Make Up Your Mind if You're Liking What Ya See
The female's voice continued to call out to Ryou and the larger man's suspicions were quickly returning, especially as Ryou regained control over himself and began struggling to make the man let him go.
Bakura released Ryou to drop onto his feet, the white haired boy scurrying away from him hastily to exit the stall as if what they had just done hadn't happened. Bakura gritted his teeth tightly at the disturbance, yet followed Ryou. Whoever the hell had barged in here better of had a good enough reason. He had been so close to making Ryou submit to him he had tasted it joyously. The reaction from Ryou had been stunning and had intensified Bakura's need for him. Bakura didn't fully understand it all, but he knew that he had to have this interesting, sexy boy.
Exiting the stall to enter the main part of the barn, he observed Ryou rush over – to who Bakura assumed was the interrupter – before catching sight of Princess Kisara herself as he made his appearance. Her crystal blue eyes trained from Ryou to Bakura immediately, an almost scared look etching itself onto her face before she composed herself quickly.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked him, a hint of threat in her voice which Bakura didn't appreciate it. She was, after all, a guest at the palace and despite their separate friendships with the King, Bakura would not feel remorse on showing her out of here. However, that would mean Ryou would be leaving as well and so that was the only reason to stop him. He wasn't quite finished with the boy yet.
Bakura crossed his arms over his chest as he gave her an obscure look. "I could ask the same, Princess," he stretched her title. "The last time I checked you weren't even close to being a farm animal so there would be no reason for you to be here."
Kisara's pretty face darkened at his words as her fists clenched at her sides. Bakura couldn't help but smirk at that. "I'm here to speak with my guard for your information," she bit off and grabbed Ryou by the arm, making the boy wince from the force.
Bakura narrowed his eyes dangerously and took a step towards her. "Guard? Really?" he asked, not believing a word she was saying. "This is who you surround yourself with to protect you?" He darted his eyes from Kisara to Ryou to gesture who he was talking about, causing the boy's face to light up from shame. "He's nothing but a mere child."
Something flashed in Kisara's eyes and her hold on Ryou visibly tightened, hiking up Bakura's barely controlled anger even more. What the hell was going on here?
"It's none of your business who I choose as my guards, however I might have to have a little talk with my dear Seto about who he chooses as his guards. Sneaking around in a barn and harassing your guest's guard? Pathetic really."
Bakura's stifled growl vibrated through him, his eyes narrowing into slits. Kisara backed away slightly as her eyes widened at Bakura, pulling Ryou with her as he attempted to resist exposing his obvious fear.
"Let go of him," Bakura yapped at her, his feet continuing to advance on them as tremors of rage spread over him. No one, hurt what he considered his. And Ryou was definitely his now. He didn't care if Ryou really was Kisara's guard, she wasn't allowed to touch him.
Kisara, despite obviously being intimidated by Bakura, tried to mask it and pulled Ryou closer to her as she stepped backwards towards the doors. She flashed a glare at the man as Ryou's eyes widened even more. "Why are you so worried about what I do with my guard?" she questioned, her voice higher than it normally was. Bakura took that as a sign that she was scared. Good.
"Because you're hurting him," Bakura simply stated before pouncing.
Kisara barely had time to widen her eyes before the large frame of Bakura landed on top of her, his elbow knocking into her face and causing her to release Ryou in order to grab at it in pain. Bakura smirked wildly as he grabbed Ryou around the waist, making him cry out in terror, and threw him over his shoulder. The small boy kicked his legs against Bakura's chest but the larger man only laughed as he got to his feet and began walking out of the barn.
"LET ME GO!" Ryou wailed as he continued to fight against Bakura's hold on him.
Bakura laughed again. "That wasn't what you were saying a few minutes ago in the stall, baby," he taunted and he didn't have to look at him to know that Ryou was blushing fiercely, for he faltered in his squirming.
It was then that Kisara decided to interrupt once more and Bakura wished he had his sword on him. "Let him go guard! He's not yours!" she shouted at him.
Bakura spun around on the grass, to give her a grin. "That's where you're wrong, your highness. He's more mine than he is your guard," he mocked. "Unless he's not really your guard," he added with a wicked quirk of his eyebrow in challenge.
Kisara's eyes flashed to Ryou for a split moment and Bakura wondered if she was going to continue to fight him on this. Better just give it up now honey, he thought maniacally.
"What are you going to do with him?" she asked him as her voice softened, her face falling in defeat and her hands clamping together in front of her face.
Bakura frowned at her, not understanding why she cared so much for a supposed guard that couldn't do anything for her. "What's it to you?" he asked, as he jutted out his jaw while his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"B-because," Ryou answered instead into Bakura's ear, making the larger man freeze against his will, his violet eyes trained on Kisara's frightened face. "I'm her b-brother."
