Seto arrived at his doorstep a little past ten-thirty. He really hadn't intended to be out so late, but a sudden extraneous matter had arisen at work and forced him to stay over an hour longer than he had expected to. Although consistently disappointed in his schedule being altered for any reason, in checking his watch, he mused that it was better this way. It was nearly the end of the day and that meant it was significantly less likely that he could be surprised with anything. He still couldn't let his guard down, though. Knowing Mokuba, it was nearly never too late.

With caution, he pushed open the front door just slightly and paused; the door was open just enough so that he could determine whether or not the light in the front hall was on. Upon seeing only darkness in the small crack he'd opened, he released his bated breath and proceeded inside. Closing the door gently behind him and peering around into the darkness, he still could not feel completely at ease. At any moment he expected Mokuba to jump out, turn on every light in the house, and yell the word he most dreaded- "Surprise!"- and thus ensure his own extreme discomfort for the remainder of the evening.

He removed his shoes at the door and continued into the front room, a combination of a living room and kitchen under a high vaulted ceiling. The only lights on were the tea lights above the bar side of the kitchen counter, which permitted very little light in the enormous room. Seto looked around, feeling apprehensive and skeptical rather than joyful that nothing boisterous and irritating had jumped out at him yet. He shrugged his coat off his left side, moved his briefcase into his left hand so he could remove it fully from his right, and swung the coat over his arm. He briefly considered the ridiculousness of his being irritated at not finding something he absolutely did not want to find. Perhaps more than being pleased, he really did prefer to be right. However, having previously resolved to thoroughly enjoy it if the evening transpired without a single mention of celebration, jubilation, or merriment, he continued down the right hall towards his bedroom, doing his best to ignore the feeling that at any moment something was bound to ruin every good feeling he'd accumulated in the past month.

Arriving at his bedroom door, he paused again. He considered for a moment that perhaps Mokuba was staked out in his room, in which case he should just continue on to a guest bedroom for the night and leave Mokuba to sit in his bedroom for the remainder of the evening. He would be miserable with confusion, but unable to leave the room to find out why Seto had not returned in the event that leaving the room meant he might run into Seto somewhere in the house and it would ruin the surprise. Seto half-smiled wickedly, thinking that would teach the brat. However, Seto had documents he needed to transfer onto his home computer and work was still to be done before tomorrow, so he couldn't afford to abandon the room for the night. Accepting the fact that he would have to go in, he tried to assure himself that Mokuba had probably finally gotten the point, thank the gods, that he despised having his birthday recognized. Perhaps Mokuba had at last decided to give him a single year of peace, lacking in all of the birthday shenanigans that made his skin crawl. Yes, let this be the year that Mokuba lie soundly sleeping in his bed, knowing that he's allowed his brother a moment of perfect peace. Let there be no loud noises, no ridiculous party decorations, and hopefully no cutely adorned confectionary sweets on the other side of his bedroom door. Taking a breath and bracing himself, he opened the door.

Darkness again, but he didn't want to jump the gun. His heart was beating faster than he wanted it to be. He really shouldn't be this anxious about a simple surprise (one that he was fully expecting, no less), but perhaps it was the lack of surprise thus far that was making him so anxious. He closed the door, set his briefcase down, and turned on the lamp immediately to his left.

"You're home!"

Seto made every effort not to move even the slightest bit, lest it show the astonishment he was feeling. His lips were parted as if to speak, but he held fast. His eyes were in a straight stare. He sized up the room and everything was perfectly normal, except for him. Nothing he had dreaded to see appeared before him.

Katsuya rose out of Seto's desk chair and rushed across the room, throwing his arms over Seto's shoulders, holding him tightly. Seto scarcely moved, and was much too trained in thinking before speaking to make a comment quite yet. Over Katsuya's shoulder, Seto could see a white canvas bag and a small cake sitting on his desk. His eyes narrowed. Katsuya released him, but held onto his arms.

