The business day winded down in the usual manner; with the higher-ups of KaibaCorp slowly allowing their underlings to head home, before they followed suit. Of course, their diligent young CEO was usually the last to leave. It wasn't often that Seto Kaiba stepped into his private elevator with the intention of heading home early. Yet today, for some reason, he felt compelled to give in to Mokuba's frequent requests for a 'family' meal together.

Meanwhile, the only other teenager in the building was also stepping into a different lift. Jounouchi had ended up clocking out a little later than usual that day- things had been quite hectic, and he was finally running out of steam. As the elevator finally reached the main floor, he stepped out to find that he wasn't alone. Apparently his boss was also on his way out.

"Hey! Boss-man! Wait up!" The blonde called to the (slightly annoyed) executive. Nevertheless, he waited, and soon they were both walking out of the crowded front lobby together. There were still plenty of employees filing out of the building or running around with last-minute changes and requests. Frankly, Jou was impressed- did KaibaCorp ever truly 'shut down' for the night?

"Man, now I know why yer so grumpy all the time- this place is crazy!" The blonde rubbed the back of his head and yawned. "I'm beat!"

Kaiba smirked as they stepped through the polished main doors. "Hnn. I do hope you're not trying to go back on your agreement due to a little hard work."

"Eh? Oh, no way! Ya gotta be tougher than that to keep this guy down!" Jou grinned and gestured at his chest with his thumb. The taller man rolled his eyes but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly up.

"Well, see ya tomorrow, boss!" The younger hire started walking away from the building.

"Mutt."

The Brooklyn native turned around.

"Eh?"

"What are you doing?"

The fair-haired duelist tilted his head. "Erm, I was gonna head home now- did you need me to do somethin' else?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "You do realize I've been to your apartment, correct?"

The blonde blinked. "Uh, yeah- you went inside an' all."

The corporate magnate was being uncharacteristically patient. "My point is, I know how far away you live. And I know you don't own a car- do you have anything arranged?"

"Not tonight, nah. S'okay, it's not raining or nothin'. Don't worry, Mr. Moneybags, I won't get lost." Jou joked, but the stricter duelist didn't flinch.

"I think the more pressing concern is if you can make it through the door with your limbs intact. You were attacked on your own front steps, not some random sidewalk."

Jounouchi frowned. He wasn't sure how to respond to that- true, Honda had offered to take him home some nights, but he was working more and more...

"Hurry up, mutt." The lofty CEO strode past the blonde, barely waiting as he stepped to the curb.

Jou watched as his boss' driver came around and opened the door of the extravagant black limo. The American took a moment to think it over- it didn't seem like Kaiba was mocking him, or trying to trick him. So the shorter teen gave a slight shrug and jogged after the top executive.

His eyes lit up as he saw the limousine close-up- he'd almost forgotten how absurdly wealthy the other dragon duelist was (why the heck did he ever go to Domino High?!).

"Hey Roland! Long time no see! How are ya?"

The driver looked pleasantly surprised to see the upbeat blonde. "Master Kaiba, Master Jounouchi. Good evening." He didn't say anything further, but he gave Jou a wink and a quick smile, which the other returned.

Jounouchi waited for Kaiba to sit down before sliding in. Kaiba was a little miffed that the mutt sat only three feet away from him. It was a limousine, after all- it wasn't as though there weren't plenty of other seats!

"Man, plush ride! We sure don' get babies like this down at the shop!" Jou looked around, impressed by the inner workings of the luxury vehicle. He looked over everything- the door locks, the screen consoles, the motorized privacy divider...

The amateur mechanic began muttering comments to himself as he inspected everything. No doubt the eager teen thought he was being quiet, but Kaiba could still hear every word. Two ice-tinted eyes narrowed in annoyance as the other passenger continued talking.

"Ah, so then that's gotta be attached to the- and if that's the- but this one's gotta be smaller than standard..."

Just as the brunette was about to snap, the blonde sat back again and sighed dreamily. "Man, this is a beautiful machine you got here. Always nice to see somethin' a little diffren' from the average car."

Kaiba snorted. "Only a 'little' different?"

Jou shrugged. "Well, technically the frame work isn't that different than a stretched-out sedan- I mean, for example; if you were to take the inner console of a 90's Lexus and take out the-"

Apparently Jounouchi hadn't been exaggerating when he said he liked cars. He had a decent knowledge of 'common' vehicles, and soon Kaiba found himself conversing with the blonde. He knew a bit about the various automobiles that he owned, and could help Jou compare and contrast the features of the 'typical' car and those of recent luxury models.

"Ah, right." Jounouchi paused the conversation as he noticed what street they were on. "Well, here's my stop- thanks for the ride, Kaib-aaaaand we passed it." He blinked as neither Kaiba nor the driver seemed to react. "Erm, is everythin' ok? I mean; you don' have to stop if you don't wanna be seen here; I should be fine. Just let me know when it's awright for me to get out."

The brunette billionaire only raised an eyebrow as he glanced sideways at the other passenger.

"Don't you think it's a little presumptuous to expect that I would have Roland drop you off before myself?"

Jounouchi looked a bit abashed. "Er, sorry... I thought it was sensible, seein' as how it's on the way..."

Kaiba waved a hand in dismissal. "Never mind."

Shortly after, the shining limo pulled up to the illustrious gates guarding the Kaiba mansion. Roland opened the perimeter section with a remote. He then guided the limo up to the front entrance, before jumping out to open the door for his employer.