Bakura immediately dropped Ryou onto the ground in shock.
oO0Oo
The next morning, Seto's eyes popped open with paranoia as he woke. He could still feel Joey's warm dream hands all over his body, sending heat and blood through him making him shift in his bed uncomfortably. Swallowing hard he tried to distract his mind from the fact that he was incredibly hard at the moment, his eyes staring hard at the ceiling above him. It was just a dream, Seto. It doesn't mean anything, he tried to reason with himself.
Then why did he dream about it?
It had to be because of what had transpired the day before. Joey had suddenly found an interest in wearing his clothes and had thought it amusing to run his hand over his leg under the dinner table. None of it made any sense to him. The last time he had checked Joey absolutely hated him. And not to a: "oh you annoy me" kind of way, no. It was a: "I wish you'd die in your sleep" kind of way. And to a point, Seto had felt the same way about him. So why was all of this happening?
What bothered him the most, was how his body had reacted to what Joey had been doing to him. No one, not even Kisara, had made him absolutely paralyzed under their ministrations or just by the mere sight of them half naked like Joey had been in the bathroom. Just the thought of him like that, leaning up against the doorframe with a casual smile on his face had Seto's heart racing again.
"Ugh," he groaned, grabbing his hair uncharacteristically and rolling himself over onto his side. His fingers slid down his face while he narrowed his eyes towards his dresser as if it offended him. "I'm not gay," he reminded himself aloud.
Suddenly, a knock on his door made him halt in his frustrating denial. Just as quickly, the door swung open and Seto peered down the bed from his position to see his younger brother. He silently sighed with relief, before scolding himself inwardly for thinking the person were to be Joey to come pester him again.
"Still in bed, big brother?" Mokuba asked curiously, walking over to him and jumping onto the bed. Seto pushed himself up into a sitting position to see the grin on his younger brother's face. Seto didn't trust it.
"I… didn't sleep well," he answered honestly, running a hand through his hair to try to flatten it out which Mokuba beamed at.
"Why's that?"
Seto narrowed his eyes at his brother, dropping his hand into his lap. "Why are you in here?" he asked, refusing to answer Mokuba's prying question. It was like his younger brother knew why he hadn't slept well, and that disturbed him.
Mokuba shrugged nonchalantly, the smile on his face never wavering. "Rolland is taking Joey and Yugi out shopping and so I don't have anything to do."
Seto wanted to sigh with relief at the fact that Joey wouldn't be wearing his clothing anymore. That problem was solved. Nonetheless, a feeling of disappointment tried to intervene which he stubbornly pushed aside. "Were you expecting me to do something with you?"
Mokuba seemed to lighten up even more, if that was possible. His eyes were practically sparkling. Seto hadn't seen him this way in such a long time. It lifted his heart slightly at the sight of it. "We could play games like we used to! We haven't played together in like a bazillion years!"
Seto rolled his eyes at his brother's exaggeration and threw the covers off of himself to get out of the bed. Mokuba was practically bouncing on his bed behind him with anticipation.
"Come on please?" he pleaded as Seto went through his drawer to find something to wear.
"I don't have time for games, Mokuba," he stated simply and withdrew his dark blue sleep shirt over his head without looking at his brother. He just knew he'd fall victim to those puppy dog eyes that the young prince was overly well at.
"Oh Seto please?" the boy cried and Seto sighed as he unfastened the buttons of his once folded white button up shirt.
"Mokuba, I sa"—
"Hey Mokuba? We're 'bout to leave…" Seto's blood ran hot at as the voice trailed off, his blue eyes snapping to the doorway where Joey was standing with his mouth gaping open and his brown eyes wide while staring directly at Seto's bare chest.
Seto felt a blush raise onto his cheeks and he quickly averted his eyes to throw the shirt on. "Hasn't anyone taught you to knock Wheeler?" Seto asked bitterly, covering up his embarrassment. Why oh why must he torment me like this?
Apparently Joey had to collect his words before speaking because there was a slight pause before he responded. "I was looking for Mokuba actually." Seto was surprised to hear no malice in his words like he normally would after Seto ridiculed him, even though he shouldn't have been. Something had been off with Joey ever since he'd returned from Ghaffar.
And Seto wanted to know what. "Well you could have waited till he left my bedroom. Despite the fact that you seem to not care like the animal you are, you're not allowed in my bedroom," he tried to bait.
He chanced a glance at Joey while buttoning his shirt and was amused to see the blond's hands in fists at his side and his face red from either anger or embarrassment. Either one was satisfying to Seto at the moment. Joey caught Seto's gaze and the brunette smirked at him in challenge, raising more fire in the depths of those brown eyes.
"What did you want Joey?" Mokuba intervened before Joey could retort, standing up from the bed. The distraction worked as Joey looked over to the younger boy and softened his hardened exterior.
