Yay! This is my valentines fic! Its actually for a contest for the Puppyshipping Group on facebook! I'm really in it for some fun but hey! Winning might be a bonus XD
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Valentines day.
Or Singles Awareness day.
Joey snorted to himself at the thought, thinking about the other name for one of the most well-known 'holidays' around. It reminded him a lot of birthdays, how he and Tristan had discussed about calling it Escape the Womb day. All fun and games until Tristan had given him a card stating that, with a picture of a baby clawing its way out of a woman's…
He slammed a palm against his head, earning himself bewildered expressions from everyone around him as he tried desperately to get rid of the image. He wished he could claw his eyes out, but then he'd see nothing but black and the image of that… that scarring card being burned forever in front of his eyes.
Looking to his right, Joey shot Tristan a glare and gave him the two fingered salute, wishing he could shove the card down Tristan's throat and force him to choke on it.
Asshole.
After contemplating how he should murder Tristan, Joey realised that essentially, he was absolutely bored. Intensely bored. So bored he could literally attempt to hold a conversation with Seto Kaiba if it gave him something to do. In fact…
Joey gave the boy he was sitting next to a sly grin as he wondered just how much Seto would hate english after he was through driving him insane. It wasn't their fault they'd been forced to sit by each other. In fact, wasn't there some special rule the principal had made up about that? Eh, why did he care? Seto would be interesting to talk too… maybe… if he responded.
So he had three choices. One, pretend that everything he'd just thought hadn't been thought up and he would go back to staring aimlessly at the roof waiting for the dreaded period to end so he could run home… .and probably violently rip apart a couple on his way… namely Yugi and Yami. Or two, he could attempt to hold a completely demeaning conversation with Seto that would start off funny but end in tears. Or lastly, he could try to once again to have a conversation with Seto and try being civil.
For some reason, the last one sounded like a challenge. And for some reason, Joey liked challenges.
Hey.
Seto looked down at the piece of paper slid in front of him, a familiar untidy scrawl written across it. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, the brunet took a look at the blond beside him, watching in mild amusement as Joey stared with uncommon attention at the board, one elbow on the desk with his palm cupping his face as it to keep it from dropping while the other hand lay across the desk, bent at the wrist as he jiggled a blue ben between his middle and index finger. Funny that, the writing was in blue.
With a uninterested sigh, Seto looked away and spared a peer for the teacher before scribbling down an answer and pushing it back in front of Joey.
What?
The blond cocked his head to the side with puzzlement at the simple word, his jiggling of the pen going faster in his hand as he thought of what to say. Across the gap between their desks, Tristan gave him an odd look, slightly concerned as he saw Joeys jiggling becoming faster. Not only did that happen when he was thinking, but also when he was extremely agitated. As soon as the blond glanced his way, the other spike-headed brunet mouth "Okay?" in his direction, earning a nod in response.
No hello?
What do you want.
Joey frowned again as the paper was shoved back in front of him within seconds, the brunet obviously annoyed and not interested. He pursed his lips as he contemplated what to write, his fingers once again jiggling the pen. Tristan gave him another worried look but he pointedly ignored it as he jotted down his reply.
How are you?
Like you care.
What if I do?
Joey held his breath as he watched Setos reaction out of the corner of his eye, slightly surprised when he saw a flicker of amusement appear on the brunets face before he glanced away from the paper, looking out the nearby window obviously thinking about what to write.
Leaving Joey to think.
He wondered if Seto got lots of valentine gifts. Maybe he should ask in the next note? He, himself, got a fair few each year. Not that it wasn't expected to be honest, Joey may appear modest but it wasn't like he knew he was attractive. And it wasn't like he couldn't ignore the occasional swooning girl who would try ask him out but would freak out and run away blushing and stammering out some sort of excuse. Not to mention he got a few from his friends, of course all platonic considering most of them already had their own romantic valentines, but he could always count on Yugi and Tea at the least to shove an overly sparkly red card at him each year.
