Signs of Flirting

- -

A/N: Due to some reviews about some plot holes in the last chapter, it's been updated and (hopefully) fixed. Enjoy.

- -

Chapter 9: He sometimes stares straight into your eyes.

"Mokuba, what do you want for Christmas?"

"An iPhone."

"And…?"

"And go look at my Amazon wish list, I'm busy."

Seto glanced up from his keyboard at the TV screen where his younger brother was playing furiously. There was the awful sound of someone regurgitating and the screen was covered in green goop. "Mokuba, how many times have you played that game?"

"Several."

Seto sighed, and the boys lapsed into relative silence for a few minutes: the only sounds were caused by Mokuba's current video game (snarls, wails, and Mokuba furiously pounding on the keys led his older brother to figure something wasn't going well) and Seto typing on his keyboard.

"YES!" Seto sat up a little straighter at his brother's outburst. He looked at the boy and arched an eyebrow when Mokuba turned to face him. "I got Zombie Genocidest!"

Seto blinked. "Congratulations?"

Mokuba stared at him. "I killed almost fifty-three thousand six hundred zombies and all you can say is congratulations?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "How do you feel about Christmas parties?"

"Way to change the subject."

"Answer the question."

"I don't know. I don't have much experience with 'em. I guess they can be nice. It depends on who you invite." He turned his attention back to the TV screen, but Seto persisted.

"Who would you want to invite?"

"I dunno… my friends. Your friends."

"Do you want to?"

"Want to what?"

"Want to invite our friends over for a Christmas party?"

Mokuba paused his new game and turned to look at his brother. "Do you want to have a Christmas party, Seto?"

"I don't want to do anything you don't want to do."

"You want to invite Jou."

Seto tried not to blush and succeeded. "I didn't say that."

"No, I did. You like him, huh? Have you kissed?"

"Yes."

"YES?! When? Where? Was it good? Why didn't you tell me? Are you guys going out? Is that why he stayed home with you yesterday?"

"One at a time. Weeks ago, and then again the night before last. In our classroom at school—don't look at me like that, it wasn't on purpose—and then here in my study. I don't know if it was good or not, I don't really have that much experience in the area. I didn't tell you because I didn't think anything of it because no we are not going out and I honestly have no idea why he stayed here yesterday."

"Do you know if he likes you?"

"Yes."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"Does he or doesn't he?"

"He does."

"So why aren't you going out?"

"I don't know."

"But you like him. And he likes you. So what's the problem?"

"I'm not ready to rush into a relationship, Mokuba."

"Who's rushing? You've already kissed, twice, and you're not dating yet? Besides, even though I'm pretty sure I'm the only one you would ever have this kind of conversation with, it's common knowledge that you like him best of all of the Yugi-tachi."

Seto glared. "Common knowledge to whom?!"

"To everyone. Oh, come on, don't glare at me. You give him rides to school and home from the mall, you always sit next to him—"

"Because he used to have this creepy habit of staring at me unless I was right next to him!"

"But he doesn't anymore and you still sit next to him. You let him spend the night—multiple nights in a row—without saying anything. Yugi never spends the night. You're nice to him."

"Because Yugi made me promise. And I still call him mutt when the midget isn't around."

"He doesn't tell on you?"

"He told me yesterday that he didn't mind."

"You must have been flabbergasted."

"No. I replied that I wouldn't mind if he punched me in the face."

"Seriously?" Mokuba glanced away, and then back. "I did not see that co—holy cow, is it really that late? We have to go!"

"Go."

"To school! We'll be late! Are you coming?" he yelled as he jumped off the couch and dashed to his room to grab his school stuff. Seto followed more sedately and beat him to the foyer, pulling on his shoes before Mokuba made it—the result of a difference in organizational skill. Mokuba's stuff had been strewn about his room, while Seto's, neatly placed in his schoolbag the night before, merely needed to be picked up.

Mokuba leaned down to snatch up his shoes and threw the door open, intending to put them on in the car. He was across the front porch before he skidded to a halt in his socks, staring at their front lawn.

It was covered with a thick sheet of cold whiteness.

"It snowed," Mokuba breathed.

"Pull on your shoes and let's go. The walkway is clear, and hopefully the roads have been salted. Move."

As it turned out, they did both make it to school on time, though only barely. Mokuba spent the entire car ride exclaiming over the weather, completely forgetting their previous conversation.

- -

"Hey." Seto glanced up from his desk into amethyst eyes.

"Hello."

"Are you coming with us? For lunch, I mean." Yugi fidgeted as Seto stared at him.

"Aren't you mad at me?"

Yugi winced. "Ah… so Jou told you I kind of flipped out on the phone." Seto stared at him with a level gaze for a moment before dropping his attention back to the book on his desk. "Then again," Yugi continued, "you kind of flipped out at me on the phone, and since Jou's here today and he's not hurt or anything… maybe we'll just call it even."