"I just wanted to know if you would like to come with us." Joey asked him with an easygoing smile, as if Seto's words hadn't truly affected him. And that pissed Seto off.
Seto glanced to his little brother, catching his gaze that had turned uncertain. "Well… I kind of wanted to hang out with Seto today. But he says he doesn't want to so okay," Mokuba responded before dropping his head with a sad frown, his eyebrows pulling together to draw in effect.
Joey's smile faltered and he glanced at Seto. "Your brother could come too," he suggested with a shrug. Mokuba's eyes lit up as he raised his head, before rushing over to Seto to grab onto his arm.
The brunette in question didn't appreciate being pulled into this. "Come on Seto? It'd be fun!" Mokuba went back to pleading, his eyes widening melodramatically.
"I"—Seto began, but was cut off by Joey, irritatingly enough.
"Come on Kaiba, I'm sure you don't have that many things going on today. You're brother wants ya to spend some time with him," Joey explained with that stupid smile. That stupid, casual, moronic, I'm the most innocent man on the planet, smile that Seto didn't buy for a moment's notice. He had worn it all day yesterday. "Plus," Joey added, grabbing Seto's attention once more as he narrowed his blue eyes at the blond's deceiving curved lips. "The public will see us together actin' like a perfect family. Two birds, one stone."
If Seto had been suspicious before, he was definitely now so. His eyebrows rose up with mock surprise. "And since when does Joey Wheeler want the public to see us together?" he questioned, letting his doubt run smoothly through his words.
Joey shrugged with another irritating smile. "Since now. It's for Mokuba's benefit, really," he explained before his eyes slid down Seto's figure slowly, causing more heat to rush through the brunette involuntarily. "Besides, don't you want to make sure I pick out appropriate clothing to wear? Wouldn't want me buyin' anything too lower class with your money, would ya?"
Joey's eyes suddenly snapped up to Seto's with a dare flashing through them and Seto's jaw tightened painfully. Oh so this was now a game? I'll show you game, Seto thought wickedly as he absently fell into Joey's trap. "No we wouldn't, Wheeler," Seto agreed casually, before turning to his younger brother seriously. "Fine, I'll go. But it's because of you."
Mokuba squealed in delight, throwing his arms around Seto's waist happily before letting him go to beam up at him. "Thanks big brother! You're the best!" he then spun around and ran for Joey, grabbing the blond's hand to pull him from the room. "Come on Joey!"
Seto eyed the blond as he was dragged out his bedroom. "I don't know what game you're wanting to play, Wheeler. But just know I do intend to win it," he muttered to himself, never realizing that it would cause him to fall deeper into his denial.
oO0Oo
Seto crossed his arms as he waited at the car for Joey, Mokuba, and Yugi to exit the palace, but was surprised to see Yami instead approach him.
"Don't tell me you were forced to come too?" Seto asked with a quirk of his dark eyebrow. Yami gave him a slight smirk, crossing his own arms over his chest as he came to a stop in front of him.
"Of course not. I volunteered to go. Couldn't leave you to your own devices, now could I?" he teased the King with a quirk of an eyebrow. Seto rolled his eyes.
"It shouldn't be me that you lack trust in," Seto stated simply and Yami chuckled.
"Oh? Are you saying you don't trust Prince Wheeler?"
Seto snorted. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Especially after…" he dropped his sentence out of realizing he didn't need to indulge his spiky haired guard on everything going on with him. He then adverted Yami's curious, penetrating gaze.
Finally, Rolland opened the doors to the palace as Mokuba ran past him towards Seto. The brunette was very thankful that the subject would have to be dropped. "We're ready!" the boy declared as he came to a stop in front of his brother, who strained a smile down at him for his enthusiasm. If the fact that Mokuba really just wanted to spend time with him was true, Seto would give him that. He could admit with a guilty conscience that he'd been more worried about everything else, instead of hanging out him. He'd have to make sure to set aside some time, so something like this wouldn't happen again.
Joey and Yugi walked down the steps after Rolland, whispering to each other discreetly. Seto's eyes narrowed at them silently. He was going to find out the underlying reasoning behind this if it was the last thing he did that day. As if on cue, Joey and Yugi both abruptly pulled away from each other as Joey gave Seto that smile. Seto tore his eyes from the warm brown ones, not wanting to get caught in them again, to see Yugi shyly blushing a bright red and his eyes down on the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" Seto questioned as Yami cleared his throat from beside him and Yugi glanced up at him before turning an even darker color of scarlet.
"Shall we go?" Yami's deep voice suddenly broke the awkward tension and they all filed into the large car giving each other weird looks.
oO0Oo
Joey emerged from a dressing room, feeling very uncomfortable in tight fitting black slacks and a long red coat. He absolutely refused to wear any other colors, as anything brighter – as per suggestion by Seto – made him feel out of place. However, the outfit he wore was apparently up to Seto's standards and he had only tried them on in order to get him to stop nagging at him over it.
