25th of October
Joey walked through the streets, with Mutt at his side. It was October and he was with Kaiba for more than half a year now and was so used to this life already, that he had stopped to even try to find another job. It seemed to be impossible anyway. Maybe if he had worked for a few years, there might be a chance but at the moment it was hopeless. But now Joey was on a mission. He knew that he would owe Kaiba for a bit longer if he went through with his shopping trip today but he needed to go shopping.
He hadn't wanted to do that. Joey had never used the credit card so far, not even for the one outfit Kaiba had granted him. There was no point since Mutt had a gift, and the gift was to find the worst dirt and walk right through it, before jumping up. And Joey could try and train him as much as he wanted, it was impossible to always stop him. He knew the commands but usually didn't give a rat's ass about what anyone said. If he felt like listening, he listened and if he didn't want to, he just ignored Joey. So why buy something just to get it ruined again? Joey had even managed to learn how to fix his clothing if a seam of his shirt got open and needed to be stitched.
But today wasn't about something trivial as clean clothing. It was about something much more important. Joey needed to buy something nice for someone special. It was Kaiba's birthday soon and Joey wanted to have something special for him. The only problem left was, what was he supposed to get him? What was he supposed to give a man, who had it all and could buy what he wanted? Especially since Joey had no money and only his credit card, which was upsetting enough to the blond. Kaiba was sure to notice that Joey bought something, he would probably even know what and maybe guess that he would get it for his birthday. But what else was Joey supposed to do? He had never gotten a single cent, even though he was working for nearly a year. After getting his deck, just before holding his first money in his hands, it was on the list right away and Joey was still as broke as ever.
For weeks Joey walked around the city, tying Mutt up every now and then to look inside of a shop, just to come out disappointed. Everything was either too plain, too expensive or Joey knew for sure that Kaiba already had it. It was a week before Kaiba's birthday, when Joey stumbled upon something that was clearly nothing for Kaiba but it did inspire Joey. He decided in that moment not to buy something at all but to rather buy some small things and make something big out of it. First he went to a dump yard, since he might be able to get a few things there. And he was lucky, he found a bit of metal that was shiny and looked like silver, even though Joey knew that it wasn't. It still looked great and was just about big enough for what he wanted. He would need lots of tools too but hoped that he could get some from Kaiba's stuff. After that he went to a shop to get the last piece he needed. A simple plain black leather belt. He didn't want to get that form the dump yard since he wanted it too look new and nice, it was the only thing he couldn't work with well.
He went back to the mansion and asked one of the securities at the entrance if they knew if someone had some tools? He pretended that some dresser in his room was broken and he wanted to fix it himself, like he did with his clothing, too. He asked for some nails and a hammer, as well as a few other things he might need. The guy was confused but said he would organize to get it up to Joey's room for him and Joey ran up, followed by Mutt, who clearly wasn't happy that Joey had so little time to play with him but Joey gave him a treat to stop him from getting on his nerves. Joey noticed that the guy was still confused when he brought all the tools up, together with one other guy who helped carrying it. Joey could understand the confusion, because some of the tools clearly didn't fit the purpose Joey had given but he didn't want anyone to know what he was up to. He just said he would give them back in a few days, when he was done and that if someone needed them earlier, they should just tell him.
For a few days Joey was in his room more than outside of it. He still went for walks with Mutt, fed him and washed the dog as well, but he wasn't staying in the park for ages since he needed to work on Kaiba's present. On the night before Kaiba's birthday he was nearly done. He took out the last piece that he needed, something he knew all along that he had it. It was the only thing he had been able to save, even through the last 10 years he was living on the streets. He had it hidden so well that even the street thugs hadn't found it, much to Joey's pleasure but now, he needed to destroy it. The mere thought about doing that hurt. It had been a graduation present but considering the grades he had gotten and what the last 10 years had been like, he didn't believe to be worthy of it anyway. He took one of the nails in his hand and held the little ring in the other and then scratched the silver around the little blue stone until the stone was out and Joey could use it for Kaiba's present. He fought the tears that were burning in his eyes while destroying the only thing he had kept from the past.
It took him til sunrise of the next morning to get the stone fixed into place. Joey wanted to make sure that it wouldn't fall out, since it was the highlight on the little belt buckle he had formed out of the silver looking metal. He quickly replaced the buckle from the belt he had bought with the self made one and wrapped it in some white paper that he found in the desk by the wall. On the paper stood nothing but happy birthday.