He smiled as he thought of the multiple cards polluting his bag with glitter at the moment, plus the yellow rose that Tea had given him as a sign of friendship. He truly loved his friends for their compassion, and he liked the people around the school that thought he was worthy to send a valentines card too… but he honestly want a valentine. A real valentine. A romantic valentine.
"Mr Wheeler? Joey?"
The blonds head snapped up and his eyes widened comically, earning giggles from multiple people in the room as he stared up at the teacher looking down at him, her eyebrow raised.
"Y-Yes Ms Tollison?" he stuttered out, blushing up to the tips of his hair. Ms Tollison smiled sweetly.
"Zoned out were we?" asked the older lady, making Joey grin and give her a nod.
"Sorry… I didn't mean too!" he protested, thankful not for the first time that Ms Tollison was one of the nice teachers.
"Oh thats alright! I'm assuming its that special someone is it? It is the day of love after all." She gave a small, bittersweet sigh before patting Joeys head lightly. "I won't ask you the question then, how about you Seto?"
Not for the first time, Joey and practically everyone else in the class flinch when Ms Tollison addressed Seto by his first name. But they all instantly relaxed when Seto just gave the older lady a small smile that always seemed to be reserved for her and mumbled out "of course".
See, it'd been a surprise at the start of the year to find out that their english and occasional substitute teacher was not only a older lady, but also knew Seto personally. Of course, no one had known that until she'd addressed him by his first name and instead of being ripped to shreds like most teachers, she was just given a smile and a polite answer. It'd taken a week after the first time that happened, and everyone had gotten over their panic attacks, for them to find out that Ms Tollison was in fact one of Setos main caregivers from when he and Mokuba had been at the orphanage.
Funny how things work out isn't it?
"Alright then, who was Cupid in love with, Seto?"
"Psyche," was the polite response as Seto gave her another gentle smile. Ms Tollison inclined her head gracefully before wandering off back to the front of the class, determined to spread more valentines cheer with her rambling about Greek and Roman myths. Seto knew them all, knew each way she told them having being educated by her when he was at the orphanage so he chose to stare out the window once again and wait patiently for Joeys response.
After the blond shook himself out of the shocked state he'd been in, along with everyone else at seeing the smile on Setos face, he glanced down and spotted the paper he'd been writing on sitting in front of him, a sentence in Setos neat curvy writing underneath his own barely intelligible mess.
I doubt you truly care Wheeler, not many do.
All thoughts of asking about if Seto had gotten any valentines left Joeys head as he re-read the sentence, frowning as he realised how lonely it seemed Seto was.
I do. I promise. So how are you really?
Lonely.
How come?
Its valentines Wheeler. Whats valentines usually about?
Crazy teachers prattling on about either a bunch of half naked people have romantic couplings or allowing us to have make-out sessions in the back of the classroom while they gush over their boyfriends?
It made a grin appear on Joeys face when he saw the flash of amusement cross Setos face and the silent chuckle slip out of his lips. The brunet raised his stunning blue eyes to clash with Joeys own golden brown before handing the paper back to him.
Idiot dog.
Joey laughed at the insult. It wasn't a harsh insult, not at all, in fact it could almost count as an affectionate insult. Especially with the way Seto had been smiling as he wrote it, and the way he took his time writing it. Once again across from him, Tristan raised his head from where he'd been doodling and gave Joey a frown and confused look, receiving a shaking of the head in response.
So… no valentines then? I would've thought the GREAT Seto Kaiba would have gotten at least a hundred valentines cards from deranged woman everywhere!
Seto smirked and shook his head at the reply. He really was an idiot dog, but he was an interesting one to say the least. Raising his head again, Seto watched Ms Tollison chat away about Aphrodite and hold up reasonably explicit pictures to emphasize her points.
I have received some valentines yes.
Where'd you put them? Your locker and bag aren't exactly exploding
Stalking me now?
Seto got some satisfaction from watching Joey blush and madly scribble down a response.