"Well?" the blond asked the group sitting in the soft plush chairs in front of him, excluding Yugi was still in the dressing room trying on a different outfit. His honey colored eyes roamed their faces: Mokuba was grinning as he swung his feet back and forth, Yami had his legs crossed and his pointed red eyes were distractedly glancing over at Yugi's dressing room (which ticked at Joey's anger), and Seto was staring at him silently with an impassive expression on his face with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Okay so it seems like Mokuba's the only one enthusiastic about this one and since I'm not about to wear anything a child prefers ("Hey!"), I'm changin'," Joey muttered before spinning back around to enter the dressing room, closing the door behind him grumpily.
Joey knew he needed to work this to his advantage but he wasn't sure how. He'd tried on everything that Seto had suggested and had gotten absolutely nothing out of him. The bastard wouldn't even blink. No, he needed the same kind of reaction that he'd gotten from him back in the bathroom –
"That's it," he whispered to himself, his eyes lighting up along with his cheeks. Stop thinking about your insecurities and do this, Joey. "Uh, Kaiba?" he hesitantly called out, but didn't hear a reply. Joey's hands drew into fists as he gritted his teeth. "Can you please come help me? I… these pants won't come off because they're too tight," he explained loudly, before closing his eyes tight, expecting an insult thrown his way. This better work, he threatened himself.
"Sounds like a personal problem," Seto's voice answered snidely and Joey could tell by the far away sound of his voice that he hadn't even stood up from his chair.
"Asshole," he muttered under his breath with narrowed eyes. Taking a deep breath to control himself, Joey tried again. "I've tried, I don't want to rip them. Unless you want to pay for somethin' that's broken?" There ya go Joey, activate the money card.
"Go on Seto," Mokuba's innocent perceived suggestive voice sounded, making Joey smirk. This boy was amazing at getting his older brother to do things. "He needs your help."
"Then why don't you go help him," Seto argued and Joey could hear how uncomfortable he was with this situation. Good.
"Because I'm a kid, big brother. I shouldn't be looking at older boys in their underwear," Mokuba replied matter-of-factly to which Seto sighed dramatically.
"Yami, go help him," Seto barked at his guard and Joey rolled his eyes, leaning up against the wall of the dressing room. As if on cue, Yugi's small voice wrung out from the room beside him.
"Y-yami? Can you zip this up for m-me?"
Joey threw his fist into his mouth to stop himself from busting out into laughter, his pride in his best friend swelling with appreciation. He couldn't even bring himself to be angry at the fact that Yami would be inside a dressing room alone with Yugi at this point.
"C-coming," Yami embarrassingly stuttered and Joey heard his footsteps approach before Yugi's dressing room door opened then shut.
Joey waited for Seto's response, but he had apparently gone mute all of a sudden. He really needed to get over himself. Yugi and Joey both were doing things that they didn't feel comfortable with, Seto could too.
Finally, as if Mokuba had given him those puppy dog eyes (which he probably had), Seto sighed with exasperation and Joey heard his footsteps, sending the blond's heart racing with anticipation. Joey shrugged his coat off and threw it behind him carelessly, before unlocking the door.
Seto opened the door reluctantly and averted the blond's eyes as he closed the door behind him. Joey suddenly realized how small the dressing room was with Seto's tall frame inside. He then began to feel nervous and his hands began sweating. "Hi," Joey stupidly said, making Seto give him an inquisitive look, making his cheeks burn. So. Awkward.
"Well? Let's get this over with," Seto stated gruffly, grabbing Joey unexpectedly by the arms and pushing him against the back wall.
Joey's eyes widened into large circles with a gasp, and then got wider as Seto dropped to his knees in front of him. Oh s-shit, Joey inwardly stuttered. He was positive that his cheeks were as red as the coat under his feet at this point, especially when Seto's hands grabbed the sides of the pants. His stomach lurched at the touch unwillingly and his eyes stared down with disbelief at the stoic faced man tugging down his slacks. Of course he showed no emotion whatsoever, until he hesitantly looked upwards and his mouth curved upwards into a wicked smirk.
Joey's heart jumped into his throat at the look as he didn't know how to react to any of this. The plan had completely backfired and he didn't understand why or how. Heat traveled up from his legs to his groin as Seto's hands moved treacherously over his thighs, making Joey shift uneasily underneath him.
"You think you can toy with me and get it away with it, Wheeler?" Seto muttered low in his throat, catching the blond off guard by his words and how he spoke them. Was he referring to the night before at dinner? Joey wasn't sure but somehow he quickly felt like he had been caught.
