This is my first attempt at a stoicshipping oneshot, so please go easy on me, okay?
I'm not feeling too good right now - don't know what the heck is wrong with my eyes, but looking at a screen is most unpleasant... Anyway, posting this makes me feel a bit better, so... yeah, so much for that.
„Passengers for flight 487 to Madrid, please proceed to gate 52. Last boarding in ten minutes," a computerized voice said from the loudspeakers overhead.
Kaiba Seto bit back a sigh. Usually, he didn't mind business trips so much, but this time he actually felt a (for his standards) strong desire to stay at home with his brother Mokuba. The boy had been gravely disappointed that his sibling had to go anyway. Seto rejected the idea of leaving him alone at the vast mansion they lived in and had therefore made an arrangement for him to temporarily stay somewhere else for the month he would be spending in Spain. That arrangement had taken a while to be made, though, for he had had a furious mental debate before deciding whom he could trust enough to baby-sit the raven-haired kid.
Mutou Yugi and Pharaoh Atem at the Kame Game Shop? No way in hell! Sure, there were plenty of things that Mokuba could occupy himself with in that store, but the day on which Seto would cooperate to such a degree with his rivals would be the day that pigs could fly… in other words: never ever.
Mazaki Anzu? If he would ever voluntarily leave his brother alone with the friendship-obsessed girl and thus risk letting him become infected with that beastly virus, Isono would have to put him in a strait jacket without any further questions.
Honda Hiroto? Mokuba would probably end up having a similarly ridiculous haircut, and Seto decidedly preferred him having wild, girlishly long hair…
Bakura Ryou and Thief King Bakura? Leaving an innocent child with someone whose darker half was beyond insane would have the same results as locking him in a room full of knives and other dangerous objects without any child protection measures. And everyone knew that Ryou definitely wasn't the one who wore the pants in that household.
Because Seto still personally wanted to know the one who would take care of Mokuba (so he wouldn't have to make it clear yet again why not living up to Kaiba Seto's expectations always had dire consequences), he had finally decided on Jounouchi Katsuya. The blond duelist got on his nerves all the time with that ordinary, straight-forward and not seldom crude attitude of his, but Seto knew that Mokuba was actually quite fond of the energetic teen – ever since he had realized that, the brunet had subconsciously braced himself to someday randomly get asked if they could get a dog. A puppy, for Ra's sake.
So now his little brother was with the "bonkotsu", as Seto tauntingly called Katsuya (and thus always getting a dose of amusement when he would get yelled at), and he, the CEO of Kaiba Corporation, was at the airport. And he wasn't alone. Looking around for his companion with one eye while keeping the other on the time, he slowly turned once around himself before spotting the other man.
Someone who looked almost like a clone of himself was standing at the window with one hand pressed against the glass, watching the airplanes. Unlike Seto, who was wearing a white business suit, he wore casual clothes he had almost gotten used to by now (dark denim pants and an azure blue men's blouse). And unlike Seto, whose hair reached past his neck only in the back, he had long, sleek brown-reddish hair that reached halfway down his back. If he had worn a few chains and a jeans jacket with patches, one could have guessed that he was a rock star. But he was nothing of the sort: he was Seto's dark side, his yami who had been released from the Millennium Rod and – like the other yamis – had meanwhile accomplished the little miracle to get a body of his own. Lapis lazuli eyes watched the machines outside with a great amount of curiosity.
Seto walked up to that man and said firmly: "You've watched the planes long enough now; we must get going."
His counterpart tore his gaze away from the window and looked into the hard, cerulean blue eyes of his lighter half. "Hikari, are those things really going to get us to our destination?"
"Don't call me that!" Seto snorted, "And yes, they will get us to Madrid."
"They move rather slowly, so they must be heavy… how can they fly?"
"With kerosene. Don't ask me exactly how; I'm a businessman and not an engineer. Now come on, the last boarding will begin soon," Seto answered with mild exasperation, checking his watch.
The other man looked out the window once more, then nodded. Wordlessly, Seto turned around and headed for the gate, followed by his Egyptian past life form. When they were almost there, the CEO reached inside the jacket of his suit to get their passports and boarding tickets.
"I can sense that you don't want to go, Hikari. You want to stay with Mokuba. So why do you go anyhow?"
