Hello again. I must be out of my slump. I wrote most of this story ages ago and never got round to properly coming up with an ending. I've literally written it in about fifteen minutes and I'm proud to get it uploaded at last.
It probably sucks, but I enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: Me no owning Yu-Gi-Oh and there is quite a bit of shounen-ai in here too.
You're Beautiful
A finger sat poised above the colourful panel of the large machine, ready to choose one of many small buttons. There was a pause, then the finger descended on one of the middle, red buttons and, with a click, a new CD slotted into place and a new song began to play.
A short piece of music started off the song, made up of the delicate strumming of a guitar with a bass guitar backing it up. After a few seconds, a voice began to sing, his words echoing out of the jukebox's speakers.
My life is brilliant…
At the other side of the American style diner, four boys sat next to each other at one of the booths, their heads close together as they plotted and planned.
One of the boys, a tall, lanky blonde named Joey, looked up as the song reached his ears and smiled. He didn't know what it was, but this particular song always made him feel good.
"So, when are we gonna go over?" asked Tristan as he rested an elbow on the table in front of him, which was littered with plates of half-finished hamburgers and fries.
"Mokuba said he was going to get Kaiba to come home early from his office on Friday night and should have him by the front door at six," Yugi answered, gazing up at the ceiling to clear his thoughts as he tried to remember every detail that the younger Kaiba had told him earlier. "We need to be at their mansion a good two hours before they arrive so let's meet there at four. The others are coming at about half past five."
Duke raised one of his black, neatly shaped eyebrows as he wrapped an arm around Tristan's shoulder and enquired, "Who do the 'others' include?"
"Urm…well, there's Téa, Mai, Serenity, Rebecca, Ryou and Malik, I'm not sure if Bakura and Marik are coming, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, and Ishizu and Odion may drop by."
"But those are mainly ours friends, not Kaiba's. Then again, does Kaiba actually have any friends?" Duke said jokingly as he laughed quietly to himself.
There was a pause in the conversation where each of the boys expected to hear Joey agree with Duke since Kaiba was the one person the blonde disliked the most. But it never happened.
They all looked at their friend who wasn't even paying attention.
Instead, Joey was staring off into space, humming along with the song that was still playing throughout the diner.
"Joey? Are you listening?" asked Yugi, waving a hand in front of his friend's face to snap him out of his daydream.
Shaking his head slightly, Joey looked up and said, "Huh? Sorry. I was in another world. What were you saying?"
All three of the other boys sighed and Yugi was about to go over the plan once more when Tristan clamped a hand over the shorter boys mouth and nodded his head towards the front door of the diner.
Through the glass, all four boys could clearly see Yugi's almost exact double standing with Seto Kaiba, trying with all his might to prevent the brunette from looking into the diner.
Yugi took that as their cue to get out of there. He grabbed the sleeve of Joey's shirt who, in turn, grabbed Tristan's arm since he was already holding onto Duke, and they all hurried out of the diner. Duke hesitated a moment, then quickly flung a couple of notes down onto the table to cover the price of their food.
In all the rush, they very nearly crashed into Seto, but stopped just in time, causing them to rather effectively block the diner's entrance.
"Oh, hi, Kaiba!" cried Yugi, his voice suddenly very high-pitched. "Fancy seeing you here! Have you finished talking to Yami yet? We really need to be getting home. Grandpa is waiting after all."
Without waiting for Seto's answer, Yugi sprinted off, hand in hand, with Yami, allowing the Egyptian pharaoh to do nothing more than wave at the brunette as they disappeared around a corner.
Very confused, but also mildly suspicious, Seto turned his icy blue eyes on the remaining three boys.
"What's going on?" he asked as his surprised expression turned into a glare.
"Well, you see…oh! Is that the time? I've gotta go…do something! See ya later, Money Bags!" Joey answered quickly, glancing briefly at his watch before he ran off in the same direction as Yugi and Yami had.
Seto turned to Tristan and Duke who both squirmed under his intimidating gaze.
"Don't you two dare move! I want to know what is going on here and I want to know now!"
"Well…urm…you see…" Tristan began, desperately trying to come up with an excuse.