"Listen, before you get mad, I was talking to Mokuba-" Upon seeing the stern look Seto was giving him, Katsuya paused and released his arms, wrapping his own around his waist nervously.

"He knows you hate having your birthday celebrated, and I kind of figured you already have way more self-confidence than you ever need, so you don't have to have a birthday party to validate your life, but-"

Katsuya trailed off for a moment, becoming lost in Seto's unchanging glare. Katsuya hated himself for rambling, but he needed to get it out before he lost all of his resolve and exploded in embarrassment. He turned his eyes to his right, towards Seto's bed, which really wasn't the best place for him to be looking if he wanted to be avoiding embarrassment. A light color rose to his face. He swallowed, changing his glance to the floor, and continued,

"I- I wanted to do something for your birthday, but he said you always get mad at him if he tries to throw you a party and I didn't figure you'd get any less mad at me for it, but he insisted on giving me money to get you something since he seems to think I suddenly know you better than he does- which I really don't think I do, but I kind of agreed so that we'd at least avoid an awkward Mokuba party if nothing else."

He heard Seto take in a breath, money being a sensitive subject, so Katsuya quickly rose his voice and continued, "Before you fly off the handle, though, I didn't spend the money, it's on your desk."

Katsuya glanced at him, although too quickly to see his expression, motioning behind himself. Seto released the breath he had taken and waited for Katsuya to continue. Taking this notion, Katsuya stepped backwards a moment, then turned quickly to walk towards the desk. He picked up the white bag and shuffled back towards Seto. He paused, considering his words, and started again.

"I was trying to think of something I could do that wouldn't make you mad, but nothing really came to mind. I figured doing something extremely boring was the only chance I had at you not getting mad enough to punch me over it, so I, uh, made you dinner." He lifted the bag momentarily, signifying what it was, and stared down at it, entirely unable to face Seto's eyes. Seto raised his eyebrows and watched Katsuya carefully, but knew that he was not finished speaking, so he made no comment. Katsuya was beginning to lose his resolve and his voice shook slightly. He paused several times to clear his throat.

"Mokuba told me what you like. It's cold now- I didn't realize you'd be out so late. I guess I forgot what time you get off work; that was dumb. The cake is from the gang, you know-" He motioned behind himself again. Seto glanced up over at it, somewhat curiously.

"It was everything I could to do to convince them you were absolutely too busy for any parties or anything. Man, those guys-" Katsuya shook his head lightly and smiled, thinking that he appreciated his friends but he knew Seto didn't care for them. Seto himself still couldn't wrap his head around why Yuugi and his friends insisted on trying to play nice with him when Seto had always made it perfectly clear he did not want a relationship with them. He figured it was Yuugi's fault, always trying to make him out to be secretly friendly behind his rigid facade.

Katsuya realized needed to get to the point before he genuinely began to irritate Seto or got sick from embarrassment. His face became more heated and he made his bravest attempt at getting to the point at last,

"A-Anyway, you'd probably like to cram this down my throat." He laughed nervously, looking at the bag.

"I was really stupid to have come because I know you hate this, but I did it anyway. I mean, I know it's only been a few weeks since we, uh. Since we-" Katsuya trailed off. He was nearly shaking, gripping the bag intensely with both hands. He swallowed.

"Maybe I shouldn't be here because we're- uh- this, this" he motioned wide with both hands exasperatedly, attempting to signify their relationship. The bag was gripped tightly in his right hand still, "is still kinda new and still kinda- really- awkward, but this is important. I just wanted you to know that your "being alive" is important to somebody other than you. It's just little stuff, so I hope you're not mad."

They stood in silence for several moments. Despite feeling like fire was running through his entire body, Katsuya felt like he'd gotten the point across. Through awkward rambling and looking like an idiot, maybe, but he'd gotten there. When he could swallow normally again, he timidly looked back up at Seto.

