Joey: Joey sat at his seat, fidgeting, amber eyes flickering from the space in front of him to the nightlife down below. He started to wonder how many people were down there on a Friday night, partying, getting drunk or eating food or going on dates. Was there someone like him going on a date with someone like Kaiba? Were they from two separate worlds and only a chance meeting with an ancient spirit had suddenly brought them together? The blonde snorted at that idea and chuckled to himself. Nope, that only happened to him and Yugi. Remembering the text from his friends earlier, Joey glanced behind his shoulder to check to see if Kaiba was back yet, not wanting to upset him by taking out his phone. Joey quickly whipped out the device from his pocket and clicked onto the text, replying promptly:
Guys, you're my best friends, but the butt sex jokes have gotta stop. Might be busy later, don't wait up.
It was simple but they'd understand, no doubt Yugi would have to hold the Pharaoh back from writing something in response that was extra vulgar, hilarious and mildly protective as usual. Slipping the phone back into his school jacket, the blonde exhaled and settled back into his seat, his heart finally having gone back to a normal rate. It was then that the phone began to ring, again on the other side of the table. Craning his neck, being too full and too lazy to move his whole body, Joey saw the flash of the name and the small emoji once again and rose an eyebrow. This guy was really desperate to get a hold of Kaiba. The blonde tried to rationalise the sinking feeling creeping into his conscious mind by saying he didn't know the world of business and that it was probably to go over some super huge, important and expensive contract or business deal and that calling on a Friday night was probably a normal thing for CEO's and businessmen of the world. Joey nodded at his own resolve and slumped forward slightly, his elbow rested on the table as his hand cupped his cheek.
'No point gettin' weird about a phone call...' He thought to himself.
Eventually Kaiba returned, his voice coming out of the blue and startling Joey out of his daydream. He often got sleepy after a large meal and the fatigue after a week's worth of exams and studying, dealing with his Father and the energy spent worrying and thinking about Kaiba had left him pretty lifeless. He admittedly, expected some form of contact, perhaps a gentle brushing of his back or a ruffle of his hair, but there was nothing. In a way, it sort of heightened things and got the blonde somewhat more excited even though he had just calmed down.
'God... damn,' Joey thought to himself as his eyes completely missed Kaiba's and went straight to the open shirt and droplets of water trickling down his beautifully white skin. The blonde glanced up, noticing the hint of red in the other's cheeks and found a grin appearing on his face as he put two and two together. The big shot CEO, the cool and collected, the stone cold businessmen Seto Kaiba had gotten a little flustered. Joey couldn't help but feel pride well up inside of him. He felt like he was breaking down the wall Kaiba had probably spent years building up to shield himself from people. Just piece by piece... it was happening.
"What are you, kiddin'? I was enjoyin' staring at the empty chair instead of starin' at your ugly mug all even-" Joey cut himself off mid-sentence, noticing the brunette's eyes darting to something behind him. The blonde frowned and cocked his head to one side, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"Kaiba?"
A man. A beautifully slim, commanding, hypnotic man. Immediately Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon came to Joey's mind once the stranger had come between them at the table. The blonde stared into Kaiba's eyes, listening intently to the conversation, reading the body language, feeling his own body language respond to what he was watching and hearing. Stretching out his hand, Joey took a hold of his glass and swallowed at what was left of the water from earlier, his hand setting down the glass but still gripping at it weakly. He was keeping his cool, staying composed, trying to be the civil, well brought up person he knew Kaiba wanted him to be.
That didn't last long.
Firstly, Joey felt his eyebrows twitch as he was forced to listen to the drivel coming from this Ryu's mouth, calling Kaiba 'darling' something so unbecoming of a man.
Secondly, his eyes narrowed as he stared into the brunette's eyes, willing him with all that he had for the teen to spare him one millisecond to glance over, to give him a reassuring smile, to acknowledge his fucking existence.
Thirdly, the undeniable stab of jealousy and betrayal. So he wasn't the first person to be brought up to a fancy Italian restaurant and fed cake too and stared out at the night sky with? Kaiba had done this... all of this, with THAT guy? How many others had Kaiba brought here? He had the cheek to drag him away from HIS friends when HE was in the wrong and take him to somewhere he'd taken this PRICK too? He'd messed around with his feelings, led him on, actually made him believe that he was special and had a fucking purpose in this life only to stab him in the back and betray him. It was all a game. A game that Joey was no longer going to play.
