I grab a map of the garden, and Seto pays. The place is massive. According to my map the place is 650 acres, with a trolley that takes you around the entire garden. Not that I need it since Seto knows where he's going, I just get kind of pulled there.
The greenhouses come up on our right. I was thinking glass box like buildings, the reality is more like Versailles then box. The main entrance has an elaborate dome covered in metal flowers and leaves, greened with age. This pattern covers both arms of the attached greenhouses. This dome is topped with a rose by the looks of it. As we go under the arched entrance, I see just how detailed this building is. In the arches, tiny flowers are carved into the metal.
Then I turn my attention to the flowers, which I suppose is what I am here for. All I have to say is that orchids have a habit of looking like they are from another planet. It seems that Curiosity did bring something back from Mars. I step to the side of the path to get a closer look at one that I found especially strange, I glance at the label, "Slipper Orchid". The bloom has a green center, which four different parts fan out from that central green spot. On one of the parts fades from the green to a pinkish, with a strip of white going across the leaf, all broken up by black strips that follow the curve of the leaf. Then there are two long thin leaves that extend out the sides, those fade straight from green to pink with a few black dots but no white. Then comes where I guess the name comes from, the cup like thing that attaches to the bottom. That looks kind of like the toe area of a slipper if I really squint.
"Paphiopedilum Holdenii. It's an endangered orchid species because of losing it's habitat. And that label is incredibly inaccurate; there is one more than one slipper orchid." Seto explains. My attention turns to him.
"Even so, they are quite beautiful. Ever thought of a duel monster orchid?" He can legally make new cards at his whim; he owns the rights to them.
"Would you ever duel with that?" We step into the next room.
"I have a deck and I don't need a new one. But an orchid deck would have some awesome magic cards."
"The smell is so strong and sweet that all monsters go into defence mode? Someone would buy it." Seto steps off the path again and looks at a certain orchid. To me it looks like just another alien, but this time with three pink petals. "Ophrys apifera" reads the planck next to it.
"This genus of orchid I would make into a spell card, if a little inappropriate for a kid's card game. This genus is better known as the bee orchid, or the more rude name for it, the prostitute orchid." I might just learn something today, not that I mind. Mostly I just like hearing Seto talk about something he loves, or at the very least, interested in.
"Sounds sexy."
"Hm, in the plant kingdom maybe. The orchid creates a very good approximation of the female bee pheromones, the appearance and the feel of a female bee for the male. Then this orchid seduces the bee to have bee sex with it." He points at the bulb-looking thing.
"The labellum is supposed to look like the backside of a female bee. So they entice the bee, then the bee lands on the orchid to copulate. It is a fruitless endeavor, but while that's happening, the orchid attached two sacks of pollen to the bee's backside. The frustration finally gets too much, but he flies off with this orchid's pollen. This also is a good evolutionary trick too. The bee won't land anywhere near that orchid, out of frustration, so the pollen will be less likely to pollinate a close relative of that orchids."
"So, what your telling me is that orchids are a tease or the worst prostitute that ever lived?" We start walking again, but Seto continues to talk.
"Pretty much. It's not uncommon in the orchid family to use deceit to get pollinated. Some give the appearance of shelter, food, and, obviously, sex."
"To think, I didn't think that I'd learn anything today. Very informative." I take his hand, give it a small squeeze.
"I had an attentive audience."
We exit the greenhouse, and stroll in comfortable silence, finding less and less people as we continue to walk hand in hand. Until we find a grassed path at the back of the garden, we follow that path in the small semi-dense forest of magnolias with underbrush. No one can see us from the main road, and its not like most people are going to come here anyway. All in all, we're pretty much alone and both of us seem to silently agree that's fine, preferable even. I take a seat on the grass, and half pull him down with me. I lean my head against his shoulder, damn him for being vastly taller then me. Seto puts his arm around my back.
"So, why did you bet that I would go to the orchids with you?" I ask attempting to make conversation. It's probably something like he knew I would hate it.
"I wanted to come and I didn't really want to do it alone. Plus, its kind of romantic." I have no reason to doubt him, but something told me that there was more to the story then a superficial appreciation for a type of flower. However pretty and vaguely strange they are.
"I mean, why orchids? Why the attraction to orchids?" He doesn't seem too keen on answering. "You don't have to answer, it was just making conversation." I quickly add, but I shift my weight so most my weight is held up by one hand and I'm more facing Seto.