Seto's expression had significantly softened. He wasn't smiling, but it wasn't the same glare of intolerance that he'd first been receiving. If Katsuya was not mistaken, a bit of color had risen to Seto's face as well. That made Katsuya feel infinitely better. To be in the presence of an even vaguely flustered Seto was worth a million years of forgiveness for his awkwardness anywhere else. He couldn't help but smile wide.

"What are you smiling at?" asked Seto, his tone that of general inquisition. It was strange to Seto that that would be the first thing he should say at last, considering he hadn't said anything through any of Katsuya's speech. Katsuya's rant, his gifts, his presence had not irritated Seto, they were all actually rather pleasant. He knew how he wanted to respond, but he did not know how to execute it, so he stood still, waiting for Katsuya's reply.

Katsuya made no notion to respond, but Seto did not have to wait to find a way to reply. Katsuya let the bag slip from his hand gently to the floor and he reached his arms around Seto's neck, holding him the way he had when Seto had first walked in. After several moments of allowing himself to be hugged, Seto deemed it safe to respond, so he let his coat gently slip off his right arm into the floor opposite the bag. He timidly moved his hands just slightly around either side of Katsuya's back, resting them on the curve. Neither moved for several moments. Seto was enjoying the warm contact of Katsuya- just his presence was relieving. Seto closed his eyes. His heart was beating with the same trepidation as when he had been fearing a surprise, but he also felt anxiety when feeling something familiar. His heart beating hard was distracting him. He didn't like not being in control of the color in his face or the shaking in his hands, but to a degree, he enjoyed it. He didn't have to speak or explain himself to Katsuya if he didn't want to, Katsuya just smiled and understood.

Katsuya didn't know another way to tell Seto what he was smiling about, so he just decided to show him. Seto was important to him and despite what an insane pair they were, he was really happy. Seto's social awkwardness was endearing and he'd learned to sport the insults, which Seto had not dropped since their getting together. Seto really hadn't changed much at all, and neither had he himself. Katsuya supposed that's what he enjoyed most. They were still at each other's throats, but it was less hostile and more of a mutual outlet. It happened that out of genuine affection they ended up balancing each other out. Katsuya had certainly never fallen for a guy before, but Seto seemed to had never fallen for anybody. Katsuya had an advantage as far as overcoming the crippling awkwardness of their relationship, even if it was only slight.

Katsuya loosened his grip and slid back until their foreheads touched. He could not fight the blush on his face or the sudden image of Seto's bed in his mind. He pushed his hands into Seto's hair and moved slightly closer. Seto could feel Katsuya's breath over his lips and the movement of Katsuya's hands made the hair on his neck stand up. He would have shivered had he not felt overwhelmingly warm.

Katsuya pushed their lips together at last and Seto instantly returned the pressure. Seto wrapped his arms tightly around Katsuya's waist and pulled their bodies together until Katsuya was on his tip-toes. The warmth was amazing and relieving. Seto had all the response he needed, and Katsuya wanted to laugh he was so nervous and excited. Each loosened their grip slightly so that Katsuya could get better footing and broke for air momentarily before kissing again. Seto pushed his hands up Katsuya's back, sending a shiver up him, and Katsuya used his leverage to tilt Seto's head so he could deepen the kiss. Seto eagerly responded and they spent several minutes wrapped in each other's body and breath.

Katsuya pushed his forehead to Seto's again and smiled, running his hands through Seto's hair. He noted that both of their bodies were shaking. He wondered briefly if he would ever get used to being with Seto, and then briefly hoped that he wouldn't.

"I'm taking that as an "I'm not mad", so don't tell me later that you were, because I'm not gonna hear it."

Seto's eyes were closed. He scoffed, pushing his forehead hard against Katsuya's. The slight shaking of his body made him more excited, but he exerted perfect control over his general countenance otherwise. He held Katsuya around the waist and made no effort to correct him.

"Happy birthday, Seto," Katsuya said, kissing him briefly again.

"Thank you," he said quietly. This surprise had not turned out nearly as bad as he had expected.