AN: Like usual, there will be more input at the end.
Word Count: 1,265
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.
WARNINGS: Homosexuality
"Chazz!"
I heard footsteps following me. I didn't bother turning around; I recognized that voice. I slowed my pace, but didn't stop. If I stopped, it would be like admitting I wanted him to speak with me.
"Chazz! Where are you going?"
Jaden caught up, walking backwards to face me during our conversation.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm leaving. My brothers are going to take me somewhere. Probably to make me feel guilty about never taking over the 'dueling world' to help them succeed in world domination."
His face fell. I tried to ignore the negative emotion I felt from seeing it.
"But, Chazz, when will we see you again?" I sighed.
"I don't know, Slacker. It shouldn't even matter."
"It does matter! We're friends, Chazz You matter."
"Everybody graduates. You'll graduate next year, too. If you can pull up your grades enough." I smirked at the thought. Duel Academy's star duelist, failing school from bad grades.
"I know that. It's just—" He sighed. I started to get worried. The slacker sighing? Being serious? "You've never been the social one. How am I supposed to go find you and take you on adventures with me while I'm on this island and you're..." He gestured toward the island shores with his hands, "Out there?"
I blinked. Jaden was getting so serious over not seeing me? I thought it would be over not dueling me, or not being able to trade cards with me. I looked around us, just to make sure no one else was around. No one was, they were probably still at the ceremony. If I was going to be sentimental, I would have to do it now, before Jaden's stupid friends decided to follow him.
I stopped walking.
"Jaden." He stopped walking. "D.A. has connections to the outside world. And your birthday is coming up. Ask for a cell phone and get with this generation. We'll stay in touch. I—" I wanted to say, 'I promise,' but I couldn't, so I said something synonymous. "I still have to beat you in a duel."
Jaden smiled at that, finally. I wasn't sure if he understood any of the underlying messages; the promise, the birthday present hint, the acknowledgment of our friendship. Jaden was always an airhead. And I hoped that he would never change, never lose his childish qualities. Jaden was so refreshing.
"Awesome! So, we'll never stop being friends," Jaden laughed, "Because you'll never beat me!"
"Oh, I'll beat you. As soon as you lose your luck and start using skill." I know that Jaden is a good duelist. But more importantly, I know that we're on the same level. I could beat Jaden, and Jaden can beat me. Well, Jaden can beat me sometimes.
"Hey, man. Why don't you prove that with your deck? Right now."
"I have to go. I just told you my brothers—"
"Your brothers? Just admit that you'd lose!" I growled.
"You're on, Slacker!"
"You were obviously cheating! There's no way that Winged Kuriboh can show up every game. You only have one in your deck! That's only a 2% chance at most that you'll draw it in a game!"
"Chill! Just admit that I got you!" Jaden was smiling, thrilled that he won. It had been close though; Jaden only had 100 life points left. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, naturally. You won with your brilliance and masterful tactics. Take your prize, as a prize is always offered to skillful heroes such as yourself."
Jaden smirked. I studied it; a smirk was rare on Jaden. A smile appeared much more often. But there was something about Jaden smirking that looked really nice. Though, now that I think about it, any expression would look nice on Jaden's face.
I was lost in thought. I didn't notice Jaden was getting closer until he pressed his lips to mine. My eyes widened, and I had to use his shoulders to steady myself so I wouldn't fall over in shock. Jaden was suddenly so close—I could even smell the grassy, earthy scent that forever clung to Jaden.
By the time I came to my senses, Jaden was smiling, and I almost started thinking about his expressions again. Almost.
"What the heck, Slacker?" He laughed, and I could feel myself start to blush.
"Well, the prize for a hero is usually a girl, right? The hero always gets the girl. And you're the only person around, Chazz"
"You don't just kiss whoever's around!" I felt like I was hissing. Maybe I was. But Jaden just kept smiling, so I couldn't be sure.
"I wasn't kissing whoever was around, I was kissing you! Chazz Princeton, the second-rate duelist graduate."
"I could beat you in anything, Slacker, and you know it!"
"Then it's kind of weird how you keep losing to me, isn't it?" He was laughing. I smirked as I figured out how to make him stop.
I kissed him.
I kissed him longer than he had kissed me, needing to prove myself in something. I weaved my fingers into his hair and tugged, hard, partly to punish him for that comment and partly to see if he would pull away if I did. His only response was to smile into the kiss and wrap his arms around my waist.
Before the kiss could truly escalate, I broke it. We were both breathing a little harder than before; I hoped for the same reasons. Among mine were excitement and bliss.
"I can beat you in anything, Slacker. Just name your game." I smirked, something not uncommon on my face. Jaden looked a little shocked, but still happy. And I loved it. His ridiculously infectious happiness that I was causing.
"Once I dueled this guy for days," Jaden was staring into my eyes. I stared back. "We kept having to take breaks to sleep because it was taking so long. Days." I felt another negative emotion trying to worm its way into the situation. Jealousy. Who had Jaden dueled for days? Someone that was more equally matched for him than me? But I knew that Jaden didn't have bad intentions with this statement.
"Why are you telling me about your duel with some dumb kid?" I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice, but it was a failed attempt.
Jaden leaned in and kissed me again. It was desperate, no, not desperate—hungry. It was consuming. I mostly associated Jaden with child-like qualities; something so raw and passionate from him felt like it was burning me. This kiss, both of my hands ended up tangled in Jaden's hair. He licked my lips and I nearly moaned, before remembering that I had to best him. Once again, I was the one to end the kiss. We were both panting heavily.
"I said it because some games last for a really long time." Jaden grinned at me. I was pretty confused, my mind wondering why we weren't still kissing, until my head finally cleared and it dawned on me—Jaden was referring to this. He was saying that it could last for a long time.
"I suppose. The longest game of Monopoly was 70 days." I put on my trademark smirk again.
"I don't know. I think this will take a lot longer." Jaden rubbed his nose against mine a sort of Eskimo kiss, making me giggle. In a manly way. He was still smiling. He must have the world record for longest smile.
I recalled I was late to dinner with my brothers. But as I caught Jaden's gaze yet again, I realized I didn't care.
AN: ...So? How was it? I'm really worried about this one. I know I basically lost track of everything and then rushed it, but it's 1:30 AM and I haven't posted anything I've written in a long time. I promise I've been writing and thinking about these two all the time! I just never think my stories are well-written enough to post, which is why I never post anything until the early morning hours when my judgement is impaired. I've been thinking about posting a collection of my unfinished ideas and stories and putting up warm ups and maybe taking feedback on what I should continue. But I don't think I'm popular enough to really do that ;_;
Enough crap, about this story! I just wanted to write some fluff. I often think about how Chazz is older than Jaden, so he would graduate before him. Mostly I think about this because I want to make Chazz 18 in my stories and then realize Chazz would be gone after that year.
About the Eskimo kiss, which was kind of just mentioned in passing, I love Eskimo kisses right now. I think they're the most adorable thing ever. I might write an entire fic about it (and by entire fic I mean entire one-shot ^^).
I like the idea of them using game metaphors. I don't know, maybe because the entire show is about dueling. I made make a little sequel where they argue about this. I'm thinking about it.
And I'd like to take a little sentence here to thank all of my reviewers! I don't really respond to reviews (because I think no one cares about what I say), but I love them all, so much 3