"Because it's my job. And I thought I had told you to stop calling me that," was the curt reply.
Unlike most other people would have felt in his situation, Seth wasn't offended; at least not so much that it was worthy to mention. He had been warned by his cousin Atem that Seto had a rather short temper when it came to a lot of questioning, but he knew that he couldn't help it – this new, modern world which was so different from the Egyptian culture he had known 3000 years ago was simply so fascinating, and there were so many things he wanted to know… and when one wanted to know something, questions were inevitable. Now he took the passport and the ticket Seto was holding out to him, and they went to the lady at the gate. She tore off the larger part of their tickets, giving back the little part that told them their seat numbers.
"Arigatou," Seth said, and she smiled at him. In lockstep, he and Seto proceeded to the gangway. Inside that tunnel-like stretch, however, Seth started to feel weird quite suddenly. Abruptly, he stopped. Seto had barely gone three steps further when he noticed the absence of the other's footsteps, and he stopped as well, looking back.
"What is it now? This is not the time for standing around…!"
"I… I have such a strange feeling…" Seth replied, his eyes darting around nervously, "I feel… as if I'm walking into a trap, in a way…"
"Don't tell me you're claustrophobic!" Seto exclaimed with a faint groan.
The Egyptian shook his head. "No… that's not it. I-I just think that maybe this is a bad idea after all."
"There's no going back now. Hurry up; I do not want to be the one who holds them up." Seto believed that this was merely a trick to somehow convince him to not go on the trip after all, so he ignored Seth's hushed protests as he dragged him to the plane. Upon truly setting foot in the aircraft, Seth felt even worse than just before and decided that he preferred the gangway over this "mechanical bird" and the airport itself over the gangway. His unease didn't ebb away a single bit as a stewardess led them to their seats – international first class, of course. Flying economy class was a blank page in Seto's life; even business class flights were rather rare.
The businessman put away his laptop in the baggage compartment above the seats, then sat down. He was stoic, but not ignorant, so he noticed how Seth slowly sat down beside him with a back as stiff as a board, both forearms resting on the arms of the chair and looking as if he expected the place to explode within the next few seconds. And despite the tan skin, he was rather pale right then.
"Seth, relax. It's just an airplane," Seto told him. He saw how Seth swallowed nervously, not replying. Figuring that he had said enough for the moment, he let his head rest against the chair lean and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a voice next to him said softly:
"Hikari… I'm scared…"
Without opening his eyes, Seto repeated himself (much as he hated to do that): "This is the third time already that I must tell you not to call me that – I have a name, you know. And as I said just a few seconds ago: it's just an airplane."
"How long are we going to be trapped in here?"
"13 or 14 hours, approximately."
For a moment, there was silence, but just when Seth was about to cry out with surprise, the stewardesses began to demonstrate where the safety exits where and what the passengers should do in case of an emergency. Seto didn't bother to open his eyes; he had already flown so often in his life that he practically knew all those things by heart. The same could not be said for Seth, however: the former High Priest under Pharaoh Atem looked horrified. Of course, since this was his first flight ever, it was far from reassuring to constantly hear those subordinate clauses like "in case of an emergency…". When the demonstration was over, his hands were trembling, and he was desperately wishing to get out of this hellhole that instant. The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom, announcing that they would take off very soon. When the engine growled as it was fired up, Seth couldn't stand it any longer, and he whimpered.
Beside him, Seto opened one eye and saw the distress in the other's features. 'Perhaps he hadn't just been putting on a show in the gangway…' he thought. For a moment, he was reminded of when Mokuba had flown for the first time; the boy had showed a similar fear that had vanished in the meantime, however.
"Seth," he simply said.
Before the other man could answer, the plane started moving as it slowly drove to the runway. Seth practically dug his nails into the arms of the chair, looking ahead unblinkingly.
"Oh Ra…" he muttered.
Hesitantly, Seto lightly touched one of the shaking hands. It twitched briefly, but then, in one fluid movement, it grabbed Seto's own and held it tightly. Without turning his head, Seth looked at his reincarnation.
"It will be alright," Seto spoke in a gentle yet firm voice.
The plane stopped once more before the takeoff, and the stewardesses walked along the aisles one final time before that. When one of them noticed the rigid, frightened look on Seth's face, she worriedly asked Seto if his companion was feeling okay.
