After awhile, Jounouchi begins to catalogue all of the people who'd be worse to be stuck in here with than Kaiba. He'd actually started out making a list of those he'd rather be with, but when that list became too universal, he'd embarked on this far more difficult endeavor.

So far, he's up to Michael Myers, Emperor Palpatine, and Jack the Ripper. Martha Stewart would probably be annoying as hell, but would she be worse than Kaiba? It's difficult to say. Almost anyone without actual homicidal tendencies wouldn't be worse than Kaiba, in Jounouchi's opinion. And almost anything at all would be better than this cold, stony silence he's been treated to for the past hour -- marked only by the occasional veiled insult when Jou dared to open his mouth -- with of course the notable exceptions of three pretty horrifying maniacs.

And no, the irony of how two of the people he'd less rather be with than Kaiba are fictional is not lost on him.

Jounouchi is just trying to decide whether or not Fran Drescher would be better -- she isn't that bad to look at, but her voice! -- when his stomach growls rather obviously.

Oh, yeah. That's why he had been making these lists in the first place, to keep his mind off of his crushing hunger. But, it would seem his body isn't going to take anymore of that.

His stomach growls again almost immediately, loud and insistent. Jou sneaks a look at Kaiba, who has turned his head almost imperceptibly toward the source of the noise.

"I'm hungry," he says defensively, before Kaiba has time to make any kind of nasty comment.

Kaiba just watches him for a moment, eyes shadowed and dark. The car has been off for about ten minutes, now, and it's just starting to get cold again. However, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at Kaiba, who is just as impassive and close-mouthed as ever. Jounouchi isn't entirely sure he can even feel the difference in temperature anyway, made of metal and devoid of all emotion as he is.

"There are some granola bars in the glove compartment," Kaiba says finally, surprising the hell out of Jou.

"Granola bars?" he repeats stupidly, before realizing: food! He is saved from starvation! Jounouchi reaches for the handle and opens the compartment quickly, rifling through the contents. Sure enough, there are three bars all bundled together in a little package, rubber-banded together. Something tells him Kaiba did not put them there, he doesn't seem like a very granola-friendly guy. Nonetheless, Jounouchi is eternally grateful for their existence.

He's halfway through the second one when he realizes that this is probably the only food in the car, and it technically belongs to the person sitting next to him.

"Uh, want some?" he asks thickly around a mouthful of oats and raisins. Kaiba raises his eyebrows, but merely shakes his head.

"It's yours," he replies, crossing his arms and sitting back against the seat.

Silence reigns again for a few minutes as Jounouchi chews as quietly as possible (okay, it was sounding really loud, and he knew it was only a matter of seconds before rich-boy over there made some kind of snide remark), mostly while staring at his feet. A kind of epic battle is going on in his head, and it's starting to give him a headache. He swallows, looks at Kaiba, and turns his eyes away again. Kaiba is still staring straight ahead, same as he's been doing for the past -- hour? two hours? -- with his arms folded across his chest. He looks intense, but then, he always looks intense. Not that Jounouchi spends a lot of time cataloguing Kaiba Seto's expressions, or anything. The guy really only has two or three, that's all.

Jounouchi wipes his mouth off, finally, takes a deep breath and says, "Thank you." And, there, it wasn't that bad.

Kaiba's head snaps up to look at Jou, who can't quite meet his eyes. "You're welcome," he says after a moment, before turning back to his silent contemplation.

Jounouchi watches him. He can't help it, really, it's not like there's anything more interesting in here to focus his attention on. And Kaiba doesn't notice, anyway, so there's no harm done.

Jou sits back against his seat, and secretly keeps his eyes turned to the left.

Kaiba has very, very good posture. That's actually one of the first things he ever noticed about him -- besides the conceit, and snobbishness, and affinity for name-calling, that is. His back is always ramrod-straight, shoulders perfectly squared, head held high and proud. Jou has sometimes found himself wondering if there was ever a time in Kaiba's life when he'd slouched. Does he sit like that on Saturday mornings, eating cereal and watching cartoons with his younger brother? Would he sit like that while at the mercy of his enemies, neck straight and eyes perfectly calm? Jou thinks he would.

Jounouchi realizes with some concern that, sometime before he dies, he'd really like to see Kaiba slouch just once.