"It's nice to know how quickly you forget your anger. It almost makes me wonder why you bother getting worked up in the first place." Seto arched an eyebrow, but the effect was odd considering he hadn't actually looked up.

"Are you coming to lunch or not?"

"Not." Seto looked up and watched the small back dodge desks as it moved through the classroom, then put the book in his desk and slid his laptop out of his bag. Instead of the usual Kaiba Corp work, today's job entailed going though the proposed guest list that Mokuba had e-mailed to him earlier that day and editing it so that the number of people might actually fit into their house. Mokuba had listed his would-be guests by name, age, and ranked them on how much he wanted them to come. Out of five stars, no one had less than three, and it looked like the younger Kaiba intended to invite his entire school. Seto sighed and got to work.

"Oi, Kaiba." The brunette glanced up to see Jounouchi's face frowning down at him. "What are you doing?"

"Not working, clearly," came the dry reply. The blonde's eyes narrowed.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"I didn't bring a lunch."

"Buy something at the cafeteria. It isn't healthy to skip meals, Kaiba."

"I'll eat when I get home."

"What, at eleven thirty? Midnight? Yeah right. Come on." He leaned in and grabbed the brunette's arm, pulling on him lightly. Their eyes locked, and Seto's widened slightly, though he firmly refused to leave his seat.

"I'm getting the strangest sense of déjà vu," he murmured.

They stared at each other. Seto sat up straighter and Jou leaned in, his eyes misting over. Seto's eyebrows twitched together and apart in mild startled confusion. A door slammed. Jou blinked, and his eyes cleared. The moment was over.

Jou shook his head vigorously as if he could clear the blush off of his face like an etch-a-sketch. "The last time we were in this situation you were pulling on me," Jou said curtly. "Come on." He tugged again.

"Fine," Seto stood up quickly and Jou stumbled back, "but just to spite you, I'm not going to eat anything." They frowned at each other for a moment before Kaiba turned to stalk out of the room.

- -

"So that's where you ran off to, Jou!" Yugi beamed as Seto and Jounouchi took their seats at the table. They had been forced inside for lunch by the snow, and were sitting at a picnic bench style table in the middle of the cafeteria.

"If Kaiba Corp is in the red at the end of the year, I'll know who to blame," Seto muttered unhappily.

"You work too much," Honda said around a bite of sandwich. He swallowed and added, "and you didn't have to come."

Seto glanced at Jou and then back. "Consider me coerced. And I wasn't really working, anyway."

"I didn't know you had games on your laptop! Can I play, too?" Ryou asked.

The table blinked at him for a moment. "No, I was actually working on a guest list for a Christmas Eve party I'm throwing at Kaiba Mansion. You're all invited."

"Wow, a Christmas party at the Kaiba Mansion. How many people are coming?"

Seto frowned. "Mokuba is trying to invite his entire school and everyone who's ever worked for me, regardless of their current state of employment," he replied. "My goal is to get the guest list down to fifty-five people."

"Limit it to fifty-five?!" Anzu boggled. "I'd probably be hard pressed to come up with that many people by myself. Are they all friends of you and Mokuba?"

"No."

"Then why invite them? It's not like it's a corporate party, right? You don't have to impress anyone. Just invite the people you like," she continued.

"The people I like. Like."

"Don't be a douche, they have to exist. There's at least one sitting at this table, and I can name another off the top of my head," Yugi cut in. Seto glared at him and he smiled in return. The CEO had the distinct impression that he was losing his touch.

"So when's this party start, anyway," Honda asked, deflecting the CEO's glare from his short friend.

"I hadn't really decided, but is five-thirty a good time?"

There was a general chorus of agreement from the teens seated around the table, and the conversation turned towards light discussion of the upcoming holidays, gift giving, plans, and the weather.

"Honda, are you coming with us to the skating rink again the Saturday after Christmas?"

"Nah, I'm gonna be out of town then. Maybe Kaiba wants to go instead?" he asked evilly.

"Sure. We all saw what a good idea that was the last time we tried it, right? Which reminds me, Jou, if you ever tell me you've kidnapped my brother again I'm going to castrate you."

"Er, right, I'll remember that," Jou muttered. He snagged a potato chip from a bag in front of Honda and the two commenced a brief tussle. Jou won and ate his chip triumphantly, his friends laughing around him.