Without a moment's pause, the older teen stepped gracefully out of the vehicle. He turned around and stared expectantly at the still-seated Jou.

Kaiba frowned. "Well?" He made a sweeping motion with one hand, gesturing towards the main door.

"Well...? Oh!" The blonde grinned sheepishly. "Righ', sorry about that! I always forget stuff I already said!" The blonde gave a partial bow from the backseat. "Thanks very much for the ride, Kaiba-san!"

"..." The mansion owner was wondering how he could have an employee on his staff as dumb as his mutt.

'Wait, what did I-?'

"Seto!" A shorter figure smashed into the unfocused CEO. Seto just chuckled and hugged his little brother.

"Hello, Mokie. How was your day?"

Mokuba grinned. "Pretty good! We were playing football in gym class and I took the first- wait, who's in the limo, Seto?"

"Hey munchkin!" Jounouchi called as he struggled to extract himself from the back seat. "Whoa, I think you grew taller!"

Mokuba looked at the passenger in disbelief. But Jou only grinned as he finally stood up.

"Oops, turns out I was jus' shorter- my mistake."

Mokuba smirked. "Oh yeah? Well, just you wait, Jou! Don't forget, I'm a Kaiba!" Mokuba proudly pointed to his chest with his thumb. "And I'm gonna be taller than you one day! Maybe even taller than Seto!"

A ghost of a grin flitted across the older brother's face.

But Jounouchi laughed. "No way, then you'll have to raise all the door frames in the mansion! And some of the ceilings, too!"

Mokuba just stuck his tongue out.

Although the mutt's humor was sophomoric at best; Mokuba did seem to love it. Kaiba watched the two joke around, and he teetered somewhere between admiration and jealousy. He would never have that casual sense of humor- nor that everyday, open camaraderie. Then again, maybe it wasn't so surprising; Seto understood the canine's energetic lunacy, but he had no desire to join in.

Honestly, he couldn't stand the crazy dog.

"Mutt, come on. I know you didn't eat lunch today, and our chef is still on duty."

So why had he just invited 'the dog' for dinner?

The Kaiba's evening meal was far livelier with the golden-haired duelist sitting at the table.

Jou smiled earnestly at the smaller brother. "So, what'd you do today, Mokuba? Did ya have any pop quizzes?"

The raven-haired boy shook his head. "Nope, we don't get many of those. Our teachers are pretty cool." He paused for a moment, looking upwards in thought. "Oh, but we did play football today!"

Jounouchi blinked. "Eh? Isn't that a little dangerous before you get to high school?"

"He said 'Football.' Not 'American' Football." Kaiba explained curtly before going back to his meal.

"O-h, gotcha. So you guys played soccer?"

Mokuba frowned. "No, we played football. What's soccer?"

Jou began explaining the difference, and soon the two got into a mild argument.

"But it's called 'football' because you use your feet! You can't use your hands." Mokuba pointed out.

"Yeah, but the American 'football' has been around longer! So it got the name first!" Jou folded his arms in satisfaction.

The older Kaiba couldn't resist bursting the blonde's bubble. "Actually, mutt; American Football wasn't officially recognized until the mid-19th century. Football, or 'Soccer,' has been documented since the 13th century; possibly earlier."

Mokuba stuck out his tongue in victory, but unfortunately Seto saw him.

"Mokuba! You are not allowed to stick your tongue out at the dinner table!"

Jounouchi grinned and stuck his own tongue out, leading Kaiba to glare at him furiously.

"What? You said 'Mokuba'." He pointed at the kid, who was now snickering.

The (fully) mature adult closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "You're lucky to be sitting at the table, mutt. Dogs usually eat on the floor."

But the other (barely) mature adult shrugged. "Hey, this stuff's great, I don't care what plate it is or isn't on!"

"I'll be sure to pass the compliment along to the chef." Kaiba remarked dryly.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, with Jou and Mokuba talking nearly nonstop. And although Kaiba found himself somewhat annoyed, he had to admit it was nice to hear other people talking enthusiastically about the little things in life (rather than pretending to be interested in some boring business deals). He even found himself fighting down a chuckle once or twice.

Dessert was a rather strange affair, as Jou's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Mokuba told him he could order anything he wanted from the chef. Seto anticipated a massive order of pastries or confectioneries, but Jou surprised him. The blonde only asked Mokuba what he was having, and so they both shared a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies (with milk mustaches, of course).

Eventually (to Mokuba's dismay,) Jounouchi had to head back to his apartment. The Capmon champion waved goodbye as Roland drove the fair-haired duelist home. The younger Kaiba brother looked a little dispirited... until the last window rolled down just enough for Jou to stick his tongue out at them. Even the older Kaiba snorted lightly- the blonde was incorrigible.

Mokuba was still wiping tears of laughter from his eyes when he tugged on his brother's hand.

"Seto?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we have Jounouchi over again sometime? He's really funny." Mokuba asked pleadingly.

The older Kaiba groaned- why was he cursed with such an adorable brother?

"We'll see, Mokuba. Don't forget, he has another job some nights."

"Oh." Mokuba's face fell slightly, but then he perked up. "Oh, I forgot to tell you what else happened today! You know how there's that one girl with the black hair who's always-"

The other Kaiba smiled and listened patiently. Mokuba was even more animated than usual tonight. He had to admit, the mutt's lively nature did bring a certain energy to the mansion.