He couldn't let Seto think that though. Not with everything on the line like this.
Gritting his teeth harshly, trying to stop his body from reacting the way it was to Seto's expert hands steadily getting closer to the formation that was producing in the slightly pulled down slacks, Joey attempted to snap out of it. "I don't know what you're talkin' about," he attempted to retort innocently.
Seto's blue eyes flashed silver at his denial and Joey shuddered uncontrollably as a hand brushed against him by accident. The brunette before him lips curled into a sneer before he grabbed Joey's pants and shoved them down his legs swiftly before releasing him and standing up straight, his face mere inches from Joey's as their eyes captivated one another's.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Seto murmured dangerously, his warm breath caressing the blond's face and neck as Joey apprehended how unsettled he was of this voice than the hostile ones he'd heard before.
Before Joey could process any of it, Seto was out of the dressing room and Joey was against the wall with the pants around his ankles wearing nothing but his black pair of boxers as he panted breathlessly in disbelief. What. Just. Happened.
oO0Oo
Meanwhile in Yugi's dressing room, Yugi was also pressed against the wall but had done so of his own doing to get away from the burning crimson eyes of Yami. He'd asked him to come in there to keep Seto from backing out of helping Joey, in order for their plans to succeed, but he'd acted rashly and hadn't thought of what it would mean when Yami was in there alone with him. His heart beat was wildly pounding against his bare chest as his face was as red as a tomato, his eyes wider than they'd ever been.
"You needed my help?" Yami questioned him in a low voice, sending spontaneous shivers to run over Yugi's skin.
"I… no – I just," Yugi cursed himself inside his mind at the lack of ability to get words out correctly in front of the guard. He wasn't even sure why he was reacting so violently towards him.
"Wanted King Seto to help Prince Wheeler?" Yami helped, comprehending the scenario thankfully so Yugi didn't need to use words to answer, so instead he just hastily nodded.
His purple eyes darted to his shirt at Yami's feet, wishing he'd thought to put it on before the guard had come inside. Now he was half naked in front of a man who was so obviously attracted to him. Yugi hadn't even thought about his sexual orientation before but had never ruled it out that he'd be attracted to men. He'd been attracted to pretty girls before but nothing had ever come of it because of how shy he was. That apparently had carried over to how he dealt with handsome males as well. Especially tan, red eyed males.
Yami followed Yugi's trail of eyes, before smirking. "You're awfully small to be Joey's age," Yami commented simply, his eyes gradually sliding down the boy's slim bare chest that didn't even have hairs upon it.
Yugi's eyes narrowed a little at Yami, not appreciating what he'd said. Of course he knew he was small to be eighteen. His family had all been as small as he was, so genetically he was too. He'd been insecure about it for years, especially when it came to being around nice-looking girls who preferred muscular taller men like Joey or Tristan. He'd even thought he had accepted himself more now that he was older, however when Yami had mentioned it, it had thrown him backwards and retracting.
Suddenly, his face was redder from irritation than it was from embarrassment. "So?" he couldn't help but snap, before immediately regretting it when Yami's eyes flashed to his. A look of surprise washed over Yami's pointed features before he took a step towards Yugi, making the smaller boy press even closer to the wall.
"I was just pointing out a curious detail, is all Yugi. There's no need to be defensive about it," Yami explained in a softer voice and Yugi stared at him silently, not knowing how to take this sudden turn of events. What had he been expecting? Yami to eat him or something?
"I — oh," Yugi relented, his shoulders slumping a little when he realized he'd been a bit rude to the guard. His eyes lowered timidly. "I thought you were making fun of me."
"I'd hardly make fun of something I find appealing."
Yugi's head snapped up to meet Yami's eyes, but lowered a little to see a slight blush on the guard's cheeks. A blush. Suddenly, Yugi felt a bit foolish and yet he didn't know how to respond as his mouth went slack and his eyes rose again to meet the curious red of Yami.
After a moment of silence, Yami cleared his throat. "I… think that I should go on back out," he stated and Yugi blinked owlishly before remembering where he was and gave a nod.
Yami smiled at the boy before turning the knob. "By the way Yugi, the dark blue slacks look very nice on you," he replied, flashing a smirk over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.
Yugi immediately lit back up and looked down at the pants he was wearing. He was definitely settling on them then.
oO0Oo
After returning home a couple hours later, Rolland and Yami held two large bags to set away in the boys from Ghaffar's rooms. Mokuba, Seto, Joey, and Yugi entered the palace to find Kisara sitting on the bottom stair with her head in her hands. Seto frowned to himself before approaching her, while the other three exchanged looks between themselves. Whatever was wrong with her wouldn't be good for their plans.