"It's his first time flying," he explained.
"Perhaps if you would talk to him a bit…" she began.
"I know," Seto interrupted, nodding as if in apology for cutting her off, "My little brother was like this too."
"Ah, I see," she replied, then decided that she would let him handle it, though still making the offer to bring a towelette once they were airborne – this suggestion was appreciated. She went back to take a seat as well, and then the plane started moving again, quickly gaining very much speed as it neared the point of takeoff.
"Oh Ra, Osiris and Anubis…" Seth chanted under his breath, never letting go of Seto's hand. In those moments, the brunet was glad that they were sitting in the last row of the first class section – that way, only those who would happen to look to the side or turn around upon hearing Seth's mutters could see that the great Kaiba Seto was actually touching someone comfortingly.
When the plane really took off, Seth closed his eyes tightly and shrank back into his seat. Back in the days of Ancient Egypt, he had flown on the back of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but this was completely different: he felt no wind whipping against him, there was no freedom. Although there was fairly much space (compared to economy class), he still felt caged. Suddenly, he felt that something was different about how Seto was touching him: the pale fingers were gently and slowly caressing his own. The touch felt almost – dare he think of it like that? – affectionate, in a way… Slowly, as if he barely dared to, he looked at the teenager.
"Thank you, Hika– I mean: Seto," he corrected himself quickly.
"…Whatever," Seto replied more gruffly than he had intended to. He wasn't too familiar with showing empathy in such moments (exception: Mokuba), and the last thing he wanted was to appear like a softie in the eyes of others.
"You're not a softie," Seth interjected.
Seto glared at him and abruptly withdrew his hand. "Who gave you permission to read my thoughts?!"
"I didn't. They were just too strong to ignore."
"Damn mind-link!" Seto snorted, looking away.
/But it can be useful too./
/Stop it. You know I don't like that./
/I believe that it depends on the moment./
Seto did his best not to think anymore and crossed his arms, closing his eyes too. There was no clearer message than that. Seth heaved a small sigh and was about to try and relax when he noticed that something had happened to his hearing. It felt like someone had stuffed something into his ear. He put the little finger of his other hand (not the one Seto had touched) in it and tried to get rid of that feeling. Without success, of course.
"Seto!" 'Even my own voice sounds strange!' "Seto!"
The grim figure next to him didn't react. His unease returning full-blast, Seth didn't hold back:
"Hikari!"
He thought to have seen Seto flinch a bit, but he couldn't be sure.
/Hikari!/
/WHAT?!/
/… …I think there's something wrong with my ears. I don't hear well anymore./
"That's only pressure. All you need to do is yawn," Seto advised him. Seth blinked, then opened his mouth, forcing himself to yawn. In a flash, his wrist was grabbed, then he found himself staring at his own hand. Glancing at the older Kaiba brother, he raised an inquisitive eyebrow. In response, Seto got a reprimanding look. "At least cover your mouth when you do that."
Seth smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
"Save it."
The High Priest thought that somehow, Seto didn't look half as irritated as he had before, and that made him glad. A few moments later, the plane had reached its flight height, and a stewardess offered him a damp, cool towel. Seth gladly accepted it – he felt quite a bit better after briefly washing his face. While he was doing that, he missed the secret glance Seto cast him and the ever so faint smile that tugged at the thin lips.
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He wasn't quite sure how he managed to, but eventually Seth fell asleep. He deliberately positioned the pillow so that he wasn't facing Seto, for he figured that he had been plenty bothersome already. When he awoke, though, he was startled to discover that the plane was making weird movements – as if a giant's hand was tapping it! With wide and fearful eyes, he looked around and wondered why everyone was still so calm. He remembered what the stewardesses had said back in Tokyo: "In case of an emergency…" Was this one of those emergencies? He turned round in his seat, only to find that Seto was fast asleep. Seth bit his lower lip, then tried to make contact via the mind-link. Without success. The plane jolted again, and with a whine, he shook the other's shoulder. He was willing to get yelled at as long as he could find out what was going on…
"Seto! Seto, please wake up…!"
The CEO uttered a soft groan, then sleepily opened his eyes. The very first thing he saw were lapis lazuli irises, and his still half-dazed brain immediately thought: 'Beautiful…' He blinked a few times, then realized why he was seeing lapis lazuli.