"We're planning Yami's birthday party," Duke said suddenly.
Both brunettes turned to the dice master, shocked at the sudden outburst.
"He has a birthday? I thought he was thousands of years old, how do you know how old he is?" Seto asked.
Even Tristan seemed to want Duke to explain his reason.
"Yugi did some research. That's why we got him to go out for a walk with you so we could plan without him nearby," replied Duke with a confident expression and clever smirk on his face.
"I see. And when is this party?" Seto asked as he folded his arms across his chest.
"We're deciding on a date at the moment, but we'll let you know. Now, I think we've wasted enough of your time. We have things to do and people to see. Well…" Duke glanced briefly at Tristan, then continued, "Make that things to see and people to do."
With a sly wink, Duke gave the fellow CEO a small wave, put his arm around Tristan's waist and led him across the road outside the diner to where a sleek, black motorbike waited for them.
Tristan tossed a helmet to Duke, then put on his own and sat at the front with Duke at the back.
In a brief moment, the engine started up and the two boys vanished out of sight down the road, leaving Seto alone and mildly bemused.
"So, we're meeting at the Kaiba mansion at five?"
"No, Joey. It's four. Please remember. We need as much help as possible to get everything ready in time."
"Ok. Five it is then."
"Joey!"
Laughing slightly at having wound up his friend, Joey lay back against the pillows on his bed and stared at his ceiling with his phone still by his ear.
"Don't worry, Yug. I'll remember," he said into the receiver. "Now, what are you getting him as a present? I mean, what exactly can you get someone who has everything?"
"Yami and I bought him a couple of books together. One is called 'Duelling for Amateurs' which is a joke gift from Yami and the other is called 'Dragons of Mythology and The Modern World'."
"Do you think he'll like them?"
"Probably not, but I couldn't think of anything else. He really is a pain to shop for. So, what have you got him?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
"Joey! Come on, tell me! You know you can't keep secrets from me!"
"I know, but it's gonna be a surprise. Don't worry; I got him something he'll like. Although, I just don't see the point, ya know? He barely even likes us. He only hangs around with us now 'cause you beg him to and Yami always ends up duelling with him since he has nothing better to do."
"I heard that!" a deep voice cried from Yugi's end of the phone, which Joey knew instantly was the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh as well as Yugi's boyfriend.
"Hiya, Yami," Joey said, smiling to himself. "How are ya?"
"Ready to come over there and send you to the Shadow Realm, that's how I am!"
Not really sure if that was a joke or a threat, Joey laughed nervously and replied, "Yeah, it's good to hear from you too."
What sounded like a brief struggle reached Joey's ear before Yugi's voice returned.
"Sorry about him. He's a bit grumpy at the moment. He keeps muttering something about having to sleep on the couch since he's not able to sleep up in my room with me while Gramps is at home."
"Thanks Yug. I really needed the image of you two doing it my head! Well, I've gotta go. I haven't even started tonight's homework yet. Unless, you could help me a bit?"
"Good bye, Joey," was the reply.
"Yeah, thanks, Yug. Bye."
Joey put the phone back on the stand by his bed and sighed. If he was going to get his homework done, he might as well get it over and done with. It might even take his mind of the upcoming party and having to celebrate the birthday of 'Money Bags'. He grabbed his notes from his bag, which were more than a bit crumbled and tried to straighten them on his desk.
Once they were mostly flat again, he leaned across his desk towards his small CD player and pressed play.
Music spilled out of the speakers and Joey smiled happily at the familiar song.
My life is brilliant…
"I've only got one problem," Joey said to himself as he sat down in front of his desk with a pen in hand. "I've no clue what to write!"
Friday came almost too soon. The Kaiba mansion was alive with the noise of laughter, shouting and occasional burst of loud music as Duke tested out the huge sound system that had been purchased by Mokuba for the event.
Yugi had been forced to call Ryou for reinforcements who had insisted on bringing Bakura out of the fear that the spirit might do something Ryou would later regret if left on his own.
The ever enthusiastic Ryou had taken control of the kitchen and was running rings around the kitchen staff who could barely keep up with him.