Joey sneaked out of his room and put the present down in front of Kaiba's door. Mutt was sniffing at the present Joey had placed there, like he thought it was a toy for him. "Stop it Mutt, don't touch that." Joey said quietly and pulled the dog away. But he was just half way back to his own room, when Kaiba's door opened. Joey saw him picking up the present with a side glance at Joey. He opened it while Joey stood in place, unsure if he should leave like he intended to or not, now that Kaiba had seen him already. Joey saw Kaiba's surprised face, when he saw the belt buckle that Joey had shaped into a perfect Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The eye was the a real sapphire that once had been in his ring.
"I thought you weren't getting me anything," Kaiba said. "The belt you bought seemed too plain and cheap, considering how long you've been walking through the shops."
"You know that?" Joey asked embarrassed, since that meant that Kaiba also knew where the metal came from. Joey saw Kaiba moving the thumb of his hand, that was holding the belt, over the buckle and was sure that Kaiba would soon throw it into his face, complaining that he dared to get him something from a dump yard.
"Of course, I know that. I know everything you're doing with Mutt." Kaiba said with a little smile on his face. "But I didn't know that you could make something like this."
"It's nothing special." Joey said with a blush.
"It is." Kaiba said and Joey was surprised to see Kaiba smiling at him. "Thank you, Joey. It's the best birthday present I ever got."
Joey blushed even more and mumbled: "You´re welcome." Before turning around and running towards the kitchen with the words: "I've got to go and feed Mutt."
He ran off towards the kitchen, where it was incredibly busy this morning. Kaiba was hosting a little party for his birthday. Mostly business partners and Joey didn't mind that he was supposed to keep the dog away. The doors would be closed and probably locked anyway, so none of the guests could walk into the more private areas of the mansion. But Joey would keep Mutt busy, so he won't scratch on the doors or get nervous by all the sounds from the big ball room where the party would take place.
Once Mutt was fed, he walked back to his room to get changed, he had been in this clothing all day before and all night, working with the metal. He was surprised to see Kaiba standing in his room, in the middle of the tools. Joey remembered that he had forgotten to close the door in his haste to get away but that still wasn't a reason for Kaiba to just walk in. Unless he was mad at the mess Joey had caused there. Joey entered quietly, worried about why Kaiba was standing there. For a second Joey was sure that he was fired, because when Kaiba turned his face, he looked like he was once again about to kill someone. Joey had no idea what had caused his wrath so suddenly but he didn't dare to say something. He just watched how Kaiba stared at him for a moment and then walked out of his room without a word.
Joey was happy that Kaiba hadn't fired him, especially since he still owed him money for his deck and feared that Kaiba would take some of the cards back, if he couldn't pay him off anymore.
Joey started to clean the room immediately, just in case it was really the reason for Kaiba's anger. After he had put everything away, he noticed that he hadn't found his broken ring in the mess. The ring was scratched and the stone was gone, but he still wanted to keep it. He looked everywhere in his room, he crawled under the bed and the dresser and all the other places where it might have rolled to, but the ring stayed lost.
Joey went for a short walk with Mutt during the afternoon but once he was back, he walked right back into his room to look for the ring. He knew that he should be playing with Mutt a bit more but he really wanted to find the ring. Joey heard the music in the ball room starting but stayed in his room, which once again was a mess. Joey was looking through all the dressers, empyting everything out. He hoped that he had thoughtlessly put the ring somewhere, while cleaning the room in a haste. "Why are you messing up the room?" Joey turned and saw Kaiba still looking rather upset.
"I'm sorry. I'm just looking for something," Joey said. "I´ll clean it again, I promise."
"I don't care if you clean it or a maid." Kaiba said. "What are you searching for?"
"Nothing special," Joey said with a blush.
"I bet it is." Kaiba said. "You wouldn't be like this if it was nothing special."
Joey looked at Kaiba for a moment and saw that he was wearing the belt he had made and was happy about it. At least Kaiba liked the present and the ring wasn't destroyed for nothing. "What is it you´re searching like a maniac?" Kaiba asked again.
"A ring." Joey said, looking to the floor. He really wanted to keep the ring.
"Why did you take the stone out of it?" Kaiba asked.
Joey stared at him "How do you know?"
"Just answer, if you really want the ring back." Kaiba said.
"You have it?" Joey asked. "Give it back, please, give it back to me."
"First the answer." Kaiba commanded.
"I had to," Joey said. "You did so much for me by simply giving me this job and all. I wanted to do something and I couldn't think of anything else. I mean, the belt is nothing compared to that. It is just a cheap leather belt with a buckle made of scrap metal."
"But the ring is important, why did you break it?" Kaiba asked. "You could have left the stone out."