There was a smash. The sound was sharp, quick and followed by the sound of chair legs scraping violently across the floor. Joey stood up, the glass from earlier smashed to pieces in his hand. Shards of the material scattered the table like dangerous rose petals, a couple of which were plunged deeply into the palm of Joey's hand, crimson red blood dripping from his flesh to land in small puddles on the white, satin table cloth.
"You fuckin' prick," Joey hissed, his amber eyes burning with anger, his pupils dilated and his shoulders practically shaking with rage. "I hate you. I fuckin' hate you," The blonde yelled having stepped away from the table, roughly pulling the shards of glass from his hand and throwing them on the floor. "How could you fuckin' do this? It was all part of your plan, right? You two, together? String me along, make me feel all this shit and then fuck me over right at the end? Just for laughs? Just to show me how much of a MUTT I am and how I will NEVER fit in here in your classy restaurant with your jumped up waitresses and overpriced fucking pizzas. Well, you did it!" The boy threw his hands up into the air, the blood trickling from his wound down his wrist and under the blue jacket and down his arm. He was shaking now not from rage but from the onslaught of tears about to pour down his cheeks. "Seto Kaiba... always gets what he wants." Joey wrinkled his nose up in disgust before clearing his throat and spitting aggressively on the floor. Spinning on his heel, the blonde jumped up three small stairs before deciding to take the fire exit out of the building. He pulled open the door, his bloody hand leaving a stain on the handle before half running half jumping down the flights of stairs, tears of anger streaming down his face.
Kaiba: "As you wish, Se-" the white haired boy was cut off suddenly, visibly flinching from the sound of glass shattering and then the sound of wood being dragged over the marble flooring. He turned to face Joey fully, one eyebrow raised as if to say 'what the fuck are you doing?' Seto also flinched, cerulean eyes fluttering shut as he felt the blonde's rage. Oh god, here we go.
As insults started to flood the brunette's ears, he re-opened his eyes, only just daring to look at his date who was now stood, blood pouring from his palm. As cerulean caught the crimson liquid pooling around Joey's palm, he couldn't help but wince, trying to reach forward over the table to take his hand into his own, wanting to make sure that the cut wasn't too deep. Of course, Joey dodged his touch, not that Seto even got that far away.
'I hate you. I fuckin' hate you,' the blonde cried, causing Seto to stop in his tracks, his hand still reaching out for the blonde's as if he was frozen in time. Joey's words obviously shook the brunette as he pulled his hand back, once again standing to full height, not really sure where to look. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the restaurant on him: other guests, the waitress and most of all, Joey's. Trying to remain collected, the CEO shifted his weight from one foot to the other, still not looking at the blonde boy as he yelled. He allowed him to have say his peace, remaining completely silent, every single syllable practically smacking him in the face. Eyebrows furrowed in the centre, the brunette now beginning to get visibly agitated. Sure, he understood Joey's outburst, he really did. From his perspective, it did seem cruel and calculated but Seto knew it wasn't, causing him to grow even more irritated as he blonde continued spitting accusations and insults at him.
"I didn't PLAN this-" he tried to interrupted, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence as he spoke. It was all he could think to say, his mind trying to make the mental decision of fight or flight. As Joey threw his arms up, Seto caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, wincing slightly as he did so, for some reason expecting to feel the blonde lurching out to punch him. However, the pain never came, but what Joey said next hurt him much more than his punches ever could have.
'Seto Kaiba... always gets what he wants.' and with that, the blonde had taken off, leaving a well and truly shaken CEO behind.
There was a silence as Seto just stood there, watching as the blonde boy ran off. A lot of things were whirring through his head, causing him to re-freeze in thought as he tried to calculate the next option. He was furious now, shoulders shaking slightly, causing the white haired boy to back off slightly. He knew that look: he knew it very well and he also knew the most likely outcome, too.
"Seto..." Ryu exhaled as the restaurant began to go back to normal after watching the drama unfolding in front of them.
