Mokuba wandered the dimly lit halls of the Kaiba Mansion in googly-eyed slippers and a glass of ice cold milk. He was in the West Wing where his and his brother's rooms resided when he paused at a light still on in Seto's office. After rolling his eyes he cracked the door open and let himself in.
He wasn't at all surprised to see the tall man engaged in a love affair with his laptop. Seeing him fiddling with a drawing tablet he could only surmise there were some Kaiba Exclusives being added to his virtual game.
"Hey Seto," Mokuba chimed happily, to which his brother replied "hn," and "use a coaster," when he tried to set his glass of milk down on his desk.
The younger Kaiba wandered around to peer at Seto's work. It was a 3D image of a gold ID bracelet. Mokuba tilt his head as Seto spun the image to the side. "That doesn't look like your VR items," he frowned as he glanced closer. "Hey, that's not virtual at all is it? Are you designing a real bracelet?"
Kaiba scoffed lightly and snapped his laptop closed. "Didn't you go to bed an hour ago?"
Mokuba shrugged. "We Kaibas don't do sleep."
"Whatever."
"So…" Mokuba singsonged idly as he watched the other shuffle a few papers.
"What?" Seto snapped.
"Are we going to talk about Atem living in our home?" the boy blurt out.
"We did. He took the dueling contract if I got him a home. He chose here, not me," Kaiba rumbled and tossed the papers into a drawer. "End of story."
"But why here," Mokuba probed for more.
"How should I know?" At his younger brother's annoyed look he sighed and went on. "He said something about wanting to be independent from Yugi for awhile but didn't want to be alone. Doesn't matter, he's in the East Wing, he won't bother us."
"For keeping him at the other end of the mansion, we sure do see a lot of him," the boy smiled a little wickedly; his brother's trademark. "Well… you seem to see a lot of him, at least."
"Whatever," Kaiba repeated and busied himself with nothing in his top drawer.
Mokuba gave him that moment, sipping his milk and keeping his eye on the other's uncharacteristicly nervous habits. "Are you guys dating or what?" he blurted out.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Seto snapped all too quickly, his blue eyes blazing.
But Mokuba wouldn't back down. He knew his brother, knew he wouldn't lie, and knew this new fidgety constitution was hilariously justified. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"Maybe," Kaiba grunt, staring at his hands.
"Do you like him at least?" Mokuba grinned ear to ear. This was too fantastic not to make his stoic brother blush.
"So what if I do?"
"Do you love him?"
"Mokuba, stop it!" Seto barked.
"Oh my gosh," the boy cheered. "You do!"
Kaiba slammed his fist on his desk, almost upending the glass of milk. "Stop making fun-"
Despite his laughter, Mokuba had to correct him. "I'm not making fun of you. I'm thrilled!"
Seto could only stare, dumbfounded.
"Don't get me wrong," he waved a finger at his big brother. "I'm upset that you didn't tell me, but I'm glad it's him and not, like, Von Schroeder or something."
At that, Kaiba gave a look of disgust, but Mokuba went on with hands open, palms up to show his sincerity. "I like Atem," he stated. "And I like how you are when you're around him. I wouldn't mind him as another big brother."
The elder Kaiba finally seemed to relax at his words. He leaned back in his chair and gave a small smile. "Keep drinking that milk so you can call him 'little brother' someday," the smile turned into a grin. "It'll piss him off in all the right ways."
Mokuba laughed and the atmosphere certainly cleared up after that.
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Written for my new RP partner and our post-series universe. Not the best ever, written off my phone (ugh!) but it was worth it. She's a doll.