*internal screaming* Uhhh hi guys! I just realized how long it's been since my last upload, oof. I literally wrote this whole thing today, wow (I had the beginning of a draft going before but I kept changing it and eventually started over :P). Hopefully I'll become more inspired in the near future to write (cause wow the last few months have been DRY), but anyways enjoy! R&R!
"What do you think of this one?" Lydia asked as she handed the young CEO another document.
Kaiba took the paper from her and glanced through the information. "It won't work,"
"I agree. The evidence isn't strong enough for a refuting point."
"Not to mention that the credibility is embarrassingly subpar."
Lydia raised an eyebrow to him. "Weren't you the one who found that article?"
The brunet scoffed. "As if I'd be dumb enough to overlook something so obviously inaccurate,"
"I don't know, I swear you did,"
Kaiba's gaze sharply rose to meet hers. "If I'm not mistaken, the printing ID on this states that it's from the public library, and if I recall, you were the one who gathered research from there,"
"How do I know you didn't go there and just didn't tell me?" She smirked.
"Tch, hardly,"
"I'm only teasing. I guess I was wrong to assume."
"Clearly,"
Lydia shook her head in amusement. "Anyways, what about these?" she asked as she handed him the next set of documents.
He briefly looked over the data. "They'll suffice,"
"Alright, is that everything we have to sort through?"
"It appears so,"
"Great! I guess we can start typing everything together now." She reached into her bag beside her chair and pulled out a laptop. "You finished the outline, right?"
The young CEO nodded as he pulled up the documents on his own desktop. Pulling up the document from her laptop, Lydia saw as the CEO's typing rapidly began to appear on her screen. Her gaze travelled along with his formation of sentences into paragraphs as she tried to keep up with his rapid pace.
"Are you sure you want to start the paper like that?" she asked.
"Excuse me?" Kaiba replied without moving his gaze from his monitor.
"That just seems like a very direct way to open the introduction,"
"The point of a persuasive article is to be as direct as possible," He replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know. I'm just going to rephrase it a bit."
"Hmph, whatever,"
The brunet continued to rapidly type away as Lydia followed his progress. She scanned through the birth of the paragraphs and edited through what she deemed worth it. Moments of silence passed between the duo as their work progressed.
"What does that mean?" Lydia asked once she stopped reading.
"What are you referring to as 'that'?"
"You mentioned something about Solid Vision and its configurations."
"I don't have the time to offer an explanation."
"Why not? I want to know,"
"If you're so desperate to, then you can read the data on it."
Lydia leaned back in her chair and released a deep sigh. "It would just be easier to complete the project if we both understood everything about it."
"Hn, how unfortunate,"
The brunette rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. You're the inventor of the program, why would it be so hard to teach me?"
Kaiba released a low sigh and tore his gaze away from his monitor. He picked up a form from atop the desk and held it out to her. "This should handle the basics,"
"Thanks," she smiled as she received the form from him.
As she read through the file, the young CEO continued on with his typing. His fingers danced across the keyboard filling the air with the sound of methodical clicking. The silence in the room hung densely except for the dull clicking coming from the desktop. Lydia soon nodded as she finished reading the file; at least understanding some basics of the programs complexities would seem to help. Her gaze traveled back to the online document as she watched the words proceed to multiply on the screen. The interworking of the CEO's words began to start to make more sense to her, however, something still felt dull. Perhaps it was the heavy silence that lingered between the two or the dull repetition of the process; she wasn't quite sure.
Lydia lightly cleared her throat. "So…"
"Aren't I allowed to work in peace?" Kaiba snapped.
"I just want to try and lighten the mood is all,"
Kaiba grunted as he returned to typing.
"What's it like owning a company?" she asked suddenly.
"What?"
"It's just a question. We've been so busy with the project the past few weeks that we've never really gotten to know each other."
"Hn, I fail to see the problem here."
"I'm only curious. I never get to ask my family about it with their company."
"Aren't you supposed to be their heiress?" He replied dully.
"Well, sort of, but I h—wait, I don't think I told you that before."
"Please, I do my research on companies I do business with."
"Oh, I see. How much do you know then?"
"Enough,"
"Right… I mean, I am an heiress, but the title of 'Future President' goes to me or one of my cousins. It's a family decision." Kaiba remained silent. "Did you already know that?"
"That much was obvious to figure out without research,"
"Really? What gave it away?"
"Mainly how everything is family-oriented."
Lydia answered with a slow nod. "Is there anything else you want to know about me?"
"Not particularly,"
"Okay, my turn then… What do you like so much about Duel Monsters?"
"Your curiosity is limitless, isn't it?"
Lydia laughed. "I suppose so. I hope that doesn't get me into trouble, you know, like 'curiosity killed the cat'?"
The brunet smirked. "Hmm, how unfortunate of an event,"
"Yeah—wait, did you just smile?"
The corners of the brunet's lips shot down as soon as she spoke.
"You totally just did! I saw it!"
Kaiba brought his gaze away from hers and shifted back to his computer. "Hn, whatever,"
"You have a nice smile,"
"Tch, I appreciate the thought,"
"You're welcome?" She grinned as she raised an eyebrow to him. Was that his way of saying thank you?, she thought. "Anyways, I guess I should stop distracting you, we can get back to work now."
"Well, your attempt at multitasking hasn't proven to be a major distraction, so I'll credit you on being tolerable,"
"Thanks, I guess," she grinned.
The duo soon returned to their paper. They reverted back to silence under the determination of completing their project until they had nearly reached the end. Although just on the cusp of finishing, the duo began to feel accomplished with their progress.
"Should we stop here for today?" Lydia asked.
"Personally, I'd rather finish it now."
"Well, I have to head home soon and I'm sure you have work to do, so maybe we should take a break."
"Perhaps so,"
"Are you available within the next few days?"
"Yes,"
"Great! If it's okay with you, we can meet up then,"
"That sounds good. I'll contact you when to schedule something,"
"Okay,"
Lydia gathered her things into her bag and headed for the door to the office. When she opened it, she was met with the face of a shorter, ebony-haired boy.
"Oh, hi Lydia, I just came in to get Seto." Mokuba smiled. "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I have to leave, but I'll be back soon." Lydia replied as she passed through the doorway past him, before turning back around. "Oh, Kaiba?"
"What?"
"You should smile more often."
The brunet didn't reply as he merely watched her leave.
"It was nice seeing you, Mokuba!" She waved as she faded down the hallway.
The ebony-haired boy closed the door behind him and turned towards his sibling. "What was that about, Bro?"
"It's nothing, Mokuba,"
Mokuba gave his brother a skeptical look. "That didn't seem like nothing,"
"Nothing happened,"
"Well, you seem to be in a less bad mood than usual. You two must be getting along,"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Are you finally going to open up to other people now?"
"I don't know what you're talking about,"
"Yes, you do! You're always alone and never spend time with anybody, let alone me. Whatever happened to being friends with Yugi and everyone else?"
"I was never friends with those dweebs,"
"You just don't want to admit it, Seto. I'm tired of seeing you waste away in your office; it's time you started making friends."
"I don't need friends,"
"That's what you always say," Mokuba pouted. He sighed before looking back to his brother. "Do you like her?"
"What?" The brunet snapped.
"Do you like-like her?"
"Tch, don't be ridiculous, I don't have time to waste on a silly thing like romance."
Mokuba shook his head. "Whatever you say, idiot,"