For two weeks Kaiba holed himself up in his office concentrating on work. However, that wasn't the only thing he concentrated on. Every blink of his eyes allowed him to relieve that moment where he'd fucked up and said something terrible. Why was that so awful? Why was it so surprising? He said mean, devastating things all the time. Did Atem think he was special? Did he think he was immune? His rival was supposed to be able to take the abuse. Kaiba was the way he was and there was no absolute way of ever changing it.
The hurt look that flashed across his lover's face when he'd said it, "Because you come to me when you want someone to dominate you, you think that makes me obligated to sate your loneliness?" His own words echoed in his head as his nails curled tighter into the palm of his hand. Maybe it really had been a step too far. Given the time frame that had gone on where Atem had seemed not to want to call him or be in contact with him in any way, shape or form... maybe it had been the last step.
He wouldn't apologize.
Those crimson eyes widened, bangs seeming to lower over his eyes as his head tilted; the pain in those eyes had been so completely unmistakable. Just thinking about it had his chest weighed down with that feeling of guilt, with an odd sensation of pain. His teeth clenched together. He couldn't stop thinking about it. The more he thought about it the angrier he got, not only at the situation but at Atem for leaving it like this, and for himself because he didn't feel particularly like apologizing. That meant he was wrong.
Even if by now he knew he definitely had been.
His tired eyes glared at the clock, reading three in the morning. The numbers and letters of his work had long since started blurring together. Even when they weren't, he still wasn't coding properly. Atem on his mind, and with terrible accordance at that, just dwindled down his will. This was probably the breaking point. He clicked out of his user settings, putting the computer into sleep mode; leaving himself an escape.
He'd go to Atem's apartment. If the shorter duelist gave him shit or threw him out he would just come back to work and do the work he was supposed to do. Yes, this was the plan he'd formed by the time he'd gotten into his car and pulled out into the street. Not even the purr of the engine served to calm him. Not even pushing the car to its limits in the straight and empty streets served to give him any semblance of solace. He was tense and anxious and still slightly angry.
The car was pulled up to the curb and locked. Three in the morning left him little choice in the way of buzzing Atem's apartment, though he was sure the man was still awake. He didn't know why he was sure, but he was sure. Instead of being conventional, and when was Kaiba ever conventional anyway, he slipped up to the keypad of the complex and simply hacked his way into it. Still nothing, though. Even if it was a small task, it didn't make him feel any better.
And as he walked up each step towards Atem's own apartment, he felt heavier and worse than he had each second before. But Kaiba didn't run away from anything. Soon enough he found himself at Atem's door and gave it a swift and loud knock. A minute passed with no answer. He tried again with three knocks in succession, as loud as the last one. Another minute with nothing. He grimaced. Either Atem was asleep or ignoring him. Given the way the last conversation went, he'd have to pick the latter of those choices.
He balled up his fist and pounded on the door, five knocks this time, definitely louder than the last two tries. It would have been enough to wake the other gamer if he'd really been asleep. When no answer came he found himself very angry. "Atem!" He shouted. Kaiba Seto would not be ignored, especially not when... he was awkwardly trying to fix what he'd broken. But still no answer.
His lips parted for one last call, and this one was going to be very, very loud. He took a breath in.
"You're going to wake my neighbors if you continue up with this." Atem's voice appeared finally, but behind the taller man instead of behind the door.
Kaiba whirled around, narrowing his eyes. Oh good. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough." Though falling back into banter was quite easy, Atem was not smirking or happy in the slightest.
The CEO scowled. "Then you have no right to worry about your neighbors if you could have stopped me ten minutes ago."
The brunet had a point and Atem acknowledged it with a quiet nod of his head. Yes. An argument won in Kaiba's favor. And yet Seto felt absolutely no joy in winning this one. He stepped back as the shorter approached the apartment, inserting the key and unlocking the door. He certainly hadn't invited Kaiba in, but he hadn't exactly slammed the door in the man's face, either. So said man took it as an invitation to follow into the apartment close behind.
"What were you doing out at three in the morning?" He found he couldn't help but ask as he closed the door.
"That's hardly any of your business."
That answer brought Kaiba's anger back full circle. What right did Atem have to deny him information? Regardless of if they were fighting. His rival was still his and what he did with his life was important to the CEO when he still held Kaiba's title in his hands. He reached out, laying a hand on Atem's shoulder and shoving him back against the nearest wall. This wasn't exactly the most opportune way to begin an apology, Atem noted quietly, as he glared up at Seto. But he made no move to fight back. Yet.
"It is my business." Kaiba hissed right in Atem's face.
Crimson eyes absolutely burned with fury. But instead of yelling, he smirked. "You weren't so worried about sating my loneliness a couple of days ago. You don't have to worry about it now, either."
Blue eyes widened before Kaiba reigned himself in on the reaction. Now what the fuck did that mean? Was Atem out seeing other people? Something very painful twisted in Seto's chest, causing his grip to intensify. "You would go looking for company that isn't mine out of hurt. It's pathetic." The words would never come out right.
Somehow, thankfully, Atem didn't showcase hurt this time. Just rage. His hands balled in Seto's shirt tightly. "You're sniffing around my apartment feeling sorry for yourself. Who's really the pathetic one here? You for hanging on or me for moving on?"
Kaiba pulled Atem forward and pitched him back into the wall. It was not enough to truly hurt the shorter duelist, but enough to make one hell of a point. The shock registered before his eyes had rolled back, jarred slightly from the sudden hit. His grip on Seto's shirt loosened, but he didn't let go completely. Kaiba waited for Atem to pull himself together, not really sure what else to do at this point. He'd come here to fix things but all he was doing was putting a dent in Atem's wall.
Slowly that grip tightened again; Seto found himself slightly relieved, though he'd never admit it. Atem's eyes blinked open before he tilted his head back and looked up at Seto. His expression was completely unreadable at first.
Then, he grinned.
"You have one funny way of apologizing, Seto."
The fact that the King of Games had fallen back into a first name basis alleviated some of that weight in Kaiba's chest. The reaction still had caught him off guard. Was Atem-
"I'm not forgiving you." Almost as if he could read Seto's mind. "I'm acknowledging what you came here to try and do. But I'm also acknowledging this is a pretty shitty way of doing it."
Seto's lips pursed together. "Tch. I hope you're not expecting me to get on my knees and beg forgiveness. I won't." He really wouldn't, too. This was as close as it was going to come.
The shorter's grin faded into a smile as his arms wrapped around Seto's neck instead. "Duel me." He whispered.
"Is that a challenge?" Kaiba growled back, suddenly infuriated and confused at the same time.
"You have your deck on you?"
"Always." Kaiba found himself covering Atem's body with his own, pressing him back into the wall once more. He leaned in, about to silence the Game King with a kiss, until-
"I challenge you to a duel, Kaiba Seto." Atem whispered against Seto's lips, his eyes already closed.
Kaiba found himself inwardly cursing. A duelist never refused a challenge. "You will regret it." He growled back, releasing his hold on Atem. "The stakes?" He was already in the process of removing his deck from his pocket.
Atem straightened himself out, reaching into his deck box to retrieve his own deck. "If you lose you apologize." The man was going to try and force Seto into apology. Really, he was doing it for both their benefits. He knew Seto was sorry but unable to say it. He wanted to hear it, anyway. And humiliating the taller was sometimes a pleasing thing to do, especially when the man had hurt him so.
The brunet growled again. How dare Atem. "When you lose you will stop holding on to your feelings over this." No more of this fight. No matter who won, it ended tonight.