"Who let you in here?" Seto asked as soon as he saw Jounouchi marching into his office.
"Mokuba."
Seto sighed. It would have been the one person Seto wouldn't fire. "What do you want, Mutt?"
"I want you to fucking act like a real man and not some robot in a suit. Your brother's worried sick. He says you haven't taken a day off in an entire month."
"So what? I have work to do."
"You selfish prick! Don't you see your brother's concerned about you?" Jounouchi tossed a bag onto the desk. "Change and let's go."
"Change? Go?" Seto raised an eyebrow, not amused.
"Bitch, I didn't stutter."
"Be careful who you call bitch, Mutt."
"Damn, Seto, I'm just dragging you out of the office for a night. It won't kill you to experience what it's like to be normal for a few hours."
"What's with the costume?" Seto frowned at the bag again, peeking instead. He saw blue jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes.
"I already told you- normal- we're going to pretend that you're freaking normal for a night. Gotta dress the part, man."
Seto sighed. His brother must have been desperate if he'd gone to Yugi and the others, although why they decided to send Jounouchi of all people … perhaps to annoy Seto into participating in this wasteless exercise of normality.
"What are we going to do?"
"Grab a bite, go hang out at the arcade, I don't know. Whatever, as long as you're not working."
Seto wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Sounds like a date."
"A- what? Dude! I'm just doing your brother a favor! Don't make it weird." Jounouchi crammed his hands in his pockets, turning and snorting. Seto realized that Jounouchi's cheeks were tinted. "Who would want to date a prick like you?"
Seto sighed, shutting his laptop. "I suppose I do need to eat something." He stood, glaring at Jounouchi. "I'll play along with the charade for Mokuba's sake, but we're only getting something to eat and then I'm getting back to work."
"Whatever man, hurry up then. I could be hanging out with the others and actually having fun right now instead of dealing with your sorry ass."
"You're breaking my heart, Jounouchi." Seto left to the bathroom in his office and changed into the gawdawful, common clothing.
He was surprised everything fit, and realized that Mokuba must have picked out the clothes. The shirt was even white with a blue stripe (a likely reference to the Blue Eyes White Dragon). Seto couldn't be mad at his brother for trying to make him take a break, but Jounouchi Katsuya of all people?
Seto looked at himself in the mirror. It was surreal, to see himself dressed like anyone else, like his last name wasn't plastered on merchandise across the world. Pounding on the door broke Seto away from his thoughts.
"Oi! Kaiba! Hurry the hell up! You're the one that wants to get this over with!"
Seto rolled his eyes as he opened the door. He smirked. "Does that mean you don't want to get this over with?"
Jounouchi's mouth dropped a little. "Quit putting words in my mouth, Money Bags, and let's go."
"I'll call for the limo to meet us out-"
Jounouchi started laughing. "Limo? Hell no. What part of normal do you not get? We're walking."
"That will take longer." Seto frowned.
"Life's hard, dude."
Seto growled as he followed Jounouchi out of the office and into the elevator. It was weird having to stand close to Jounouchi in the elevator. Seto noticed the cologne he wore. He was sure it was some cheap, department store garbage, but he couldn't help admitting that on Jounouchi it smelled … nice. Seto was glad when they were out of Kaiba Corp HQ and on the streets where they could put some natural distance between them as they walked.
"So what's keeping you so busy, anyway?" Jounouchi asked.
"Oh, is this where we engage in mandatory small talk? Is that part of the date?"
"I wish I could slug you so bad."
"Don't we need a safeword for that sort of thing?"
"Do you ever just talk without being a smartass?" Jounouchi shouted, gritting his teeth once he stopped speaking.
Seto smirked once again. "It's too easy to rile you up, Mutt."
"You know that ain't my name."
"Don't you mean 'isn't my name'?"
"Fuck you."
Half a laugh managed to escape Seto. "Shouldn't we wait until the end of our date?"
"You know that's not what I meant!"
"But it's what you said."
"Fine! Fine." Jounouchi crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not gonna let you bait me. Instead of hanging out and trying to act like real people for a change, we can just eat in silence and then you can go back to killing yourself in an office- and for what? You have more money than you could spend. What's the damn point?"
Seto shrugged. "It's what I was groomed for."
"Groomed? And you call me a mutt? Does that make you some pedigree poodle?"
"Wow, Jounouchi, that was actually somewhat witty. I'm impressed."
"Oh well, now that you're impressed I guess I can die happy."