Asshole! Am not! I'm just stating the obvious!
Big words for such a little puppy.
Jerk. Go fuck yourself.
Language Wheeler.
Screw you!
Is that a promise?
Red was such a fine colour on Joey, Seto thought as the blond read what he'd written and turned to stare at him with wide eyes and a open mouth.
"W-What…?" he choked out, making Seto burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as he fell into a fit of giggles.
To say the whole class was shocked was an understatement. To say they all thought the apocalypse was happening, wasn't.
"Seto? Are you alright?" Ms Tollison asked as she approached the inconsolable youth, completely bewildered like the rest of the class at the out of character Seto. The brunet looked up at her and tried to say something but only managed to dissolve back into another round of laughter. With a raised eyebrow, Ms Tollison looked over at the embarrassed Joey and raised an eyebrow in a clear question.
"He… I… We…" the blond began but Ms Tollison seemed to instantly catch onto what Joey was trying to get out and nodded, glancing down at the still squirming Seto and watched in amusement as the young CEO tightened his hold around his stomach and leaned forward, placing his forehead against the cool surface of the desk.
"S-Sorry Ms-" he was cut off as he looked to the side and saw a still horrified Joey, making him lose it all over again. With a resigned sigh, Ms Tollison reached out and smacked him over the back of the head, shocking not only the rest of the class and making them brace for the murder that was about to happen, but also shocking Seto enough that he stopped laughing and looked at his old caregiver.
"Shut up Seto," she said sternly, her voice gentle but firm. Seto gave a nod and flashed her a grin before glancing down at the desk, his shoulders still shaking but less so.
What. The. Fuck.
Seto grinned again as he saw the paper under his elbow, Joeys scrawl on it.
To what?
Everything!
I'm assuming you're talking about why she gets away with hitting me but you don't?
Well yes…
She was my caregiver when we were younger, used to be my valentine as well.
Joey promptly choked on the air he'd just been inhaling, getting another round of concerned looks, but this time Duke, whom was sitting by Tristan, Yami and Yugi in front of him joined in, raised eyebrows as well. He waved them off before hurriedly replying.
Your valentine was an old lady? Thats creepy.
I was ten!
Even creepier!
She's like a mother. I find nothing creepy in that. I get valentines from Mokuba as well, is that creepy Wheeler?
Not really…
Exactly.
But thats only because I get some from my younger sister! Not some old creepy lady!
Grow up.
Seto turned his back, metaphorically speaking, on Joey then, refocussing on the teacher as she swapped subject to that of Narcissus, the gorgeous man who died after he fell in love with himself. It normally varied between he killed himself because he could't live without himself… which confused Seto to even think, or he died from lack of food and water and the basic necessities of life.
A rustling of paper got his attention but he refused to look as Joey gently placed the sheet of paper back in front of the brunet, looking completely nervous and beginning to once again jiggle his pen in his fingers. Seto usually found the sight to be annoying but now he actually thought it to be quite… cute.
I'm sorry.
He smiled slightly as he read the apology out of the corner of his eye, his head still turned to the front. It was interesting to get an apology from the blond, maybe he was one of the first?
Apology accepted.
It was Joeys turn to be happy as Seto pushed his reply over to him. He took a moment to glance up at the clock, wondering how long it was until class finished.
Fifteen minutes.
Joey now had only two choices. One was to listen to the teacher ramble on endlessly while zoning out and possibly running the risk of her spotting him looking 'absorbed' in what she was saying and being asked a question… or…
So Mokuba gives you valentines every year?
Yes. Almost every year.
Almost?
Not this year. Instead we went valentines day shopping.
Joey gave him a confused smile, watching as Seto raised an eyebrow. He knew that there was an obvious question to that statement, and he could tell the brunet was almost daring him to ask.
Oh? And who were you shopping for?
Mokuba was shopping for a girl named, Peace? I think its Peace.
Peace?
No wait, its Serenity.