Tray upon tray of miniature snacks sat in a row on the kitchen table, accompanied by many different coloured drinks, and various foods was being carefully prepared and cooked with Bakura happily testing one of everything to check for poisoning, or at least that was his excuse.
In one of the mansion's biggest halls, Yugi was holding tightly onto the bottom of a large ladder and was starring worriedly upwards at Yami who was fixing a banner to the wall.
"Is it straight?" he called down to the others who were all busy decorating the rest of the room.
"Are any of us?" Duke asked, still playing around with the different CDs.
Joey snorted with laughter and released one of the blue balloons he'd been blowing up, which flew out of his hands, circled around the room and hit Tristan in the side of his head.
This caused Tristan to drop the bag of confetti he was going to spread out on the tables that lined one of the walls of the room and soon glittery squares of paper were fluttering down to the ground like snow.
"Well done, Joey," Tristan groaned, bending down to gather up the confetti.
Although he usually enjoyed staring at Tristan when he had his arse stuck up in the air, Duke tore his eyes away from the backside of the brunette and left his post by the CD player to wander over towards him.
"I have an idea," he said as he bent down next to Tristan. "Pass me the bag."
Tristan handed the half empty bag to the dice master who turned and called for Yami.
The spirit disappeared from the top of the ladder once the banner was secure, returned to the puzzle around Yugi's neck in order to prevent himself from having to descend down the ladder, and then reappeared next to his shorter double.
"Cheater," Yugi muttered making Yami grin.
"What's wrong?" the spirit asked Duke as he approached the pair.
Duke straightened up and thrust the bag of confetti into Yami's hand.
"It's time to put those strange abilities of yours to use for once."
Yami blinked and didn't answer for a moment before asking, "What do you mean? You want me to use Shadow Magic to put up decorations? I don't think that's an appropriate use for it."
Shaking his head, Duke answered, "No. Just do that thing you do when you draw a card from your deck during a duel, but use the bag instead of a card."
Still unsure about what Duke meant, Yami took the bag in one hand, then flung it to one side as he usually did with his cards.
The glittery paper flew out of the bad and slowly fell all over until everything, including the boys' hair and clothes, were covered with the confetti.
Everyone applauded Yami for his oddly beautiful display while Duke grumbled that it was his idea in the first place. Luckily, he didn't stay in a bad mood for long after Tristan kissed him on the cheek and dragged him behind one of the huge music speakers so that they could make out in private.
Finally giving up on the annoying task of blowing them up by hand, Joey took the balloons to the helium canister that had been bought and used that to fill them up. He'd ignored it at first, claiming that he could blow them up without extra help, which Tristan agreed to, but not without making a comment about Joey being full of hot air first.
Slowly, the ceiling became covered with the colourful, floating balloons.
Joey grinned suddenly as an idea popped into his head. He grabbed the balloon he'd just filled with helium and squeezed the gas into his mouth.
"Hey! Yug! Yami! He cried in a high-pitched and very squeaky voice. "Check this out!"
Both of the pointy haired boys looked in the direction of the strange, unfamiliar noise, and then began to laugh as Joey started singing in his high voice.
"Stop it, Joe! We're supposed to be getting everything ready for the party, not messing around!" Yugi exclaimed, although he was still giggling to himself.
Laughing shrilly, Joey allowed his voice to slowly return to normal as he continued with his task. Just as his usual Brooklyn accent had replaced the high pitched voice and he'd filled the last of the balloons with helium, Ryou entered the room with a satisfied looking Bakura in tow.
"Everything is ready in the kitchen and everything has been deemed edible by Bakura," Ryou informed them, glancing back at the spirit behind him.
Bakura grinned a toothy grin and said, "At least you can have the pleasure of saying your food is fit for an Ancient Egyptian tomb robber. Who else can say that?"
"Oh joy," replied Yami sarcastically, rolling his eyes as Yugi giggling quietly and Joey just glared as it would have been him in the kitchen tasting the foods if Bakura hadn't kicked him out.
Just then, the doorbell to the mansion rang loudly and the group of boys looked out through the door into the main hall, where Ryou and Bakura had just come from, and caught a glimpse of a small blur that rushed past them.