"Don't you dare." the CEO hissed, turning to completely face his ex-lover, cerulean eyes flickering with fury. He opened his mouth again, ready to completely break the man down with words - something he was practically a pro at by now - but before the first word even left his mouth, he stopped, hearing the fire exit slam shut. Suddenly, as if he'd just been struck by lightning, his body kicked in, causing the brunette to judder forward, face inches away from Ryu's. "I'll deal with you later. Tomorrow's off. Speak to me again and I'll break your neck." he snarled, waiting not a second longer to find out the boy's reaction as he bolted after the blonde, hand slipping on the fire exit handle slightly as he came into contact with Joey's blood. Yes, he was going to fight for Joey Wheeler.
"Joey!" he called after the boy who was currently spiralling his way down the stairs. Not hearing the boy's footsteps let up, the brunette also began to make his way down, feet skipping over each step effortlessly. Being considerably taller and being able to take more ground in his stride, Seto was soon catching up to the boy, stopping momentarily on a small landing between connecting stairs. "Joey, just stop!" he repeated, raking his hand through the front of his now dishevelled hair, leaving the blonde's blood painted over his forehead, mixing with the brunette's sweat. He took off again, inhaling sharply as he pinpointed the blonde. Jumping down a cluster of stairs, he was now directly behind the boy. Not wanting to take any risks of accidentally tripping the boy up, Seto grabbed hold of the banister and pushed his whole body weight up, long legs lifting off the floor and spiralling around the fire exit stairs, manoeuvring himself so he was now in front of the blonde. Breathing heavily, his now wobbly legs hitting the floor again, he practically tackled the blonde, shoving him into the corner of the current landing they were on. He made no more physical contact, just stood directly in front Joey, leaving absolutely no le-way for him to escape. "You need to listen to me, pup," he begged through gasps, trying to shake off his exhaustion. "It's not what it seems, I didn't plan this... please?"
Joey: Joey raced down the stairs, two by two until he got to the last three of every flight and just jumped down them in one, landing cleanly with both feet hitting the floor before he brought one foot back and kicked off again to tackle the next set before him. Blood was rushing through his ears, tears clouded his vision and only cleared through rapid blinking and wiping away with his arm. His hand was pumping blood quite furiously, leaving a trail behind him on the floor or on the banisters whenever he grabbed a hold of one to anchor him as he skidded round the corner, the sound of his sneakers protesting against the hardened floor. He wasn't thinking about his body, about the pain in his hand or laboured breathing of his chest. No, he was blind to all of that, his mind just screamed at him to leave and run as fast as he could.
Suddenly a door slammed from above and the sound of his name echoed throughout the stairwell, sending a shudder through the blonde's body. A sudden wave of panic washed over the blonde, causing him to lose his footing on one of the steps. He tumbled forward, still landing on his feet but falling into a corner, his shoulder having smacked against the wall violently. He cursed under his breath, seeing flashes of black and white as Kaiba made his way faster than him down the stairs.
"Shit..." The blonde cursed as he forced himself upright, hand gripping at his shoulder that was quite clearly bruised. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Joey was soon able to shrug off the pain in his body and carried on down the stairs, considerably slower than before as exhaustion began to take its toll as did his injuries.
"Just fuck off, Kaiba!" The blonde roared back, hearing footsteps getting closer, glancing over his shoulder to see the boy only one flight behind him. He cursed once again and carried on skipping 2 stairs and jumping down 3 until he could practically sense Kaiba behind him. In a flash, the brunette was now in front of him. Momentum too strong, Joey collided with Kaiba's body, feeling himself being thrown back into a corner. Trapped, unable to move.
Burning amber eyes stared into cerulean, his chest heaving up and down at an erratic pace, one hand still gripping at his throbbing shoulder. His blood stained his white shirt and jacket while flecks of the scarlet liquid smeared and dotted over the blonde's tanned skin.
"Let me go, Kaiba!" Joey yelled but made no attempt to move, instead, he did something quite unlike him. He allowed himself to cry. Tears welled up in his eyes and poured down his blood stained cheeks out of frustration and pain. "Just let me go, I can't look at you-" Joey remembered Ryu, the way he spoke to Kaiba, leant in close to his body... but what was worse was the way the brunette had reacted. He had been completely entranced, lost in the Blue Eyes' human, an invisible attraction pulling the two closer. It made the blonde feel sick just remembering it.