But it's not, of course, that he spends his time noticing things about Kaiba. He definitely doesn't, in fact. There's just some stuff about the guy that really stick out, like this posture thing. And how he always maintains absolute control -- no matter what the situation, he's always completely collected, calm and in control of himself. It doesn't seem like he's actually capable of panic. That's always caught Jounouchi's notice too, though obviously not in an appealing kind of way. Just an, an observational way.

Kaiba inhales deeply, suddenly, uncrossing his arms, and Jounouchi jumps at how aware of this movement he is. Although, it's not like it's unusual, they're the only two people in here. His eyes, from what Jou can see of them, look reflective and intense, turned inward, startlingly blue.

Jounouchi swallows, turns away and begins to come up with scenarios in which Kaiba wouldn't sit like his spine was made of solid titanium.

And no, for the record, Kaiba has not gotten into his head. He just doesn't have anything better to think about, at the moment. It isn't a big deal.

Now, would he slouch around at the beach? No, he'd definitely be all uptight there, possibly more than usual. Jounouchi doesn't really like the beach all that much either, it's generally more scratchy sand and sunburn than fun. Although, there was this one time, when he was younger -- but everything is better in the soft glow of childhood, especially after years have passed and blurred the messy details, leaving everything poetic and idealized.

Anyway, definitely not at the beach. Probably not in any normal situation, to be completely honest. Though, what about -- Jou's mind hits a sort of snag, all of the sudden, as he considers the thought of Kaiba Seto receiving certain sexual favors. The image comes completely unbidden, making his breath hitch. Alright, well, he thinks, trying to be reasonable about it, nobody could sit up perfectly straight at a time like that, not even Kaiba, though of course he would never ever want to find out for himself --

Kaiba clears his throat, suddenly, and Jounouchi realizes that he'd been staring at him again. He feels his cheeks redden slightly as he snaps his eyes forward. No fair! He hadn't been doing it on purpose, there are only a limited number of things to look at in this damn car!

Kaiba's still watching him when he glances over, all cold eyes and tight mouth, and he blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind: "Would you do Courtney Love?"

Jou watches as Kaiba blinks, obviously confused. "Would I. . . what?"

"Would you, um," Jounouchi clears his throat, and tries to pretend his face isn't still burning. "Would you, y'know, have sex with her? If the opportunity came up?"

"What kind of question is that?" Kaiba growls, but Jounouchi thinks he can sense slight disquiet behind his usual mask of calm. He looks as though Jou caught him slightly off-guard, which can only be good. Kaiba stares at him for a minute longer before finally saying, "But no, I wouldn't."

"Oh," says Jounouchi, settling back against his seat. "Yeah, neither would I."

He can feel Kaiba watching him but he doesn't look over there, keeping his eyes trained nonchalantly on the dark windshield. He can sense Kaiba's bewilderment, however, and is inexplicably glad for it. It's better when they're talking, anyway, it feels less -- isolated. Jounouchi swallows, still deliberately not looking to his left.

"What about that woman from The Shining?"

He can feel Kaiba's eyes on him, and it makes him feel simultaneously uncomfortable and some other nameless, inexplicable thing. He laces his fingers in his lap, and carefully ignores it.

"I've never seen that," Kaiba replies after a moment, and Jounouchi finally sneaks a glance at him. He has his eyes focused vaguely on the space between Jou and the dashboard, and even through the dark, Jounouchi can see the contrasting blue and black of iris and pupil.

"You should," he says, to keep himself from thinking about anything else. "It's a good movie. Well, actually, it's scary as hell, but if you're into that kinda thing, it's good."

"Alright," says Kaiba, with seemingly no hint of condescension in his voice. Probably because Jounouchi has just convinced him that he is, in fact, completely insane, and he doesn't quite know what to make of that knowledge.

Jounouchi yawns, and leans his head against the cold window. Kaiba inhales like he's going to say something, but then doesn't. There is silence between them once more, but it's better, somehow. More friendly, maybe, if Jounouchi can pretend that doesn't sound completely crazy. It's hard to admit, but he likes it better that way.

See, the thing is, he doesn't actually hate Kaiba.