They both chuckled, but Seto stopped as soon as he realized that they were sharing a laugh. He didn't want to delude Jounouchi into thinking that Seto was going to convert to the friendship cult any time soon. Still, he had to accept that the late afternoon air and sunshine was a nice contrast to the inside of his office. Yet, just as Seto was thinking that maybe his forced adventure wasn't so bad, Jounouchi stopped in front of the door of Burger World.
"Why are we here?"
"For dinner. Why else would we be at a restaurant?"
"This isn't a restaurant. This is a deathtrap that encourages heart disease, obesity, and-"
"Oh my god, Kaiba! Calm down. One night of burgers and fries isn't going to kill you."
"But my nutritionist schedules my-"
"Blah, blah, blah, I'm too rich. Blah, blah, blah, forgot to even act like a person. Blah blah blah, but you're a mutt, Katsuya. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Could you like, shut up for five minutes and just enjoy life?"
Seto raised an eyebrow. "So I call you Katsuya in your inner dialogue?"
"What? No." Jounouchi grabbed Seto and pulled him into the restaurant.
Seto smiled. It really was too easy to rile the mutt up. Jounouchi ordered for both of them. Seto pulled out his wallet to pay, but Jounouchi overlapped his hand on top of Seto's to stop him.
"Your money's no good here."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I got it. My treat."
"Jounouchi, you know that I-"
"Yeah, you make more money in a day than I'll ever see in my life. So what? You shouldn't have to pay for everything just because you can." Jounouchi paid for their food, turning back and grinning. "Besides, that's what friends do, y'know? Buy each other dinner and stuff."
"Is this where I see the error in my solitary ways and vow to get your food next time, suggesting that there'll be a next time, and therefore cementing our tentative friendship?"
"Yeah, you could do all that. Or you could just shut the fuck up and not be a douchebag for five minutes."
"Dinner would probably be easier."
"Now who's acting like he wants to hang out again?"
"Yes. Can't you see how much fun I'm having? I'm a changed man."
Jounouchi grabbed their trays and carried them to a empty table. Seto sat down and tried to accept the fact that he was actually going to eat the mass of saturated fat, processed carbs, and preservatives in from of him. He took a bite.
It tasted better than he wanted to admit. It wasn't that Seto had never eaten a burger before, but when he did, it was usually deconstructed onto his plate and served with goat cheese and cherry-pineapple chutney. This thing he was currently eating was greasy, but that was the appeal.
"It's good," Seto admitted in defeat.
"Of course! Bacon cheeseburgers are the best." Jounouchi looked straight at Kaiba. "You know, you really should hang out with all of us once in awhile. We crowd into a booth, and eat crap, and tease each other, and talk about Duel Monsters- that's all stuff you'd like to do."
Seto sighed. "I really don't have time."
"I get it. Kaiba Corp was his, and you've made it yours and now you have to make sure it's always better than what he had, but … what's the point if you don't enjoy life once in awhile, Seto?"
"There you go with the first names again."
"Because I'm trying to show you that I'm being serious." Jounouchi sighed. "You know why they sent me instead of Yugi?"
Seto looked up, honestly curious. "Why?"
"Because I'd do anything for my little sister in the same way you'd do anything for your little brother. Because I know what it's like to have a monster for an old man … because we're a lot alike. Out of everyone in the group, I'm the one that understands you the most."
"What'd … your father …" Seto looked away. He wanted to know, but he realized it was an inappropriate question.
"Mostly get drunk and beat the fuck out of me. Other stuff too, I guess. He liked to remind me every day that I was stupid and worthless and wouldn't amount to anything."
"You're not stupid," Seto said too quickly. He looked away again. "I mean, you lack formal education, but that's not the same."
"Thanks, Seto."
Seto let the first name slide that time. They finished their food, allowing their conversation to slip into Duel Monsters which was a rather safe conversation for them since they both loved high powered dragon cards.
Seto lost track of time, a miracle or a concern, depending on perspective. He noticed the sun setting and stood up.
"It's late."
"Oh, sorry." Katsuya scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. "When I get on a rant about spell cards, I go on forever."
Seto caught himself smiling. "Perhaps, but you're only half the loser you used to be. Not many people can hold a conversation with me on fusions."
Katsuya stood up and took away their trays. "I guess I should walk you back to your office now."
"I think I'll go home, instead. It's late … at this point I might as well turn in, get some sleep, and try to double up on work tomorrow."
Katsuya grinned, his face eternally boyish because he always looked excited. "Mokuba will be glad to hear you took the entire night off."
"Tell him I was fine and this was all unnecessary."
"Yeah, because he'll believe that."
Seto didn't argue because he knew it was true. Katsuya followed Seto out of the restaurant, and down the street. He kept his hands in his pockets while Seto kept his arms crossed around his chest.
"So…" Katsuya began, but didn't finish.