"Lunch will be in just a moment," Rolland stated as he slipped past them all to follow Yami up the staircase and Joey couldn't even bring himself to acknowledge his stomach growl rebelliously as his eyes held firm to the white haired girl and the brunette.
"Kisara? Are you all right?" Joey's face screwed up into a mask of distaste at the softness Seto spoke with.
The three in the middle of the parlor room watched on as Kisara lifted her head to meet Seto's eyes before sniffing a little. "Oh Seto… I'm just so anxious," she said, sounding like she'd just got done sobbing her heart out as her hands grabbed Seto's. Joey gritted his teeth when Seto didn't pull away.
"Why do you feel anxious?" he asked instead. Kisara's eyes then slid to meet Joey's before she hiccupped dramatically, returning her gaze to Seto's.
"C-can we speak in private please?" her soft voice carried over to the three and Seto nodded before helping her to stand. He turned slightly to acknowledge them, his face showing no emotion at all – as usual and pissing Joey off again. However the blond attempted to keep himself composed. It would do no one good if he lost his cool all of a sudden.
"You all go on ahead and eat without me," Seto stated before turning and leading Kisara up the stairs, to which Joey assumed would be his bedroom. When they were out of ear shot, Joey flew off the handle.
"What the fuck?!" he shouted, not even caring that a small child was beside him. He then began pacing as he grabbed at his hair maddeningly. "How does she have such a hold on him? I thought we were accomplishing something by doing this? But it doesn't even seem to be working as well as I thought it had been!" He then went on to curse incoherently under his breath.
Mokuba lowered his eyes with disappointment and Yugi placed a comforting hand on the boy. "I know it doesn't look good, but I don't think we should give up just yet," he told both Mokuba and Joey seriously. "She might not be acting this time guys, something might be upsetting her. We don't know for sure."
Joey threw his hands up with vexation before kicking one of the many marble statues in the parlor room, wishing it was either Kisara or Seto's head. After what had happened in the dressing room, and the heated (and suspicious) glances that he'd received from the brunette while they shopped around, Joey had been positive that he'd be kicking out Kisara by tomorrow night. Now, however, that hope was lost.
Pain shot up his leg from the kick and he growled out, before slamming himself up against the wall and sliding down it to throw his arms over his bent knees, his head lowering with his hair covering his angry red face.
Yugi and Mokuba approached their blond friend, both looking sympathetic. Yugi tried again. "Look Joey, I know it would be easy to give up but you can't, okay?"
Mokuba took a deep breath and nodded. "Yugi's right, Joey. We can't give up now."
Joey seemed like he was ignoring them but in fact he was letting their words sink in in silence while he tried to control his temper.
"In fact, I think we should kick it up a notch," Yugi replied suggestively and that evidently caught Joey's full attention as his head snapped up to look at his spiky haired friend. Mokuba looked at Yugi curiously. A small blush spread over Yugi's cheeks but he continued anyways. "Well, what I was thinking was: Joey has been doing things without Kisara in the room. Now that we know how Seto reacts to Joey's advances, we can have Joey do things in front of Kisara. Maybe it will make her realize that Seto isn't as interested in her as she seems to think."
Mokuba blinked before a mischievous smile spread over his small round face as Joey stared at his friend thoughtfully, hope washing back over him. "You're so totally right Yugi!" Mokuba gushed, patting the boy on his back with admiration. "Then that's what we'll – I mean, Joey has to do. Go for the kill Joey!"
Yugi gave Mokuba a small smile before meeting Joey's eyes again. "What do you say?" he asked warily when Joey didn't say anything.
Joey then nodded after a moment's pause. "All right, I do my best," Joey relented before returning the smile the two in front of him gave him.
oO0Oo
"What are you saying Kisara?" Seto asked her seriously from his seat on his bed, his blue eyes staring at her as if trying to penetrate her mind. Kisara looked down at the ground helplessly. "I didn't even know you had a brother."
Kisara's pale shoulders collapsed miserably. "I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about him, Seto. My father made me swear on the throne when I was younger. Trust me, if I had been able to, I would have told you first. Let alone, agree to you meeting him." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before raising her eyes to his uncertainly as his face was blank. "I'm sure you're wondering why he was made to kept a secret."
Seto didn't feel the need to answer her since she already knew what he was thinking and so she sighed again at his silence. "Ryou, which is his name, was conceived without my father knowing. My mother had an affair behind his back with the excuse that he wasn't ever around to give her what she needed. She was caught by my father one night, foolishly too. She'd snuck the man into their bed and my father was enraged. He put the man in prison for some off the wall reason and just about threw my mother in there too, but then we found out she was pregnant. My father, too proud to let the public know he had been neglecting his wife, refused to make it known. So my mother was sent to live on the other side of the palace and give birth to Ryou… that was why she died, Seto. She died in childbirth, there was no way to save her," her voice caught over a lump of emotion and Seto continued to stare at her patiently until she was finished explaining.