He hates a lot of things about Kaiba -- he can be a complete bastard, to put it lightly -- but he doesn't hate him. It doesn't make any sense and is difficult to think about, and even more difficult to try to understand. It has something to do with honor, and rivalry, and challenges, and the way Kaiba won't admit defeat until he's actually unconscious on the ground. And even then, he'll say it was just a fluke.

They fight like cats and dogs, but, Jounouchi thinks with the clarity that only comes in moments of great fatigue, that's what makes it interesting. There's always that spark, when they fight or duel or even just make eye contact -- Jou can actually feel it sometimes, in more places than one. It's just because they don't get along, they're more or less polar opposites. And they can't be near each other without fighting.

But Jounouchi doesn't hate Kaiba.

In fact, there's some part of him -- so deeply buried that even he doesn't often consciously realize it -- which is fascinated by Kaiba. The cold facade, the arrogant brilliance, the unshakeable self-control: it intrigues him as much as it repels him. Jounouchi has wondered before if he's ever lost that control, and what it looked like.

However, that is not a line of thought that he is going to be following at this moment. He's tired, and cold, and hungry again.

It's easier to speak, though, with that fluidity that comes from being very sleepy. "You know, I would give absolutely anything for a cheeseburger."

With his peripheral vision he sees Kaiba's profile turn toward him slightly. There is a moment of silence, and then he says, "So would I."

Jounouchi stares blankly at him for a second, unable to believe his ears, before bursting into laughter. Kaiba stares back, not quite annoyed, but intense as always. "What?" he asks finally in a low voice, clearly unused to being laughed at. Or with, depending on how you wanted to look at it, though he was definitely not laughing.

"I just, sorry," gasps Jounouchi, taking a deep breath, "you don't really seem like the kind of person who'd -- like that. It was funny."

"I'm not," Kaiba tells him, eyes still slightly bewildered. Well, that's alright then, because as long as he keeps Kaiba confused and off-guard, at least they can't fight. He's far too tired to fight right now, anyway. Jounouchi yawns again, and tries not to shiver visibly.

"I have a question," he says, unsure of whether this is a good idea or not. It's easier to talk now, though, after he's already broken the silence with his -- well, his complete insanity, but at least it was something. Kaiba might ridicule him -- in fact, Kaiba will almost definitely ridicule him, but, he's used to that. And it's too late to back out, now.

Kaiba doesn't reply, but Jou knows he's listening and plows on. "If I go to sleep, I won't freeze to death, will I?"

Something flits across Kaiba's face, too fast and fleeting to make out. Jounouchi squints at him, while trying to pretend that it isn't what he's doing.

"Why would you freeze to death?" Kaiba asks, but not in a mocking way. Jounouchi is surprised. Maybe containment, hunger and fatigue really bring out the best in Kaiba, as illogical as that sounds. "You mean, how you're not supposed to fall asleep in snow?"

"Yeah, sorta," replies Jounouchi, feeling more or less like an idiot, but isn't that how he always feels around Kaiba? It's nothing new, anyway. "I just mean -- if I fall asleep, I want to wake up."

"You will," says Kaiba after a moment, gruff but reassuring, and for just the barest second there's something strange and foreign and soft in his eyes. Jou blinks and it's gone, Kaiba's eyes are just as hard and fathomless as ever. Great, now he's hallucinating on top of everything else.

"I'm not saying I'm for certain going to fall asleep," he tells Kaiba, feeling almost like he has to protest against how Kaiba may be viewing this as a weakness, "it was just -- hypothetical."

"Right," replies Kaiba, unsmiling but somehow not quite as cold as he meets Jou's eyes just briefly, and then turns his gaze to his hands in his lap.

"I'm not even that tired," Jou continues, settling back against the seat. He is very tired, actually, but maybe he'll be too cold to fall asleep anyway. "I'm just going to rest my eyes for a couple of minutes."

Kaiba snorts very quietly, but doesn't say anything. Probably he does see falling asleep as a weakness, stupid blue-eyed well-postured bastard.

Jounouchi stares into the darkness, trying to will his eyes to stay open. It may or may not be a losing battle. The shadows seem to be closing in, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier as he struggles against the weight and eventually gives in.

"Seriously, just resting my eyes," he informs Kaiba in almost a whisper, and doesn't hear the reply.