Joey just looked at the floor, he didn't know how to explain to Kaiba how he truly felt "Don't you have a party to host?" Joey said quietly.
"Don't you want the ring back?" Kaiba asked.
"What for?" Joey asked sadly.
"Just tell me. Why did you break it?" Kaiba asked again.
"I wanted the belt to be perfect." Joey whispered barely loud enough.
"But you loved the ring," Kaiba said "You wanted to keep it, so why did you break it?"
Joey looked at the floor, quietly hoping Seto would just go away. He felt bad enough that the ring was broken and the fact that Kaiba had taken it and refused to give it back was only making it worse.
"Why aren't you fighting to get it back?" Kaiba asked.
"It's broken anyway." Joey said.
"You were still all over the room to get it back, so why not fighting anymore now?" Joey could see that Kaiba wasn't quitting the questioning.
"Because I'm not worth the ring anyway." Joey mumbled, feeling the tears burning in his eyes but once more fighting them back. "Serenity said she was so proud when I graduated. How can I just keep the ring I got there and then from her, after what happened? I'm not worth it."
"Is that why you haven't called her?" Kaiba asked. "I forced Yugi to not let her know where you were. You should tell her, she's your sister and I know that Mokuba would be pissed, if I wouldn't tell him myself where I was after disappearing for so long."
Joey gave a nod. He was sad that he hadn't heard form Serenity, because he had been sure that Yugi had called her, too. But he never tried to contact her because he was sure that she deserved a brother to look up to and he definitely wasn't anything like that.
"You should call her," Kaiba said and took Joey's hand. Kaiba put the ring in it and closed Joey's fingers around it. Joey hadn't looked at it properly but what else could the little object in his hand be? It felt like a ring and Kaiba had no reason to just give him a present. He already owed Kaiba so much. "You're still her brother and she loves you. And she deserves to know that you're all right." Kaiba walked towards the door to leave the room again. "And by the way, I think Mutt can be alone up here one night, so since you got me that present, come down and have some of the food and enjoy yourself."
"Thanks," Joey said. "But no thanks, I wouldn't fit in there anyway."
Seto just walked out of the room and Joey opened his hand to look at the ring. He stared at it. Stared at the blue stone that was sparkling in the unscratched silver ring. It looked the same way it had looked the day he got it. Joey turned it to see if the engraved words of his sister were still in there. "I'm proud, love Serenity" Joey was happy to see the words as clear as before. He ran after Kaiba to catch him before he was back at the party and managed to reach him after unlocking the door that lead to the ball room. "Seto." He said loud enough to stop him from walking any further. "How much?"
"How much what?" Kaiba asked.
"How much more do I owe you for fixing the ring?" Joey asked and was surprised to see a smile on Kaiba's face.
"Nothing." Kaiba said "Apart from maybe joining the party."
"Why?" Joey asked. "I mean, why would you do that for me?"
"Because you're worth more than you think." Kaiba said, causing Joey to blush "And now come. I´ll get a maid to watch Mutt for a little while."
Joey looked down at his clothing. It was one of his better ones but still far from being good enough for such a party. "I have nothing to wear." Joey said with a blush.
"You look fine and now, come." Kaiba said and put an arm around Joey's waist "And put the ring on."
Joey did as told, even though he felt sort of embarrassed. Even more, after he´d just entered and already heard someone asking Kaiba "Who is that?"
"He's a close friend of mine." Joey heard Kaiby say and looked up to see a cold and scary look on his face that shut the other right up. Still Joey tried to stay in the background and walked closer to the table with the food on it.
"Hey Joey. How are you?" Joey turned around, when he heard the familiar voice. He looked up at a young man, who was at least as tall as Kaiba and had black hair that was cut similar to Kaiba's but stuck out at some places, unwilling to stay tamed. His blue grey eyes were as familiar as his voice, but Joey still wasn't sure who it was.
"Sorry, but do I know you?" Joey asked with a little blush.
Joey saw a smile spreading on the other's face and heard a little chuckle "Not as easy to recognise me, now that you are the one who has to look up, right?" The man said. "Hey, does that mean I get to call you kiddo now?"
"Mokuba?" Joey said, unable to believe that this young man could be the small kid but after hearing him saying the last few words, he was sure that he was right.
"Correct," Mokuba said and smiled at him. "How are you?"
"Great. Thanks." Joey said and felt sort of embarrassed that he hadn't even thought about him, even though he lived with Kaiba. He still had no idea what Mokuba was up to these days. "What about you?"
"Oh I'm fine. I love the job Seto gave me." Mokuba said. "It's fun being the CEO of his European daughter company.