"Seth?" he mumbled.
"Seto, what's happening? Is this one of those emergencies?"
This was spoken so fast that Seto barely understood. He just saw that his yami was upset… When a new turbulence occurred, however, he did the math and became fully aware of the situation.
"Turbulences," he answered tiredly and failed to stifle a yawn.
"Is this an emergency?"
"No. Everything will be alright."
A moment later, he felt soft hair underneath his chin. He looked down to see Seth snuggled up against him. Aware of what this must look like, he shifted a bit; but Seth just followed right away.
"Seth… Don't…"
/Please don't say it. You're so calm about this whole thing… and now I am, too./
Perhaps that mind-link was useful after all, Seto mused. /Don't you know what this looks like?/
/I do. Why do you care so much about what the others think? Just ignore them./
/It's not that simple. And you… why don't you care?/
/What would I have to lose, what would I have to care that much about?/
/…A reputation, for instance./
Seth took notice of the contemplation in the other's thoughts. He hesitated a moment with answering, but then gave a reply. /I should have thought about that. I'm sorry./ As he drew back, he noticed a strong reluctance within him. He decided that he needed to get his mind off that as soon as possible – what good would it do to think about something that his lighter half wasn't comfortable with? With a somewhat lost expression, he looked at the little screen on the back of the chair in front of him (it said that there were still 5 hours to go).
For the first time, Seto felt rather guilty to have pushed someone away. Since his at times almost military-like upbringing by Kaiba Gozaburo, Seto hadn't let anyone except Mokuba get close to him. Now he wondered about those few moments he and Seth had spent so close together. 'He just wanted comfort…' He looked around quickly. Most of the other passengers close by were asleep – well, that could change things a bit…
"Listen, Seth…"
Once again, he was the one who talked out loud while the High Priest really seemed to prefer the mind-link, as the immediate interruption indicated:
/Why do you always use your voice like that, Hikari? The others are asleep, so it would be decent to keep it down./
/I wasn't loud. Anyway… are you doing a bit better now? Better than back in Tokyo?/
Fairly surprised by this sudden concern, Seth looked back at Seto (who felt profoundly weird, hearing the other man's voice in his head while they weren't moving their lips at all and looking each other in the eye).
/A bit. But I can't deny that I will be very glad to have firm ground underneath my feet again./
The smile was hidden well on the CEO's neutral facial expression, but Seth could see it anyhow. It was then that he truly wished that they could get along as well as Yugi and the Pharaoh.
/Never… at least; I'd never take the part of that shrimp/ Seto's voice suddenly said in his head. Seth laughed a little bit. Even though that expression was more an insult than something else, it sounded funny.
/So you really do have a sense of humor…/
/Just because I don't show it doesn't mean I don't have one./
Seth smiled, then asked almost timidly:
/Would you let me lean against you again? I can't deny that it comforted me very much – and no one would see, they –/
His thoughts broke off quite suddenly when Seto nodded once. It was an inviting gesture, yet it was also a prompt for him to shut up. For a moment they simply stared at each other, then Seth slowly began to lean against Seto again, searching for that feeling of calmness which had made him temporarily forget his anxieties before. As soon as they touched, that feeling returned, and almost all tension left Seth's body.
Seto would have described it in a different way, but: he truly felt the other's happiness and content. Somehow, he found himself wondering how he could have that effect on somebody; if he really was such a cruel, cold-hearted bastard like everyone said, how could he possibly make someone yearn to be near him…? Or was this just because Seth was part of him, or he was part of the other – something like that…
/…Seth?/
/Hmm?/
/What is it about me that comforts you?/
The Egyptian paused for a moment before almost carefully taking hold of Seto's business suit. /Well, aside from the fact that you're not afraid in this… plane at all, it's… it's…/
/You don't know/ Seto concluded.
/Maybe. But even so, I don't care. What matters is that I get this feeling in the first place. You can blame it on the fact that you're my reincarnation, if you want to./
While Seto wondered about that for a moment, he didn't quite realize how he put an arm around Seth, letting his hand get entangled in the long hair. He did realize how his counterpart sighed ever so faintly, though… and he liked how that sounded. Something that was close to worry arose in him when he caught himself thinking like that.
'What am I doing?! It's illogical… it would be as if I liked myself!'
