Otogi's party made Jonouchi want to leave the moment he'd arrived, but he had an obligation to Mokuba and was hoping to spot Kaiba, so he'd stayed. Wearing the business casual clothes he'd been given, Jonouchi stood with Mokuba as he turned Otogi's event into press for himself. Otogi looked utterly pissed about it, but what was he going to do? Nothing, that was what.
Once the cameras left them for the evening, Mokuba went to socialize and likely socially engineer, telling Jonouchi he could go on his merry way. Jonouchi happily did so, glad that he wasn't being watched and directed to pose anymore. No wonder Kaiba avoided the cameras. The blinding flashes had left his vision spotty for a few minutes there.
He wandered the crowd, not even trying to be subtle about the fact that he was looking for Kaiba. Noticing Otogi watching him curiously for a while, Jonouchi bid his time until he was engaged with one of his monkey-suited investors. He didn't want to seem too friendly with Kaiba in public, in case it caused some bad attention for him. Most rumors were harmless, he knew that, but there were some that should be avoided at all times.
Jonouchi had just spotted Kaiba sitting in a corner, drinking. It occurred to him that, regardless of how their conversation went, he would make sure Kaiba got back to his hotel room without trouble. He supposed Mokuba could handle it, but Jonouchi would have far less difficulty carrying him.
He was approaching Kaiba's corner when someone near the area approached, and he saw someone else standing close to him. Kaiba looked cross, his expression more hostile than Jonouchi had seen it in a while. His own eyes narrowed when he realized that it was Kitamura standing before him, smiling just as amiably as ever. Jonouchi bristled, and for a moment his vision went fuzzy, his breath catching as his chest tightened.
He took a few deep breaths, standing still to ensure he didn't launch an assault and get anyone into trouble (himself in particular). It pissed him off beyond all reason to see Kitamura trying to hit on Kaiba, of all people, while he was drinking. He knew Kaiba was smarter than he was and wouldn't be caught dead going anywhere with Kitamura, but that didn't make Kitamura's intentions any less infuriating.
Jonouchi stalked briskly to the corner, and neither Kaiba nor Kitamura noticed him until he was upon them, turning and standing between the two of them. He faced Kitamura, his expression one of barely-contained rage.
"You need to leave," he growled before anyone else could speak, his fists clenching so hard that his knuckles were turning white. Kitamura looked a little surprised, but nowhere near as daunted as he should be.
"I wasn't expecting to see you-"
"Go," Jonouchi almost shouted, leaning into Kitamura's personal space threateningly. His tone seemed to make his anger finally sink in. "Before I make you."
Kitamura stared at him, his eyes wide and lips slightly parted in shock. Then he backed away a couple of steps, removing himself from Jonouchi's arm's reach.
"I see," he replied, seeming more disappointed than anything, "I was hoping you wouldn't be so hostile, Jonouchi. I suppose I know who was on your mind now..."
Jonouchi rolled his eyes. Of course he would bring that up. It only pissed him off more that he talked like he was some ex-lover.
"I don't want to hear it. Get out of here."
Kitamura huffed, then turned and walked into the crowd of people in the room. Jonouchi watched his back until he couldn't see it anymore, paranoid that Kitamura might try to spy on him or turn around and come back. The last thing he wanted was to get hauled off to jail for assaulting him in public. Once Kitamura was out of sight, he turned to Kaiba, who hadn't moved.
"So," he began, not sure what he should say after something like that. At least Kaiba didn't seem mad at him. "How are you doing?"
"I can't feel my face."
"That probably means it's a good time to stop drinking," Jonouchi suggested, sitting beside him on the bench, but not too close. He didn't want to put him off. "I'm sorry he was harassing you."
"It's whatever."
When Jonouchi looked behind him to make sure Kitamura was gone, he ended up spotting Isono watching them from afar, standing towards the far wall. Of course. As if Kaiba could manage to get into any real trouble when his bodyguard was always around.
Kaiba stumbled getting up, putting his hand into his pocket before pulling out a room key and putting it into Jonouchi's hands.
"I can't remember where my room is."