The intercom buzzed with static and a hush fell over the cafeteria as the voice of the principal called "Attention, students and staff. May I have your attention, please?" The call was repeated once, and then the principal continued. "As some of you may have noticed, we are currently facing increasingly heavy snows. As our local weather department informs us that this may lead to blizzard conditions, I would like to send you all home before we get snowed in. Please contact your parent or guardian immediately to secure a ride home and inform your homeroom teacher when you're leaving. Students who take public transportation are free to leave after checking out with their homeroom teachers. Remember to dress warm, and call the school tomorrow before coming to find out if we'll be here." The intercom buzzed and turned off beneath the sounds of the general student populace dissolving into exuberant chaos.

Anzu looked worried. "Um, aren't we starting finals tomorrow?" she asked. The only person who heard her, by virtue of being the only person near enough who wasn't cheering, was Seto.

"Finals will be rescheduled. Hopefully they won't cut into our break." Anzu looked only slightly less upset, but she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her mother's number.

"Anzu, Anzu," Yugi yelled at her from less than two feet away. "Anzu, can your mom give me a ride home too? She's listed on my emergency contacts list. Gramps doesn't have a car," he explained.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Crap, I ride here on my bike, how am I supposed to get home?"

"Go get it before it gets covered in snow? At least you don't have to walk—!"

"Jou, my mom can give you a ride, too—"

"Don't be ridiculous, we live on opposite sides of town—"

"Pull Mokuba out of school and come get me immediately—"

"Ryou! Ryou, how are you getting home—?"

"I take public transit—"

"I'll take you home—"

"Otogi—"

"Jou!"

"Kaiba?"

"I'll take you home—"

"Otogi, I don't need—"

"Kaiba, I can walk—"

"No you can't—"

"Jou! Jou, we're leaving—"

"See you tomorrow—"

"Yug'—"

"Jou, let Kaiba give you a ride, you live too far away to—"

The lights flickered and went out. People screamed.

"Jou—!"

Seto grabbed the blonde's arm and yanked, pulling him off balance. "Sensei, we're going home!"

"Kaiba, who is we?"

"I've got Jou—"

"Go!"

"Sensei—!"

Kaiba and Jou ran out of the crowded, chaotic, dark cafeteria. The hallways were lit only dimly by what sunshine could filter through the cloud cover, snow, and glass windows. Seto threw the front doors open and pulled Jou after him through the crowd, shivering as they made their way to the limo. Seto didn't even wait for the driver, pulling the door open himself and throwing the blonde in in front of him and sliding in after.

"Drive," was the curt order, and as the limo pulled away from the curb Seto raised the window that separated the cab from the passengers.

"Where's Mokuba?" Jou asked, looking around.

"He's already home. Where am I taking you?"

Jou hurried out the address and Seto stared at him when he finished. "You walk to school from there every day?"

"I take the bus some days," he mumbled.

"Would it be okay with you if we just went to the mansion instead? I'm sure you'd be more comfortable in your own home with your father but the mansion is closer and we have room for you. Though your father might suspect me of kidnapping you, as this will be the third night of four."

"No, it's fine. I went home last night, remember? Can I borrow your phone to call home, though?"

Jou called the house and left a message, then his dad's cell, which was either out of battery or out of range of the service area, and finally reached him at his work number.

The boys sat together in silence for a moment after Jou returned the phone, Seto calm and poised, Jou slumped and brooding. After a moment, Seto turned and lifted an eyebrow in the blonde's direction.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"What?" Jou glanced up at the brunette. "Sure, I'm fine. Why, do I look sick or somethin'?"

"Perhaps only slightly melancholy."

Jou turned back to look out the window. At this point, flurrying white was all that could really be distinguished. "I'm fine."

"Worried about someone?"

Jou glanced over. "Maybe."

Kaiba nodded. "It's none of my business, of course," he murmured.

"I was thinking about you."

"Hm?"

"You put a lot of effort into being unapproachable, don't you?"

The CEO's lips tugged up at one corner. "Maybe."

"I was just wondering how many people would stop bugging you if you stopped trying so hard."

"Too many to count, I'm sure."

"You're nice to Mokuba, though."

"Mokuba is family."

"You're nice to me. I certainly hope we aren't related." There was a lot of meaning in that statement.

"We aren't."

"Oh, did you have my family background looked into?"

"Not in the way you mean."

Jou paused and looked at Kaiba oddly. "In what way…?"

"You know I spent time with Mokuba at an orphanage?"

"Of course…"

"The federal government puts a lot of effort into relocating the families of the children in those situations. If I had other relatives, they would have been found. Since you weren't, you aren't family."

"Oh."

A silence stretched between them for a moment, but it was comfortable. The heater was on full blast, and Seto was beginning to feel drowsy. He probably shouldn't have stayed up so late working.

"Hey."

Seto opened eyes that had unconsciously begun to droop closed. Startled to realize that he had been about to sleep in front of the mutt, he fixed his slumped posture and turned to look at the blonde.

He couldn't look away.

They stared at each other for a moment, unblinking, unworried, calm. Somehow the space between them was getting smaller.

