Melting Ice- Chapter 7: Iris II

"You can't fight the tears that ain't coming.

Or the moment of truth in your lies.

When everything seems like the movies,

You bleed just to know you're alive…"

Iris, by 'The Goo Goo Dolls'.


Tea and Mokuba, when calm, had hurried downstairs –anxious not to keep Kaiba waiting. When they arrived in the dining room, it was dark and empty. Mokuba paused, and Tea looked at him for guidance.

"I guess we're going to be informal tonight…Yay! I hate pretending to be so boring and stuck up when its only friends…It gives off the wrong impression…"

He looked sideways at Tea, who grinned sheepishly, remembering the many times they'd called Kaiba rich and stuck up. They hadn't actually made room for him in their gang, just expected him to fit in with their ways. And Seto Kaiba never 'just fit in'.

Since their little hysterical fit, Tea and Mokuba felt a sort of easy going 'camaraderie', which was really relaxing for them both. Plus, Tea's aspirin was kicking in, and thus, she felt slightly as if she was wrapped in cotton wool as they walked to the kitchen.

Ariadne was playing with Kaiba's slipper under the table, Tea noted, as they walked in. This meant that she missed Kaiba's sharp assessment of her 'outfit', and raised eyebrow to Mokuba, who shrugged, grinning. By the time she had looked up, there was only a blank smile on both faces, waiting, she realized, for her to sit first. Yikes! She hoped her table manners were up to scratch. Kaiba, supremely bored, waited for her to get comfortable before pouring them both water (and Mokuba milk) from glass pitchers on the table. Then, with a glance at Tea, he meaningfully lifted the cover off one of the serving dishes before him.

"It's gonna be a snow day tomorrow, Seto! Don't you think so?" Mokuba began excitedly. Tea sneakily looked at Kaiba, and followed his lead, helping herself to noodles, vegetables and tuna steak, and pouring some warm, spicy looking sauce over her noodles.

"I think so, Mokuba. Gardener may have to remain our guest until the weather turns. It looks as if it will snow all night." Kaiba spoke blandly, eyes sharp, prepared to catch the slightest hint of insult in her reaction. Tea looked up, anxiously. "I am sorry if my presence causes any difficulty…"

"Nonsense. The one thing we have more than plenty of here, is space."

They fell silent for a moment, as Kaiba mentally re-assessed his harsh tone. Mokuba, clearly used to re-directing the conversation after such moments, asked Tea if she'd like to see the games room after dinner.

"That would be nice, Mokuba. Do you spend a lot of time in there?" She responded, smiling at a practically rhetorical question. Kaiba controlled an urge to grin.

"Are you kidding? He practically lives there…" He spoke without thought, and Tea started at the warmth in his tone. She stopped toying thoughtfully with her fork, and looked over at a blushing Mokuba.

"I bet. What's your favourite game, Mokuba?"

The conversation proceeded easily, sliding gently over thin ice at times, then, as they regained their footing, moving on. As they came to a pause just before dessert, Tea turned to Kaiba, who had become a degree or two less frosty (although there were indications that if this show of trust was even hinted at being maligned, it would freeze over quicker than you could say 'icy tundra').

"So, Kaiba…What do you think of Ariadne? Gonna invent a card and name it after her?" She inquired easily.

"Yeah, maybe it could be named 'Fire Cat' or something?" Mokuba added enthusiastically. A vein twitched in Kaiba's forehead. He raised a heavily sarcasm loaded eyebrow, and looked directly at Tea.

"Or Princess Flower Kitty?"

It was so incredibly out of character for Kaiba to be so frivolous, that Tea snorted with laughter through a mouthful of noodles. Mokuba was giggling, and had splurted(ii) milk out of his nose, earning himself a frown from Kaiba. Trying hard to (a) not spit anything out (b) keep breathing, Tea made a mental note to herself. 'Amusing' Kaiba was way more fun to be around than Kaiba of the witty/sarcastic quip-dom…And somehow, her treacherous brain added, more attractive…

Mokuba had calmed down, and was looking at him curiously. It really irritated Seto for a moment, and he had to bite back a rather extremely nasty comment, which he would never have wanted to say to his little brother. Was his telling a joke that out of character?

"Yeah, Kaiba, I can really see that replacing Blue-Eyes as your favourite card…" Tea giggled, after finally dealing with that pesky mouthful, unaware of the looming tension. The Kaiba brothers, momentarily having forgotten her presence, blinked, and gave up on the staring competition. A moments silence was broken by Kaiba.

"Do you like your room?" He enquired, diplomatically. (Diplomacy, in the 'Book of all things Seto', meant bluntly sticking to polite conversation like superglue to glass and refusing to budge). Tea's smile faltered at the return to formality, but she gamely replaced it with a brighter one.

"It's beautiful, thank you, Kaiba-kun. Did you decorate the mansion yourself?" Tea tentatively enquired.

"Do I look like the kind of man who does Interior Design?" Kaiba snarled back. Tea made a mental note- do not mention interior design. It seemed she had struck a nerve. The best she could manage for a minute was a weak 'No. Um. Ok.'

"But he did design our rooms!" Mokuba chipped in, trying to break the ice. Unfortunately, by the look on his brother's face, he had (metaphorically, of course...)just thrown a bucket of water over the conversation,at a time whenit was -15 degrees centigrade. Once again, the conversation was frozen. Tea, recognizing this silence for the agonizedinward squeal of the male ego, smiled gently.

"So you do a little, but only very guy-like, macho stuff. Ok, that's cool."

Well accustomed to the reactions of her male friends, and comfortable dealing with them in her own way, Tea had forgotten one important thing. Seto Kaiba was a whole different species of male. She had also forgotten that this passive reaction almost always pushed his 'restrained irritation' button. Hard.

"The designers were incompetent fools! Especially when it came to following precise instruction. So, as usual, to get the best result, I had to do it myself." Kaiba grunted. Tea, glad the reaction wasn't more severe, hurried to pour warm water over the issue.

"I'm sure they're beautiful, Kaiba-kun. You have excellent taste."

However, her soothing tone, seemed to have the most unhelpful effect possible. Kaiba gave her a piercing look, which made her want to cross her arms over her chest, reached down to remove Ariadne from his foot, and, taking his plate with him, vanished into the kitchen.

Tea, completely dismayed, looked after him, and then at Mokuba for guidance. He shrugged, and looked a little embarrassed.

"Was it something I said…? I'm sorry.." Tea asked, half-joking, all in seriousness. Mokuba put down his fork, had a sip of milk, and looked directly at Tea. It was so reminiscent of his brothers gaze, that Tea almost dropped her gaze. Instead, she was transfixed by the adult look in his childish eyes.

"No, Tea. Big brother often leaves when he doesn't know how to react to a situation. I think he got too comfortable watching us banter, and when he realized you were inviting him to join in, he didn't know how. So, instead of making a mistake, or looking dumb, he left."

Mokuba's logic was flawless, and Tea suddenly clicked onto where Mokuba's portion of the Kaiba family genius had taken form. She tried to hide her surprise, and made a conscious decision never to treat Mokuba like a child again.

"Mokuba…You're so amazing, y'know? Seto's really lucky to have you as a brother."

Tea's eyes softened as Mokuba blushed. She couldn't imagine how hard it must be for him to be the only one cutting Seto a little slack; including Seto himself. She couldn't see Kaiba ever taking it easy on himself, and others. The interesting question being, did Mokuba give himself (albeit more subtly) the same standards? And if so, who cut him some slack?


i) 'icy tundra'- Mighty Boosh watchers out there, rejoice!

ii) 'splurted' a mix between splashed and spurted….spread the new vocab, people!