The plane continued to get shaken by the turbulences, yet the bit of nervousness that returned to Seth every new time that happened wasn't anywhere close to the near-panic he had displayed earlier. He just kept close to Seto, occasionally tightening his grip a little bit. The young CEO felt his doubts increase when he recalled to have used the adjective "beautiful" upon looking into the other's eyes. The more he thought about it, the wronger it seemed – yet another part of him wished that it weren't wrong… He figured that if he would believe in hell like a very religious Christian, he would be desperately trying to come up with a way to atone for his sins enough that he would ascend into heaven anyway.
/Hikari, now you're the one who should relax…/
/I can't. All because of this… this…/
/Don't bother yourself with trying to explain. I already know./
/Does this mean that we –/
/Maybe yes, maybe no. What you want/ was all Seth thought back before drifting off into a light sleep.
Seto stayed awake a little longer, thinking about what they had just "said" to each other. What you want… He looked down at the serene expression on Seth's face and wondered some more. What he wanted… but what what of him wanted? His mind? His heart? Perhaps this was one of those forked roads where one had to make a decision before being able to continue the journey… As if the heavy, warm feeling that radiated from the other man had overcome him too like a spell, Seto felt his eyes open and close a few times before closing for good at last.
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The landing wasn't nearly as bad as the takeoff; Seth's only real problem was dealing with the pressure in his ears as they lost altitude. When a thump indicated that the plane had landed for sure, Seto got a small smile on his face when his yami made no effort whatsoever to stifle his sigh of relief.
"Finally!"
"Well, we're here. You know, first class gets to leave the plane first," Seto remarked nonchalantly and saw how Seth instantly looked even happier than just before. When the plane came to a full stop, the High Priest didn't waste a second to stand up and head for the exit. Seto, on the other hand, was in no particular hurry to retrieve his laptop, and he waited patiently in line for the other passengers who were ahead of him to get out. When he stepped out of the gangway, he found Seth waiting for him, still with that overjoyed expression on his face.
"I don't suppose you kissed the ground, did you?" Seto asked jokingly.
"No, I didn't," Seth answered seriously and tapped the ground with one foot, "But I'm very glad to be standing on it again." He paused briefly, then added: "Still; the flight wasn't pure torture, as you probably think it was for me. You were there, Seto, and I thank you for that; and also for not losing your patience."
"You reminded me of Mokuba back when he had flown for the first time, therefore I wasn't unprepared in that situation. It was something else that took me by surprise…" Abruptly, he stopped talking, looking as if he feared to have said too much.
Seth studied his face for a moment, then smiled in an almost knowing way. "You don't need to explain, Hikari. I know."
Seto pursed his lips and wondered exactly how much he had let his composure crumble – how else could Seth know what he had meant? And if there was one thing that Seto was sure about, then it was that his companion really meant what he said and hadn't just said that for the heck of it.
"I wish you would stop calling me that, really. Now let's go and get our baggage," he said in his usual tone of voice.
As he followed, Seth asked a nonverbal question with a slight grin adorning his face:
/May I call you that when I'm not speaking out loud?/
Without turning around to look at him, Seto replied grudgingly:
/…I assume that it's impossible to teach you otherwise, namely to scratch that name entirely…/
/Quite likely; after all, that's the very first name I called you by./ They reached the baggage carousel, and while they waited for the bags and suitcases to go round in circles, the Egyptian casually lowered his hand so it covered the one which held Seto's laptop. The young man flinched a bit at this skin-to-skin contact.
/Not here, Seth!/
/Somewhere else, maybe?/
/…Maybe. By the way: there's your suitcase…/
/Thank you for pointing that out, Hikari./
Seto growled a bit as the other left his side, but Seth knew that he didn't need to take it personally; he figured that the brunet's curiosity would eventually triumph over his powerful stoic side, and when that happened, they would find out which path Seto would have chosen on that forked road he had reached during the flight to Madrid…
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I don't mean to offend anyone with the comment about Christians. Seriously. It just somehow popped into my mind...
I don't know how much it shows, but just FYI... I don't like flying. I feel trapped inside a plane too. I'm always tempted to clap when the pilot finally lands wherever we had flown to (when you fly with Swiss Airlines, it's actually considered normal to do that)...
Review if you want to. It'd make me happy, but I can't force you, and neither will I plea for it :)