I have two other stories in progress. What am I doing? Why am I doing this to myself? Because I'm clearly an idiot, that's why. I don't know what's going on, but I've been struggling with writer's block lately, and theme challenges seem to help since you can really do anything with the themes. This particular theme challenge is the 100 Prompt Couples Challenge by VWG on deviantart. Well…without further ado, let's throw ourselves headfirst into this theme challenge!

Oh, side not before we begin. This theme takes place during Alissa's senior year of college. She's been at school since August, so her and Seto haven't seen each other in person for over two months. It's also Seto's birthday. '…' are text messages and "…" is dialogue. Read and enjoy!

"Hey, Seto," Alissa greeted excitedly when the brunet's face appeared on her computer screen.

"Hello, Alissa," Seto replied with a small smile. They both had been looking forward to their video call all week.

"How are you, Seto? How is everything going with the new VR pods?"

"The production went better than I expected so we're ahead of schedule. I'll be starting with the beta testing next week. Release is expected to be sometime in early December."

"Really? Seto, that's great! I can't wait to see how they turn out."

"Mm, how were your midterms?"

"They were great. I mean, I'm pretty sure my blood is mostly caffeine now, but they went well."

"That's good to hear."

"So what are you doing on Saturday?"

His brows creased in confusion. Saturday? What was on Saturday?

"You aren't going into work are you?"

"Of course, I'm going into work. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because it's your birthday, idiot."

Her statement caught him by surprise. He hadn't even realized that his birthday was so close. He had been so focused on the production of the VR pods for the past few weeks that he'd lost track of what day it was.

"You forgot about your birthday?"

"I'm the President of a major gaming corporation, I've had other things on my mind that are a little more important."

"Your day of birth is important."

"My birthday was never something we celebrated while Gozaburo was around. It wasn't even something we talked about."

"God, I hate your adoptive father."

"Hmph, yeah. So did the majority of the planet."

"So, I guess it's out of the question to ask you to take the day off?"

"Your guess is correct. I'm ahead with the VR pods and I'd like it to stay that way."

"What if you just went in late?"

He massaged the bridge of his nose in slight irritation. He hated when she got like this. He knew that everything she said was coming from a good place, but she still didn't seem to understand how much work was required to keep a company going. She probably never would.

"I don't know, Alissa. There's still so much to do before the pods are released. It's not that big a deal. It's just a regular day."

"It's more than that. It's the day the man I love came into this world."

His cheeks flushed slightly. Although he was getting better with expressing emotions since they had gotten back together, he sometimes still got a little uncomfortable when she was being sentimental.

"Stop saying such embarrassing things."

"It's just you and me, there's no reason to be embarrassed." She sighed and rested her head in the palm of her hand. "I wish I could be there this weekend. I'm sorry I can't be."

"Don't apologize. You're education is important. Seto Kaiba doesn't associate with the uneducated."

"Hm, charming. I just feel bad. You took off to come visit me in New York on my birthday."

"Well that's because your birthday is important and I was going to be in New York anyway."

"I just miss you. I really want to see you."

"You've got a little more than a month left of the term. You'll be home soon."

"I know, but that doesn't make the time go by any faster."

"I always seem to forget that patience is a virtue you lack."

"Warning. That's a warning."

He was about to respond with a comeback of his own when his cellphone rang. He looked at the caller id, rolled his eyes, and then pressed the phone to his ear.

"What is it?" There was a brief pause before he started yelling into the phone. "What? That was supposed to be done last week! Why am I just hearing about this now? You'd better have a reason for why it isn't done by the time I get there!" He ended the call with a huff.

"Is everything okay?"

"No. Once again, I'm expected to fix what my employees messed up. The email was never sent out to our beta testers so now we have no one to test the VR pods next week. I'm sorry I have to cut this call short, but I need to go into the office."

"It's okay. Just get the problem sorted out and call me this weekend okay? I love you."

"I love you too."

"Oh, and in case I don't talk to you before Saturday, Happy Birthday."

He offered her a brief, tired smile before ending the video call. Once the video call ended, a smile of her own crept onto her face. Yes! He doesn't expect a thing, she thought in excitement. He phone vibrated next to her. Text Message from Little Kaiba. She read the message and her smile grew.

'Operation Make Seto's Birthday Not Suck is a go. Your driver is waiting do drive you to the airport.'

'Let's do this, Mokuba.'

xxx

Seto yawned and rolled over onto his side. He glanced at the clock and then sat up with a start. He had overslept. Why hadn't his alarm gone off? He reached for his cellphone to call Roland and growled in irritation when he found it missing from his bedside table. The fuck? Where the hell is my phone? He realized that spending time searching for his phone would put him even more behind schedule and decided he'd ask Mokuba about it later. He was sure that was where it was because this scheme was just like something Mokuba would do to keep him from going into work. He hurried through his morning routine, grabbed his briefcase from the desk in his home office, and headed downstairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice asked as he passed the living room.

Seto stopped and turned around to find Alissa standing in the doorway.

"Alissa?"

"Hi, Seto."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to celebrate your birthday, idiot. I got in last night. Surprise."

"Alissa, you didn't have to do this. I appreciate that you flew all the way out here, but I have a lot to do today. I have to go into the office-."

"No you don't. Mokuba went in so you could spend the day with me."

"And I assume he's the one who is behind my alarm not going off and my missing cell phone."

"Actually no, those were both me. I've got your cellphone hidden so you aren't tempted to use it. There is absolutely no work allowed for you today."

"Alissa, I need my cellphone in case there's an emergency-."

"If there's an emergency, Mokuba can handle it. He's VP for a reason. Now are you going to just stand there making up excuses for why you have to go into work or are you going to act like you're happy to see me?"

He thought about it for a moment. I guess one day wouldn't hurt. He approached her and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, Alissa."

She pulled back from their embrace to kiss him lightly on the mouth.

"Happy Birthday, Seto."

Well there we go. The first theme is completed. This one was kind of weird, mostly because love is such an abstract and nonspecific concept. Also, I just edited it and resubmitted it. I read it, liked it, and then published it. Then I read it again to make sure the line breaks worked, realized I hated it, then edited it and uploaded it again. I like it better this way and hopefully ya'll do too. I mean it still feels a little off, but I think I'm just a little rusty with writing Seto since he was dead for so many chapters in This Is Our Story. Let me know what you think and I'll talk to ya'll soon.