"I see." Joey said, happy that he now at least knew what the kid was up to.
"By the way, I'm sorry," Mokuba suddenly said.
"What for?" Joey asked confused.
"For getting Seto into one of his bad moods," Mokuba said. "He must have been cranky all day."
"It was fine this morning actually." Joey said. "I mean, right after I gave him a present."
"You gave him one?" Mokuba sounded surprised. "He said on the phone last night that you hadn't gotten him anything. I mean, he's watching you, so he should have known."
"Well," Joey said with a grin, "I'm sneaky."
"I can see that." Mokuba said. "Strange though, he was cranky when he met me at the airport earlier." Both looked over to Seto and after a moment he looked away from the business partner he was currently talking to and looked over towards them and smiled. The smile Joey had seen that morning, when he gave him the belt. "Joey? What did you talk about, when he was upstairs to get you?"
"Nothing special," Joey said, unwilling to go over that conversation again.
"Whatever it was you did, I owe you." Mokuba said
"Why?" Joey asked and looked back to the by now young man and saw that he had a smile on his face and a hand on his chest and noticed the chain around his neck that was going under his shirt. Joey was sure that the medallion, that looked like a duel monster card, was under his shirt.
"I haven't seen him smiling like that in ages." Mokuba said. "Whatever you did, I owe you for it."
"I didn't do anything," Joey said. "I bet it's because he missed you and is happy that you're back."
"No, he isn't happy that I'm here." Mokuba said. "He is upset, since he knows that I'll be leaving tomorrow morning for work again and that I only came this year, because my girlfriend wanted me to come with her to visit her parents this year."
"Why's that?" Joey asked. "Can't she join you here?"
"She was here last Christmas and she didn't get along with Seto." Mokuba said. "He told her that he hates her because she's a gold digging bitch. Which she isn't, I think."
"He did what?" Joey asked.
"He never liked my girlfriends." Mokuba said dryly. "He's just overprotective but she doesn't understand. And since she was here last year, she thinks it fair that I'll join her family for the holidays this year."
"Poor Seto," Joey said. "He'll miss you."
"Yeah, especially since he'll be all alone then." Mokuba said "Her parents at least have each other. And he won't even have you hanging around."
"Why not?" Joey asked. "Is he going to fire me or something?" Joey stared at the other terrified. What did he mean? Wasn't he allowed to stay much longer? Did Seto already plan to kick him out and only wait for a reason to fire him? Was it because of the mess he had made in his room, only to make the present he said he loved?
"He told me you're going to see Serenity and your mother." Mokuba said, surprised at Joey's reaction.
"Oh. I see." Joey said and thought about it for a short moment "You think he wants me to go away? Because I'll have to find a place where I can say then."
"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked. "Aren't you visiting your family?"
"I don't have one," Joey said dryly. "My dad might be dead for all I know and my mother never cared and just left me with him. The only family that would want me is my sister, but she deserves better than me. And anyway, she'll be with mom, so I can't be with her."
Mokuba looked at him for a while and then said: "You're wrong. She hardly can get a more caring big brother than you, but I'm still happy for Seto that you'll be around. He's much happier since you moved in with him."
"Really?" Joey asked in surprise. "I mean, I'm just another employee."
"Yeah, right." Mokuba said and looked like he had to fight really hard to keep a laughing fit back. "Well, you're a big boy, you'll figure out the truth at some point."
Joey looked at Mokuba in confusion but didn't get a chance to ask him anything more, since some businessman started talking to Mokuba and Joey wasn't surprised that Mokuba had the same business kind of look and tone as his older brother.
Joey stayed in the room just for a little while longer and ate a bit more but then walked back to his room and cleaned it, so he would have time the next day to play with Mutt again.
Authors note:
Thanks to lilgurlanima, Nagareboshi-Lover, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai, Kitsune Demon Girl, Dontgotaclue88, Shadow-Magician of Black Chaos, dancing elf and randomismyname13 for the reviews.
And there won't be a poll because the only other present you guys came up with was Joey. And since there is only one Joey and he is the only one to give that to Kaiba, you guys have nothing for the poor man to compete with Joey for the best present ever. But I hope you agree that Kaiba would like that present.
Next chapter it will already be close to Christmas. And Mutt will run in front of a car. Let's all hope that he'll survive it.
On top of this birthday chapter for Seto i also made a little birthday one shot for Nagareboshi-Lover the name is Birthday present and Seto will actually get Joey for his birthday in that one. As well as another little present that Joey gave him before Seto said that he wanted Joey.