A second pasted before the previous blur returned to the open door of the decorated room with a huge grin on his face.
"Everyone's here!" he cried happily, jumping up and down with excitement in his smart red shirt and black trousers.
"Calm down, Mokuba!" Yugi replied with a smile as he grabbed the younger, but not much shorter, boy by the shoulders to stop him bouncing around. "You go answer the door while we go get changed."
Nodding vigorously, Mokuba ran off back out of the door, but ended up coming back once more to give each of the boys, except Duke and Tristan who were still behind the speakers, a tackle-like hug, much to Bakura's displeasure.
"Thanks for doing this for Seto," Mokuba muttered into Joey's chest as the blonde was the last one to be hugged, before the youngest Kaiba disappeared back down the corridor, the door bell ringing once again.
"Mad kid," Joey said.
He grinned and walked over to the CD player where he yanked his two friends out from their hiding place and dragged them towards the other, ignoring their annoyed cries.
"Come on, boys," he yelled excitedly. "It's time to get this party started!"
It was nearing six by the time all the guests had arrived and had gathered in the main party room where the food had already been set out along with several bottles of alcohol and various other drinks for the younger people.
The girls, Mai, Ishizu, Téa, Serenity and Rebecca, were standing in the corner by the windows, sipping their drinks and comparing each others presents for the birthday boy and complimenting each other on their choice of party clothes. Each of them had dressed up for the occasion and they were all wearing nice dresses of various colours, lengths and designs.
The boys, after welcoming everyone in and receiving many comments on how amazing the decorations were. They were spread out around the rest of the room, all of them wearing smart trousers and either white or black shirts, making them look as if they were at some sort of wedding or special events. Then again, Seto's birthday would be included as a special event to them.
Malik, Odion and Yami were talking together about Egypt and how the two brothers missed it while the spirit listened to the wondrous descriptions on his birthplace.
In the corner by the drinks table, Marik and Bakura were whispered to each other and, every so often, they poured something from a little flask into the different bottles of alcohol, obviously trying to cause chaos by spiking the drinks. They even took their prank a step further by pouring some of the mysterious liquid into the drinks for the younger guests before they tipped back their heads and cackled quietly to show how evil they were but not to draw attention to themselves.
Ryou, Yugi, Joey, Tristan were hanging near to the speakers discussing whatever subject popped into their minds from school to music and from what'd they'd done at the weekend to any new games they'd bought recently.
The speakers themselves had quiet music playing from them, controlled by Duke like before since he refused to let anyone else touch such sensitive equipment. He wasn't playing the music loudly yet because Mokuba didn't want Seto to come home, hear the songs and put two and two together.
Mokuba had already left to bring Seto home, too excited to just sit around waiting with the others.
Suddenly, one of Seto and Mokuba's servants entered the room and announced that both of the boys had returned.
"Quick, turn the music off and hide!" Joey cried out as he rushed towards the door and switched off the lights while Duke turned down the volume of the music and everyone else hid in the darkened room.
Everyone could hear the two brothers coming along the hall with Mokuba talking extra loudly so that those in the party room could hear them.
"So, what do you want to do now since it's your birthday?" the young Kaiba asked, his voice flowing down the corridor and through the crack at the bottom of the door that separate the two brothers from their guests.
"Nothing. I really need to finish my work, Mokuba. You didn't need to bring me home from the office so early," Seto replied as frosty as ever.
"Yeah, sure. Well, that'll have to wait. I have a surprise for you."
"I hate surprises."
"Don't worry. You'll like this one!"
The doors were suddenly thrown open, the lights flashed back on and everyone jumped out of their hiding places with a very excited cry of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SETO!!!"
The tall boy seemed to be frozen in place, taking in the many faces that surrounded him from all sides. He shook his head once and said, "No," then turned and headed back through the door.
Mokuba frowned and ran after his brother. He returned after a few minutes, pushing Seto back into the room while muttering, "Get in there and enjoy yourself!"
Once again, Seto found himself standing in front of a group of people with nothing to say. Luckily for him the music suddenly started to play again and Duke could be seen up by the DJ equipment, playing some rocking dance music. Seto gave him a grateful look as the group disbanded and started to dance signalling that the party had finally begun.