When Jonouchi didn't react right away, he sat back down, finishing the rest of his drink. Kaiba then sighed.
"Jonouchi, take me to bed already."
"I'm sorry for delaying you, your majesty," Jonouchi snickered as he rolled his eyes, but he helped Kaiba stand anyway, guiding him through the room along the walls to the exit, "If only you'd say that when you're sober..."
He got Kaiba into the elevator and let him lean against the wall while he pressed the floor number for the suite. Turning the key in his hand, Jonouchi kept an eye on Kaiba, who was still slumped against the elevator wall.
"Hey, Kaiba? I wanted to apologize for last weekend... for ditching you and drinking all your sake."
He leaned against the elevator wall next to him, partly to ensure he didn't lean over and fall, and partly because it was more comfortable than standing and staring at him.
"I bought more already. You owe me, Jonouchi," Kaiba said as he stumbled when the elevator stopped. Then he immediately tried leaving once the door opened. He made it down the hallway, looking at the numbers on the doors before stopping at one and staring at it for a while.
But it wasn't the right number, and once Jonouchi walked past it, he followed after. "It was premium and you drank all of it."
"I'm sorry," Jonouchi apologized again, "I was being an ass. But I'm more sorry that I didn't leave a note when I left that morning. That wasn't right.
"If you're still hung up about the alcohol, I'll pay you back."
"You don't need to pay me back," Kaiba mumbled, "Just don't disappear like that again..."
Finding the right room, Jonouchi opened the door and walked in with Kaiba's arm slung over his shoulder. He made his way toward the bedroom that had Kaiba's briefcase leaning against the bed. Once he'd deposited Kaiba there, he knelt to help him out of his shoes and socks before turning his legs so he'd lie down.
"I'm going to help you out of your pants," he announced, tugging at one leg, "Don't flip out or anything."
Kaiba was too passive to resist, just lying there stupidly. Jonouchi pulled Kaiba's slacks down his hips, getting absolutely no help from him since he was apparently too drunk to function, and then got to work on his shirt. It took some work, but he managed to get Kaiba's arms out of the sleeves and pull it off over his head after undoing a few buttons.
Then Kaiba laid still, his eyes closed. Jonouchi watched him for a few minutes, and then sighed.
"Well," he mumbled, "I'll see you later. Make sure you sleep on your side."
"You already left me once this week," Kaiba lamented, kicking the covers in Jonouchi's general direction before grumbling, "Don't you dare leave this time."
He rolled onto his stomach and hide his face under a pillow, not looking to see if Jonouchi would bite or not. So dramatic.
"Fine, I'll stay," Jonouchi assured him, lounging against the pillows beside Kaiba; "I didn't think you'd want me around. You probably won't, when you wake up tomorrow, but I guess I'll deal with it."
Better to deal with potential rude awakenings than leave Kaiba drunk and lonely when he so obviously didn't want to be. That would be too fucked up to do, especially since they were friends.
"Don't suffocate yourself," Jonouchi chided, pulling the pillow off of Kaiba's face and immediately meeting blue eyes. Even though they looked a little vacant from the alcohol, they were still mostly sharp. Kaiba was no fool even when he was drunk. He just rambled about pointless crap sometimes and got surprisingly honest about things.
"You know," Jonouchi sighed, pulling off his shoes and socks, "I genuinely want to kill Kitamura now. Think you can bail me out after?"
"You're too good looking for jail..." He snorted, closing his eyes and yawning before laying his head on a pillow.
" I'll take that as a yes, then."
He folded his hands behind his head. He was feeling pretty pleased, actually. Kaiba wasn't pissed with him for the moment, and it looked like they'd be having a sleepover. Maybe if he helped him nurse his hangover in the morning, they'd be fine again.
"I'm moving into a new apartment," Jonouchi continued, wondering if Kaiba was even awake anymore. If he was, he may as well hear some good news. "I'm finally gonna get out of the slums, so that's cool."
"Why did you leave that morning?"