"I can't... I can't..." Joey mumbled, lowering his head so that the tears fell from his eyes and dripped onto the floor in small grey droplets. He had lowered his hands from his shoulders and now stood, slumped, almost bent over in physical and emotional pain. He was crying and it hurt. "Why did you do this to me..? Do you really hate me that much, Seto?"
Kaiba: Seto didn't realise the blonde boy was crying. Maybe if he had realised sooner, he would have been able to try and do something about it, but now it was too late. As he stood there, purely using his energy to keep the boy pushed into the corner, all he could do was watch helplessly as Joey began to cry, an onslaught of tears filling his gorgeous amber eyes and freely rolling down his cheeks. A sudden sense of panic filled the brunette, his body still shaking from exhaustion and pain from the blonde's previous words. A deep, dark feeling began to fill the pit of his stomach, gurgling up into his lungs and leaving him breathless. It was the exact same feeling he got when Mokuba cried - and not over silly things, over things that mattered.
"No..." the CEO mumbled, eyes completely locked onto the blonde's face so whenever another tear rolled, whenever he moved his face, anything, the brunette captured it perfectly. "No, no, no...!" he choked out, his voice strangled and forced. Joey's blood also adorned Seto's clothes, little flecks of crimson dotting his otherwise pristine white shirt. It was on his face, his forehead, his chin. It was everywhere, a painful reminder of how upset the blonde boy really was. "God, Joey, no." he was struggling now, far too panicked to be able to put together full coherent sentences. He paused for a moment, just watching Joey crying, each tear destroying Seto's composure. He inhaled, taking a step closer into the blonde boy, bringing his hands up to touch his face, but he stopped just before doing so, trying to lock eyes with Joey to make sure that he had permission to do so. Getting absolutely nothing in response, he decided to test his luck, grabbing at the boy's face desperately, thumbs wiping away tears. Every time a new tear fell, the brunette tried to catch it, wiping it away as if it were nothing.
Moments passed, the brunette desperately trying to focus on stopping the blonde's tears from falling. If they didn't fall then maybe he would stop? Maybe he would be okay again? As irrational as it was, it was all Seto could go by, his face still flushed with panic.
"I'm sorry," he spoke softly, pain wrenching through every single syllable. "I'm so, so, sorry." the brunette continued to apologise, his body falling closer into Joey's. He didn't know what else to say, his heart beat so fast that he felt it was going to erupt right out of his chest. Every time he looked at Joey's face that same, dark feeling clogged up his lungs. "I don't hate you, I promise I don't hate you," stifled, both hands still on Joey's face, the heat from his cheeks tearing holes right through him. "I'm so sorry... please just listen to me..." the brunette begged once more, leaning even further into the boy as he said the word 'please'. Flickering cerulean met hazy amber, pain reflected in both of their eyes as the two boys stood there, Seto hunched over Joey as if he were trying to protect him from himself. Practically in slow motion the brunette exhaled, eyes scanning for a sign of anything other than affliction in Joey's eyes. Everything went silent apart from the ringing in Seto's ears as his whole body tuned into Joey's. The heat, the pain, the crying, the anger, everything reflecting straight back into Seto's. His grip loosened on the boy's face, the tips of his fingers red from the pressure he was exerting onto him. He leant forward, eyes focused on the other boy's lips before he stopped, once again making eye contact with the smaller boy, making sure that he was coherent and watching. He looked down again, fixated on his lips. In one smooth movement, Seto pushed their faces together, lips connecting through metallic tasting blood and salty tears. Cerulean eyes flickered shut, his long eyelashes catching a couple of Joey's tears as they did so. He allowed the blonde to fall into him, their lips still connected as Seto tenderly kissed him, soft and open mouthed. He pulled away to look straight into Joey's eyes, desperation filling his own. Without saying another word, he crushed his lips back into the blonde's, this time more desperate, hungrier. One hand slipped away from the boy's cheek as he reached down and grabbed his good hand, intertwining their fingers and bringing it up above Joey's head so there was absolutely no means of escape for the boy now.