took Seto's hand and laced their fingers loosely. They simply lay back as the sun began to set on them and the little brunette was packing up her flower chains. Silence and the pair could almost hear the grass grow like the song said.
They just stayed there like that, opening their eyes for the sunset, sitting up and Jou leaning on Seto and resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder. Then the sky was black and away from downtown, the stars were coming out.
"Going where the hills are green
And the cars are few and far
Days are full of splendor
And at night you can see the stars
Life's been moving oh-so-fast
I think we should take it slow
Rest our heads upon the grass
And listen to it grow."
There was no road that came within a mile of the hill, and they seldom went past anyway. The boys' days in the sun were always perfect and the stars were a treat. The grass was happy and healthy and green beneath them.
And then the pair lay back to point to constellations and listen to the grass. The little brunette was long gone by then.
"Seto?" asked Jou softly, curled into the older boy's side.
"Yes Jou?"
"I love you."
"I love you too Jou." Said the brunet, kissing the top of the blond's head.
And underneath them, the grass continued to grow.
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Started: 11/15/09
Finished: 11/15/09
Alright, this is chapter one in my Pink Martini series. I like it. But that doesn't mean you have to.