Kaiba opened his eyes, looking at Jonouchi as he peered at him for an answer. The whole thing came out of nowhere. It wasn't like they had a bad time together or even really argued. Just out of nowhere, Jonouchi disappeared and left no note over where he'd gone or why. It wasn't until Kaiba called security did they tell him when he left, and then he got upset over it before trying to distract himself with work.
It was a stupid thing to get bent out of shape over, but still. He didn't get it. They weren't even arguing. Just sleeping in bed together.
"Well," Jonouchi sighed, realizing that he didn't really have a plausible reason. Not one that would make sense to Kaiba, most likely. "I was having shitty dreams and thinking about things that bother me. I ended up wandering into your alcohol stash, and the next morning I woke up early with a hangover and thought it would be a great idea to stumble out of the mansion without leaving a note."
At least he'd had cab fare, otherwise his stupid ass probably would have tried to shuffle all the way back to the city like the most impotent zombie. Maybe it would have made him turn back, but probably not. He wasn't that smart.
"I shouldn't have fucked everything up like that after we had a pretty good night, but yeah. I was being a complete idiot. I won't do that to you again."
"What did you dream about? Were we having sex again?" Kaiba teased. "You should think about something else before you go to sleep, Jonouchi... Like dueling.
"You should think about playing again. It was fun to watch you at the convention, even if that girl was no challenge for you. Even Yugi isn't as interesting to watch as you, he's not that charming, and I think you should at least consider it... Then maybe you'd have something else to think about before falling asleep."
"It's not the sex that upsets me, Kaiba. It's just... it's all too fucking vivid, you know?" Jonouchi complained. "They make waking up disappointing."
Sighing, Jonouchi rolled onto his side and faced Kaiba, who seemed too drunk to get upset about anything. That was fine. He could wait until morning to have Kaiba upset with him.
"It's not just the sex. It's the way the dreams make me feel. Or rather, the way you make me feel in those dreams," complained Jonouchi. "It's so stupid, but it gets to me. I had another dream later on, though. It kind of cheered me up."
"What happened?"
Kaiba lazily closed his eyes before forcing them open again. The alcohol was knocking him out. He was going to pass out soon, but it was already late afternoon. Jonouchi wasn't upset. If he wanted to, there was enough in the room to entertain himself with. Like the tv and laptop Kaiba left out.
"Did you get laid again?" Kaiba implored, a sly grin appearing on his face.
"Ha! No," Jonouchi replied, "It wasn't anything like that. I just finally had some questions answered. It made me feel less insecure, I guess. But also worse about ditching you, though."
He sat up and stripped off his shirt, and then his jeans. It looked like he wasn't going to be doing anything besides sleeping now, since Kaiba was getting steadily further away from consciousness. He didn't feel the need to stay up any longer.
"But Kaiba, really," Jonouchi spoke after lying down again, his face very serious even though Kaiba wasn't looking at him, "I would never try to hurt you. That would be wrong."
"People do it all the time to each other without really trying."
"That's life, though," Jonouchi replied matter-of-factly, "You can't avoid being hurt unless you never get close to anyone at all, and that's no life. You'd miss out on all the good things.
"Even if I did hurt you on accident, I'd be crawling back and begging for forgiveness quicker than you could blink. You know that."
Or, Kaiba should know that, considering past interactions. Jonouchi was always the one who approached to apologize. It didn't matter who started the fight in the first place. He just didn't want them to go on too long, or for the discontentment to seep too deeply.
"Don't be so angsty. I think we'd make a great couple if you were willing to try it out," Jonouchi teased, "It's all waiting on you, buddy."
"That sounds pretty gay," muttered Kaiba, yawning again, "But I guess I'll sleep on it."
"You do that," Jonouchi stretched, noting Kaiba's statement as a cue that he was about to fall asleep, "I'll be there in the morning, I promise."
Jonouchi rolled onto his back, his head turned toward Kaiba. He was still lying on his side, fortunately. It wasn't likely that he'd vomit, but Jonouchi preferred to play it safe. It looked like he'd blacked out completely in just a few short seconds. Snorting, Jonouchi settled in, figuring he should get some sleep before any odd moods settled over him. There would always be more time to talk in the morning.