Joey froze. Serenity wasn't a common name… was Seto possibly…
Mokuba doesn't by any chance talk about this 'Serenity' calling him 'Ba-Ba' does he?
How did you know?
Joey received the shocked look from Seto with pursed lips.
I think our siblings have a thing for each other.
Seto was stunned, shocked, mortified for a long moment and it was evident in his face. When he turned away to gaze once again out the window, Joey thought that he refused to reply back and was surprised by the over whelming sadness that came over him. As he turned his head to stare solemnly at the board, his teeth nibbling on his lips as his fingers once again jiggled his pen.
"Joey? Are you having some sort of nervous breakdown?" Tristan hissed across the gap, clearly bothered by the blonds actions. Joey spared him a look but quickly scribbled down an excuse for Tristan on the first piece of paper lying in front of him.
Only to freeze when he saw Setos neat writing on the paper.
Then he's lucky to have one of the Wheelers.
Joeys hand automatically stopped writing the excuse as he looked up, his honey brown eyes meeting Setos ice blue orbs while his mouth worked up and down, completely useless.
"Joey?"
Said boy ignored Tristan as his eyes stayed glued to Setos, stunned when he felt the brunets hand slip over his before drawing the piece of paper out, his eyes flicking away for a moment to read Joeys excuse.
I think I just screwed up my chances with Seto, chances I think I only just realised I had.
A smile appeared on Setos face as he wrote his reply, slipping it back to Joey and reconnecting their eye contact. Although, Joey only held it for a while longer before ripping his eyes away, desperate to see what the brunet had written.
Have you?
A sharp breath was sucked in as the blond stared at those two words, his heart thumping wildly in his chest as if desperate to leap out and maul Seto to death with the only type of love you could ever get from a heart. With a trembling hand, Joey scribbled his hasty reply before literally shoving it at Seto, completely ignorant of the fact that all of his friends were now watching the two interact, his eyes only for the brunet sitting beside him.
Who were you shopping for Seto?
Unfortunately, Joey wasn't aware of the time and as he watched Seto seem to take forever to write his reply, he glanced up at the clock and froze as suddenly the bell rang…
And a bunch of powered up boys dressed as cupids burst through the door, announced by the excited squeal from Ms Tollison, and showered the whole class in confetti. Almost instantly everyone was on their feet, crying out in excitement, embracing and snogging their significant others, dancing around and throwing the red, pink and white heart shaped confetti everywhere.
Except Joey, who tore his eyes away from the sight only to see the seat Seto had been sitting in vacant, the desk empty except for one piece of paper. The paper, their paper. Taking a deep breath, Joey craned his neck to see what Setos reply had been, who he'd written down, if it was who Joey thought it was.
As the blond stood up and reached out to clasp the paper, bringing it up closer to look, he felt a grin come over his face.
You.
That one word, written in Setos neat scrawl made Joey just about explode with excitement.
"Wheeler."
Almost as if he was afraid of what he'd see, Joey turned around slowly and gazed at the tall brunet standing in front of him, his bag slung over one shoulder, hand on the strap while the other was buried in his pants pocket as he smirked at the blond, ignorant of the confetti flying around him in the madness of the room.
"K-Kaiba?"
"Its Seto," he whispered into Joeys ear as he stepped forward, placing his body almost flush up against the blonds, his hand pulling itself out of his pocket and slipping into Joeys… or more accurately slipping something into Joeys.
Taking a moment to glance down, Joey felt a rush of emotion take over as he saw the small keychain of a blue eyes and red eyes cuddling, lying in his palm making him blush a sweet red and glance up bashfully into amused blue orbs. He tried to sat something, but his throat seemed to be blocked and he couldn't get anything out.
"Happy Valentines Joey." Seto placed a soft kiss on Joeys cheek before he gently brushed past him, his hand lingering on Joeys long enough to give it a quick squeeze before he disappeared entirely.
Leaving Joey with a stupid smile on his face and a light heart.
And feeling utterly corny
R&R!