"My father and mother were botanists. My mother lamented on the fact that there were no blue roses because that is what she wanted to create. The theory was that a blue rose would give you 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid*, which has medical purposes. A blue rose would give you 2,4-D in economical qualities, so it didn't have to be artificially create it. No one has yet to actually create one, and when I got vast quantities of disposal income I tried my hand at creating a blue rose. While my father wanted to create a true black orchid. The chemical that creates black in most plants gets ruined in production. But a black orchid would give an economical way of creating 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic*, another chemical used in a lot of drugs. I hope you remember the black orchid that was on my desk, that's the finished product. And it creates vastly larger quantities then I predicted of 2,4,5-T." There are many things about this story that stick out to be as odd, first and foremost, I thought Seto's father was the Ex-CEO of Kaiba Corp.
"I thought your father ran KaibaCorp." A very small smile shows on Seto's face, but quickly fades away to a frown.
"My parents died in a car crash when I was 9. Gozaburo ran KaibaCorp, and he wasn't my father in anything beside legal status." He stopped himself from saying any more then that. He lip curled, his nostrils flare slightly, and his grasp on my hand tightens. In those few words, I could tell what it looks like to have Seto really and truly with every nerve in his body hate you.
"Oh." The wind blows a warm light breeze against my face, and messes up Seto's hair slightly. His gorgeous chestnut hair shines in the late afternoon sun, knowing from lunch just how soft and touchable his hair actually is and just how tasty his lips are. Our eyes meet, his ocean blue to my light brown. They hold intense gratitude still, a small amount of uncertainty and something I can't placr. I finally muster enough courage, I close my eyes and I feel the familiar soft touch of his lips on mine. He doesn't tease me this time, and I don't tease him. I just give myself over to the kiss. His mouth tastes deliciously like coffee. Strands of his hair brush my face, his hand cups my waist and moving down, I let it. With my free hand I brush the strands away from my face, and finally get to feel his silky hair. He varies pressure, stroke, and depth every few kisses, sucking my bottom lip, giving it a small nibble. His natural scent is intoxicating, I get drunk off of it. My head goes fuzzy, and I feel a little lightheaded. My heart pounding in my chest. His hand caresses my outer thigh, and I just drink another glass of intoxicating scent. Then he abruptly stops, and falls backward onto the grass. His eyes are hooded, and has a teasing, sexy, confident smile that just dares me to continue.
"Damn it, forgot a blanket." His voice send tingles down my spine in pleasure. The same arrogance that I find so infuriating pulls me in more. When I can't stand him any longer, I throw my leg over one of his and commence our charade. I am forced to use my elbows to support own weight, so I have to trust Seto not to do anything too funny. Through my shirt, I feel Seto's heart beat just as fast as mine, if not faster, and his lungs almost struggle to get air. I feel every shallow breath, and I try to match it. His hands intertwine with my already messy hair, pulling slightly. Not enough for it to hurt, just enough for it to feel like a jolt of lightening just hit me at every pull. My lips start to get raw, but the pleasure is vastly more than the discomfort. I can hardly form a thought when Seto's lips are on mine. His hands move, down my neck, down my arms, and down my side to my hips. He takes his lips off mine, I feel a small whimper in my throat. I didn't want it to end, but he isn't quite done with me yet. His kisses sweep my neck, I can hear my own shallow breathes. He lightly nibbles right above my collar bone. Now I'm glad I wore a v-neck. The slight pain just makes the sensation all the better. Soon they turn into light kisses again, eventually they stop altogether and all I feel is Seto's hot breath on slightly broken skin.
A few seconds go by before either of us open our eyes or even move. At the same time I open my eyes and start to crawl off of Seto. First I swing my leg on the other side, so that both my legs are together and then lift my self into a sitting position. I notice that Seto follows every move I make, my face starts to boil as I start to take in what I just did.
Shit, shit, I just not only made out with him, I enjoyed it probably more then I should. The taste of his breath still coats my mouth, the bitter taste of coffee is a little overwhelming. I force my swallow a few time, it makes it slightly better. At the restaurant, that kiss was just fun. A little harmless teasing, forcing the other into a bad rom-com, but it was completely harmless. Making a joke of our entire situation, not this. I don't know. It was more intense somehow. A larger part of me then I want to admit wants to again. Have I just gotten too involved with this charade? Did I start to believe that I should fall for Seto? When did I start to confuse fact and fiction?
*If combined they create Agent Orange, a herbicide.