"Yeah?"
"Nothing. Guess I was just trying to fill the dead air." Katsuya shrugged.
Another moment of silence as Seto tried to think of what he wanted to say to fill the dead air.
"You know, you rip on me for not being "normal" but I could say the same for you. My life is normal to me. You're the abnormal one. Have you have owned a tailored suit? Eaten consommé at a French restaurant? Ridden home in a limo?"
"Well, we did ride in your limo that one time, but Mokuba was trying to kill us with that poisoned food game of his."
"He's always been a good little brother." Seto smiled at the memory.
"And then you tried to kill us during Death-T."
"Yeah." Seto's smiled faltered.
"Like, really fucked up man, I had to set a dude on fire."
"Oh please, Yugi used to set people on fire all the time. I've heard some of the stories."
"That was the Other Yugi. Yeah, I guess he was the one that gave me the lighter."
"Hmmm."
There was another pause. Seto had a strange, sinking weight in his stomach. He'd been trying to reach out, and the only good it did was give Jounouchi a chance to shove the past back in Seto's face.
"Holy shit, dude, I'm sorry."
"For what?" Seto glanced at Jounouchi.
"You were trying to ask me on a high-class date, weren't you?"
"Not a date," Seto muttered. "I just thought if you were going to drag me away from work every time Mokuba whined, then next time we'd do something different."
"How about next Friday night?"
Seto pulled out his schedule.
"Why are you even checking that? You know it's crammed full."
"To see if it's re-schedulable or not."
"Oh … and?"
Seto smirked. "I'll send an assistant over to your place Monday morning to get your measurements."
The reached the gate to Seto's mansion. They stood still and stared at the sidewalk for a minute.
"Do you drink coffee?"
"You know, if this were a date, I'd think you were trying to seduce me." Katsuya leaned a little closer, giving Seto a sleepy stare.
"So are you coming or not?"
"Well, not yet." He winked.
Seto rolled his eyes and buzzed a security guard to let them into the gate. They could have gotten a ride to the manor, but Seto figured Katsuya would prefer walking. He bumped Seto's shoulder as they walked in silence. Seto pretended to frown and brush dust from his shirt sleeve which made Katsuya laugh.
They did not go to the parlor for coffee.
Seto dismissed his servants and lead Katsuya straight to his bedroom. The moment the door shut Katsuya had Seto pinned to the door. They fisted the cotton of each other's t-shirts, holding on as they kissed. Seto felt himself growing hard, and hated the tight, uncomfortable way his blue jeans felt, so he ripped off his clothes. Katsuya did the same, and they stumbled towards the bed together.
They continued to kiss, Katsuya latching onto Seto's throat and sucking hard. Seto moaned, but then pushed him away because he didn't want a mark. They grabbed each other's cocks, rubbing them against each other, and gasping as they tried to kiss. Neither mentioned all the little scars the other had; cigarette burns, or corner scars shaped like belt buckles, whip stripes on Seto and jagged, nasty fairy rings that looked like they were caused by broken beer bottles on Katsuya. Maybe one day they'd talk about them. Maybe one day they'd lie in bed and trace gnarled white imperfections and exchange proper stories, but at that moment it was enough that they understood what the scars were, and they didn't have to feel self-conscious because it was a burden they both shared.
Seto grabbed his bottle of lube from a cache hidden in his head board and started prepping Katsuya. After a few moments, Katsuya pushed Seto away and crawled into his lap, impaling himself without prompt or fanfare. He gripped Seto's shoulder for balance with one hand and used the other to tug at Seto's hair like reins.
Seto dug his fingers into Katsuya's waist, helping him bounce up and down a little faster. Their breaths came out in stifled grunts as sweat glazed their brows. Seto shifted, wrapping his arm around Katsuya and freeing up a hand to stroke him. Katsuya's grunts became small whines. He moved faster. Seto buried his face against Katsuya's chest, feeling himself shiver and then come. Katsuya bucked into Seto's closed fist until he spurted onto Seto's stomach.
They sat together, catching their breath. Slowly, Katsuya looked up, staring into Seto's eyes. He gave him an apologetic grin.
"What's with that look?" Seto asked.
"I just don't believe tonight ended like it did."
Seto snorted. "It wasn't because you have good taste in food."
"Yeah?" Katsuya's expression turned into a charming grin. "Then what was it?"
Seto traced some of the bigger scars on Katsuya's belly with his fingertips. He wasn't sure how to put what he wanted to say into words, so instead he grabbed Katsuya's hand, kissed his fingers, and rested them on a round scar on his left pectoral muscle.
"Gozaburo called me into his office. He was smoking a cigar…"