What with the Kaiba's extensive collection of music CDs, it was inevitable that a certain song would eventually be played during the party, a certain slow song that always seemed to ensnare Joey with its soft music and gentle words.
My life is brilliant…
The blonde's head turned towards the speakers as soon as he heard the first few chords. He recognised it straight away.
My life is brilliant, my love is pure,
I saw an angel, of that I'm sure…
Joey's eyes had already started to search through the crowd for the person who he associate the most with this song, the person who allowed Joey to understand exactly how the singer felt.
She smiled at me on the subway,
She was with another man,
But I won't lose no sleep all night,
Coz I've got a plan…
Suddenly, Joey froze. His gaze had rested on someone standing far back, away from the others. Wasting no time, the blonde strode across the dance floor, weaving around different couples who were slow dancing in time to the music.
You're beautiful,
You're beautiful, it's true,
I saw you're face in a crowded place
And I don't know what to,
Coz I'll never be with you…
Joey couldn't have been more than a few steps away when his target made a move. The person slipped away and headed out of the room. It was an excellent time to leave since everyone was too preoccupied with their significant other to notice, but Joey did.
Seto growled in annoyance. He didn't even want to be here. A birthday was just another day to him and he had to waste his at this poor excuse for a party. To make matters worse, he had to listen to pathetic little love songs that Duke had decided to play. He could even see the black haired boy in the crowd of people, no longer playing music, but with his arms around Tristan instead.
Turning quickly, Seto quickly left the room, his trench coat billowing out behind him. Luckily for him, Mokuba seemed more interested in entertaining the non dancing guests to notice his older brother's absence.
The kitchen was deserted, apart from a pile of presents that he supposed were for him, and relatively quiet as all the food had been moved into the party room and kitchen staff were no longer needed, so Seto entered with a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't be bothered in here.
He leaned against the kitchen counter, untucked his smart black shirt and loosed his matching tie. Turning the tap on, he quickly dunked his head into the sink and relished the soothing feeling of cold water running down his neck and over his face. A moment later he lifted his head back up and shook it so that the kitchen was showered with the water. He finally felt refreshed for the first time that evening.
A noise caught his attention making him turn to see Joey come through the door towards him.
"I suppose you were partly involved in this pathetic excuse for a party, mutt," he sneered, pushing damp lock of hair away from his eyes.
"Oh, don't pretend that you're not enjoying yourself. We spent enough time preparing it," Joey retaliated, starting another of their usual arguments. "The least you could do is have some fun for once." He paused for a second or two before adding, "And don't call me 'mutt', money bags."
A smirk appeared on Seto's face, knowing the moment he'd used his favourite 'pet name' for the blonde that Joey would react in exactly that way. It was the only thing that stayed constant with him other than their debates that were beginning to occur on a daily basis.
"Why should I when it makes you pout like that?"
Seto moved closer to Joey until they stood inches apart with Joey having to look up slightly to meet his rival's gaze. The brunette casually lifted a hand and gently ran it along the blonde's cheek with a very satisfied look on his face. He felt the shorter teen quiver faintly under his touch and took it upon himself to lean down and let their lips brush over each other.
"So, do you want your present now?" Joey asked, pulling away and grinning almost slyly at the birthday boy.
Raising an intrigued eyebrow, Seto replied with a swift nod and watched Joey head for the pile of gifts to retrieve his before returning with a fairly small and badly wrapped package. He took it and quickly unwrapped it, pondering what this could be. Never in his wildest dreams would he have ever thought it would be this.
"It's…it's…"
"It's a Blue Eyes White Dragon plushie," Joey finished for him. "I spent ages wondering what you'd like and when I came across this, well, it was perfect!"
Highly entertained by the strange blue plush toy, Seto shook his head in amusement and tossed it carelessly onto the floor while forcing Joey backwards against the kitchen wall.
"Did anyone ever tell you you're beautiful?" he asked as he pressed his lips firmly against Joey's.
Sighing happily, Joey thought to himself, 'I knew there was a reason why I liked that song so much.'
Yay! Finished!
Until next time, R & R!