"So you never told me why you like me…" Jou whispered.

"It's not likely that I ever will," came the soft reply.

"Do you… do you like liking me?"

"…I don't hate it."

And then there wasn't any distance between them anymore. Their lips moved in synchronization, warm, soft, slightly chapped from the recent weather. It wasn't an accident and it wasn't one sided and, Seto found himself thinking, it wasn't bad.

But it was really hot. Literally.

When they started they had been sitting, but it was difficult to keep their heads turned at that angle and they had moved up onto the seats and were pressed against each other and the heat was still on and they were still wearing their winter clothes and suddenly Jou took his jacket off and started working on Seto's. And Seto had worked his fingers up under Jou's shirt and his fingers weren't warm and Jou was twitching and squirming as Seto ran his fingers over his chest, up his sides, around his back.

Seto could vaguely sense that Jou was trying to switch them so that it would be the CEO trapped between a body and some really nice upholstery, but he wasn't having any of that.

Seto turned his face to the side for a chance to breathe but Jou kept right on, kissing his jawbone, his cheek, his neck. He ran a tongue lightly over the pulse point and then kissed it again, and Seto turned his face back and now they were fighting with their tongues instead of their fists.

Jou had just begun to run his fingers along Seto's underwear line when the car stopped and the engine turned off. The boys froze and listened to the sound of the driver door opening, a boot crunching on gravel and snow, and the door slamming. They sprang apart and were pulling on their jackets as the chauffer opened the door to bid them out. The young CEO barely had the presence of mind not to blush in front of his employee.

"Come on," he growled as Jou fumbled his jacket zipper. He grabbed the blonde by his arm and towed him into the house, but they didn't get past the foyer before Jou collapsed against a wall, laughing. Kaiba did his best not to smile.

"D'you think he knew?" Jou asked when he caught his breath.

"I honestly don't care," Seto muttered.

"Hey," Jou stared at the CEO from where he sat slumped against the wall, "do you wanna do that again?"

"Not in the limo."

Jou grinned. "So, does this mean you're ready?"

"Ready."

"For me! Remember? The night before last you told me you weren't ready for me to kiss you on purpose yet, and then yesterday I told you that it was okay but that I was ready for you. So are you ready now?"

"Just… just give me a minute," Seto said.

"Think fast, before Mokuba finds us," Jou cautioned.

"Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm ready."

"No you aren't."

Seto stared at Jou. "Excuse me?"

"Let's wait to tell everybody until Christmas, okay? Mokuba can know but everyone else…"

Seto blinked. "Oh." He paused, then, "you really do pay a lot of attention to me."

Jou grinned.

"Seto!" Mokuba yelled as he crashed into his brother. "You brought Jou home with you. Is everything okay? Is he snowed out of his apartment? You can stay with us as long as you want, Jou, really it's fine. Are you guys really okay? You should change out of your wet clothes, I already did, I'm sure Seto has something that will fit you, Jou—"

"Mokuba."

"And we can always—"

"Mokuba," Seto said.

"—And you can have the room across from mine—"

"Mokuba, Jou and I have decided to date."

"And—you what?" The hyperactive boy paused and blinked.

"We thought you should know," his brother deadpanned. "But it isn't the sort of thing you should go telling people about."

Mokuba recovered from his shock quickly. "Awesome!" he grinned. "Jou can still have the room across from mine, unless you're planning to share…?"

"No, that's fine. Why are you assigning him a room already?"

"It was on the news just now that we've reached blizzard conditions and there's supposed to be a couple of feet by tomorrow. We might be snowed in for days."

- -

A/N: To all of you who were expecting this chapter a week and a half ago, I'm so sorry! Finals caught me by surprise, I spent the week studying and freaking out. This chapter took me three days to write and (crap) the next chapter is still scheduled for tomorrow. I hope I'll make it. Can you believe that this chapter is thirteen pages long? In Times New Roman font size 12 on a Word document. It beats my second longest by four pages but only five hundred words (because this chapter is mostly dialogue).

So… did you like my attempt at a mild lime? Does it even count? I hope you're appreciative because I checked the ratings list and I had to bump my story up to M for this.

Wow, Seto's character was totally shot to hell in this chapter. Oh well… he had to grow up sometime. At least I got Mokuba right. He's playing Left 4 Dead at the beginning, by the way. If you were wondering. The green goop means he got barfed on. I've never played Left 4 Dead, in case you were wondering, but I have several friends who are kind enough to let me observe them as they play (I'm not really good enough at video games to play them).

I'm still interested in a story name for Jou's perspective. I haven't got any suggestions yet. Maybe it's a sign that no one wants to read that story…?

In the words of one of my favorites… "Can't ask, won't beg, but reviews are nice."