Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
Stage 4
December 26
Seto
Who opens Christmas presents on the day after Christmas?
Not that we'd have been able to do anything else after the train fiasco yesterday. At least they closed Mokuba's door this time; once I chased them out of the living room. I don't know what made Yami think I'd let them stay down here to ruin my furniture.
And probably the rest of the presents.
"Wow, Seto! This is really nice," Yami ogles at Minako's present to me.
"Yeah, Seto. It's really great," Mokuba echoes, Yugi nodding beside him.
I smile to myself as I remember the conversation that probably prompted her gift. It was just a few weeks ago.
"Minako! Where the hell is my signature pen? I have contracts to sign!" I'd yelled at her.
She'd appeared momentarily in a huff, dropping a signature pen on my desk. Again. When she'd grumbled under her breath as she walked away, I'd called her on it.
"What was that?" I'd pressed.
"I said, Mr. Kaiba, that you need to keep one attached to your desk," she'd snipped.
One of the reasons that Shiori Minako has been my Executive Secretary for almost four years is because she isn't afraid of me. I enjoy her borderline insubordinate behavior because it balances perfectly with her exceptional front office skills.
"Is that so?" I'd retorted. "Well, since it's your job to make sure that I have a pen at all times, maybe you should have been the one to take care of that! You're dismissed."
Not many things in the world surprise or bother me anymore. Even fewer scare me. Especially after beating back that tumor. But I admit that coming out of my office a while later to find Minako packing up her desk had brought a bit of panic to my thoughts. I'd been sure that I'd finally pushed her too far and she was going to leave me wallowing with incompetent, fawning idiots again.
"What the hell are you doing?" I'd inquired; perhaps a bit more forcibly than necessary.
She'd looked up at me in obvious surprise and replied, "You said I was dismissed."
I've been working on getting my face back to its ever present cool mask ever since I healed from the tumor surgery, but I can't say for sure that my relief hadn't been evident that day. At least my voice had been steady when I'd replied.
"I meant from my office, Minako. Don't think I'm ever going to let you get away that easily."
I'd left her staring in shock after putting the signed contracts on her desk.
Lightly fingering the lapis, malachite and gold World Globe and double pen set, I smile lightly to myself.
No, definitely never going to let her get away.
Yugi
After Kaiba shares a rather creepy looking smile with himself, he hands Yami a larger, rectangular box.
"It's very nice," Yami smiles; draping the long, black, wool garment around his shoulders and test fastening it at the neck. "But a cape, Seto?"
"You're always acting like a superhero, so I though a cape would be appropriate," Kaiba deadpans.
Yami huffs in affront, cutting his eyes at both me and Mokuba as we start snickering.
"This one next," Mokuba chokes back a bark of laughter and hands me a bag with two small boxes inside.
After I hand the one with Yami's name on it to him, I open my own and nearly stop breathing. I look up to see Yami in the same state I am.
"Mokuba, Seto…these are…" I trail off, completely at a loss.
"Well, Seto and I agreed that you guys just didn't look right without the puzzle around your necks," Mokuba explains. "And since the real puzzle is buried in Egypt-"
"And we didn't want to give you something big and gaudy like that thing was…" Kaiba cuts Mokuba off with an amused smirk.
"As I was saying," Mokuba mock glares at his brother. "We thought this would be a better compromise. They open up similar to a standard locket and hold up to six 1" x 1" photos."
"Thank you," Yami breathes, placing the gold locket around his neck.
After a moment, I do the same, allowing Yami's expression of gratitude to stand for both of us.
I can't help but stare at and finger the object hanging around my neck on a strong gold chain. That Kaiba and Mokuba would be so thoughtful…remembering the kimono I realize that this gesture shouldn't be any more shocking. These brothers have always been more emotionally deep and harder to fathom than most people realize. They've simply always kept that between themselves as insulation for the harsh reality of their worlds.
I suddenly feel very honored to have been allowed inside such a sacred circle.
"Yugi?" Mokuba lightly touches my shoulder, his voice full of love and concern. I look up at him and smile gratefully.
"Enough mush!" Seto suddenly growls, tossing a big box at my head.
Seto
I swear Mokuba's idiot boyfriend is so pitiful sometimes. I thought he was going to cry. It's just a locket!
Hn. Now it's payback time.
I keep my face neutral as he takes the brightly colored, wool shawl around his neck and shoulders, though I'm smiling inside.
"Thanks, Kaiba!" he smiles at me, no trace of the almost tears from earlier.
Maybe he's not pitiful, maybe he's bi-polar.
As he picks up the authentication card, I can taste my sweet, sweet revenge.
"Diaphonous wool shawl," he reads aloud. "What the hell, Kaiba? 'Feminine, fashion forward and functional'? I'm not a girl!"
And now it's time to get them both.
"That's not what Mokuba says," I drawl.
"That's not..." he protests. "We haven't even..."
After his entertaining sputtering to a halt, I get to enjoy the red flame of embarrassment covering both of their faces. Heh.
"Yes, Well..." Yami coughs, hiding his chuckle as he reaches under the tree for another gift and gives it to me.
I summarily rip off the paper to reveal a basic chess set. I haven't played chess in a very long time; since I beat Gozaboro, actually. I wonder what made Yami think that I'd want —
I can't help the catch in my breath as I open the box to reveal much more than a basic chess set.
The Kings are two of my beloved Blue Eyes, the Queens are Dark Magicians. One set of pawns are Kuribo, the other set are Saggi. I quickly close the box, schooling my face back to its unreadable calm.
"I always know you were a closet 'Queen,' Yami," I tease, handing him the final present beneath the tree.
"You're welcome, Seto. I'm glad you like it," he snarks, tearing off the wrapping on the medium-sized square.
"Oh, Ra! Seto, it's magnificent," he gasps at my present. Hn. I guess I couldn't expect to leave him speechless a second time.
"Here, let me put that on you," I insist, unlatching and removing his usual his leather collar.
His smile is radiant and I can't help but answer with one of my own. I motion for him to turn around as I take the choker from its box.
I worried that the solid gold collar with the high quality gold and lapis ankh would be too heavy for him to wear, but it's quite light. It fits perfectly around his neck and the ankh lies quite nicely on his chest. With this and his puzzle, he should be really happy. And with these small items, I can begin to pay back the debt of kindness and friendship he's shown to me and Mokuba.
I lead him to the mirror I've placed over the fireplace mantle just for today.
"It really is exquisite," he smiles brightly, fingering the collar and ankh almost reverently.
"You should wear it all the time," I suggest. "It's more interesting than the black one."
"And have people trying to steal it from my neck? No thank you!" he laughs. "Special occasions only!"
"Then wear it tomorrow," I declare.
"What's the special occasion tomorrow?" he turns around to ask.
"We're going flying," I smile.
His face lights up with his eager grin.
Yugi
"I'm not sure what to think," I reply to Mokuba's vague inquiry.
The atmosphere around those two was definitely…weird.
"I don't think they even noticed that we were gone," I mumble.
"I'm sure they didn't notice," Mokuba retorts. "Because I told Seto we were leaving and he didn't even look up."
"So what does that mean?" I lean against Mokuba's shoulder as we sit on his bed.
"That means that we have some time to ourselves," he smiles. He leaves my side just long enough to close his bedroom door before pushing me down onto what is soon to be our bed.