"I-I told you that she died because she was sick with some weird illness, because that was what my father made me tell you and everyone really. Ryou was raised by a secret maid in the palace and was never once let to show his face. I often went to see him, since he was my brother, and we knew each other as siblings. I explained to him what had happened and I knew that it upset him, but there was nothing I could do. And then when he got older, my father made him become a guard – because he was not of true royal blood, his own blood. I watched out for him though, knowing he wasn't fit to be a true guard and assigned him to be my own personal guard to make sure nothing could harm him. So when I came here, I brought him with me.
And then your stupid guard suddenly became interested in him and got suspicious. He made Ryou scared and Ryou t-told him the truth to make him stop," Kisara concluded before crying again. Seto let his eyes drift away from her, remembering what Bakura had said before in the sitting room. He'd mentioned that Ryou had been very small in stature and a helpless excuse as a guard. Bakura had been suspicious and had been for good reason.
"Bakura won't say anything if I ask him not to," Seto defended his friend. "I trust him with my life and I would also trust him with your brothers, especially because I understand how he feels about Ryou."
Kisara lifted her head to look at Seto in stunned belief. "How he… feels? It's obvious that he doesn't feel anything towards my brother!" she bit off and Seto's eyes sharply met hers, not appreciating her tone of voice with him which she kindly softened to continue. "I mean, he made Ryou terrified. Ryou told me he's been stalking him since we got here with some weird interest to humiliate him. Ryou's even sleeping in your barn because of him! He's bullying my brother. Ryou's been through enough and he doesn't need this."
Seto rolled his eyes at Kisara, making her narrow her eyes. "Why aren't you taking this seriously?" she demanded and the brunette snorted.
"Let me break this to you gently, Kisara. Bakura isn't harassing him to make Ryou scared of him. In fact, it's completely the opposite. Bakura's 'weird interest' is the fact that he's interested in Ryou," Seto retorted and then smirked at the horrified look Kisara responded with.
"Well it's obvious Ryou doesn't return those feelings!" Kisara defended her brother with fierce blue eyes and Seto's eyebrows raised up.
"And how would you know? Have you asked him?" Seto questioned casually and with Kisara's hestitance to reply gave him his answer. "Okay. Perhaps you should then, whatever. I really don't care. Just know this: I'll inform Bakura to keep this new piece of information to himself for both your sake and Ryou's."
Kisara looked like she wanted to argue but ultimately decided against it and nodded. "Thank you Seto. You're doing my whole family a favor."
"Yes, well, you'll be doing me a favor by coming with me to lunch so my stomach doesn't eat itself," Seto stated as he stood up to which Kisara giggled at, before grabbing his arm as he led her from his bedroom to go down to the dining room.
Upon entering the dining room, Seto didn't pick up on the atmosphere too quickly. However, he did catch the full out glare that Joey gave Kisara as she released Seto's arm to seat herself down at the table. A small pleased smirk lifted his lips and he sat down pleasantly to eat lunch. None of them had eaten breakfast and so they were all starving.
And it was that hunger that distracted him from seeing the bigger picture. That is, until Joey took his hand that was resting next to his plate. Seto paused mid-chew, his eyes lifting to stare at his hand that was suddenly engulfed with warm skin before sliding up to Joey's face that was infuriatingly nonchalant. Warm little tingles spread up over Seto's arm that was connected to the hand under the blond's, making his breathing speed up just a little and words completely disappear.
He had no witty remark to make. No snide comment. Nothing. The only thing he could focus on was the fact that Joey had his hand on his. And just as suddenly, the dressing room occurrence flooded back to him, making his whole body heat under the touch. Seto honestly had no explanation for what had happened in there. The challenge that had been in Joey's eyes had compelled him to be victorious over it. However, it hadn't left him unaffected. In fact, he had been just as stimulated as Joey had seemed to be.
A light clearing of a throat caught Seto's attention momentarily and his eyes darted upwards to see Kisara frowning darkly down at her plate with unease and annoyance. It was then that he realized just what Joey was doing. He was attempting to make Kisara jealous. With this new revelation, Seto knew what he must do. Get revenge. That had seemed to make him stop all intentions the last time.
So, with that in mind, Seto interlaced the boy's fingers with his own and he felt Joey stiffen from the reciprocation before hesitating to relax. Not expecting that Joey? Interesting.
"So Mokuba, ready to go back to school tomorrow?" Seto finally broke the silence, as if nothing was going on between he and Joey.
Mokuba looked up from staring at the entwined hands to give Seto a wide eyed look from being startled. "I uh, yeah. Can't wait," Mokuba replied wobbly with a small upturn of his lips.
Joey then ran his thumb over Seto's wrist, causing the brunette to become distracted from the conversation for a second. His breath hitched in his chest and he willed himself to not look in Joey or Kisara's direction. He wouldn't be able to handle the situation if he did so.
"Are you sure about that?" He attempted to give Mokuba a stern pointed look, thanking himself for being able to speak clearly as Joey continued to caress him with his thumb.
Mokuba's eyes darted to their hands again, annoying Seto slightly, before he gave a small nod. "Uh hunh."
Seto then decided to turn the tables, growing tired of Joey having the upper hand. His foot slowly made its way over to Joey's and slid upwards over the boy's leg. A small barely audible gasp from beside him had him smirking faintly to himself while keeping the conversation flowing with his younger brother, his blue eyes never leaving the uncomfortable stormy gray.
"Interesting, Mokuba. I'm quite sure you don't like school at all," he replied with a quirk of his eyebrow and Mokuba blushed under his gaze.
The moment of victory didn't last long, as apparently Joey and himself were dueling silently at the table, and the blond moved his leg that was being violated by Seto in order to spread his legs, causing Seto's foot to brush the inside of Joey's thigh all of a sudden. Heat engulfed Seto immediately and a small blush formed on his cheeks that he shifted his hair with a small shake of his head to hide.
"I-I know. But I'm getting a new prospective on it," Mokuba stuttered before giving his brother an over enthusiastic grin but despite Seto's eyes being trained on Mokuba, he wasn't paying the least bit of attention. No, his focus was more on the fact that his foot was in between Joey's spread legs.
Swallowing down a lump in his dry mouth, Seto attempted to take Joey off guard by moving his foot over the blond's thigh suggestively. However, it quickly was backfired as Joey released Seto's hand to plunge it underneath the table to grab the brunette's foot before it could reach it's prize.
At that, Seto finally looked over at Joey who had his own blush on his cheeks and his eyes were downcast as if trying to concentrate on his own breathing. Daringly so, he glanced over at Kisara who now was staring at them with a steel like glare that even made Seto uncomfortable. This had gotten out of hand, he realized and he removed his foot from Joey but was shocked when Joey didn't release it so he could. Their eyes locked together and it honestly felt like they were the only ones in the room at that moment, the conversation with Mokuba completely forgotten. Joey's hand ran up underneath Seto's pant leg, caressing his calf while his eyes told him things he most likely never hear from the blond's mouth. But that didn't matter, as he was positive his mouth could do a lot of other things. It took everything Seto had to stop himself from jumping over the table to pounce on him.
Wait a second, what the hell's the matter with me? I'm not gay.
"Enough!" Seto unexpectedly blurted out and everyone at the table jumped at his outburst. Joey instantly let go of his leg and Seto sat it down while simultaneously standing from his seat, glaring down at Joey with everything he had. The brown eyes stared back up at him with heat still in the depths of them and it unsettled Seto the way it made him feel. "E-enough," he repeated more quietly, obviously speaking with Joey only. The warmth disappeared then, replaced by cold anger. That was more like it.
"Seto? Are you okay?" Mokuba's hesitant and worried voice broke Seto's determination to get through to Joey and he blinked, looking over at his brother as if suddenly realizing he'd been there the whole time.
"I'm fine, I just… need some air," he said lamely without even thinking before exiting the dining room.
oO0Oo
"What the hell did you do to him?" Kisara pointedly accused Joey with venom in her voice and eyes. By this point Joey was fuming from Seto's rejection and he stood up from his chair to glower down at the girl.
"What did I do to him? What are you even still doing here!" he yelled across the table and Kisara stood up as a flash of silver crossed her blue eyes.
"Yes what did you do to him?! It was obvious you made him angry! And I could say the same about you, Wheeler! You hate Seto, so why are you still here?" Kisara retorted while her cheeks blushed over as Yugi fearfully moved away from her for the second time.
"I'm engaged to him!" Joey answered, enraged at her impertinence. "That's more than what you can say."
Kisara's hands slammed onto the table furiously. "Oh don't act like that's even a good enough excuse," she said snidely, "I know as much as anyone here that you don't want to be engaged to him. You'd rather run back home to your stupid little village than marry Seto and have more power than you could ever imagine!"
At the mention of his kingdom, Joey lost it and he launched himself over the table to strangle Kisara, sending dishes and silverware to the ground in his wake.
Sorry for the horrid cliffhanger. I thought it'd be a good place to stop! This chapter is dedicated to teengens, as well as to everyone else who reviewed, favorited, alerted, or even just read. Thanks a bunches!
And to the anon reviews that didn't seem enthusiastic about this story, I'm sorry I made you cringe in anyway. Didn't mean to... also, Joey has a lean slightly muscular frame. I just didn't emphasis it in the last chapter.
Thanks again guys! And make sure to follow me on tumblr. I spend all my time there. : )