Aria: *blinks* Whoa. How the heck did I get so many reviews? *sniffs* I love you guys!
Bakura: That doesn't mean you have to hug ME, you twit.
Aria: Um...right. Sorry Bakura. So, I honor of my faithful reviewers, and 'cause I kinda wanted to do it anyway, there will be Seto/Jou fluffiness in this chapter. Also slight lime, although only by implication. Okay? Okay.
To my reviewers:
Animom: Sorry I wasn't there to get your IM...I'm glad you like my story! Thanks for your great review! I've always wondered what Joey thinks in his deepest secret mind...I guess this is one way to find out.
Yami Hoshiko: *blush* You're way too kind. I'm happy you enjoy my story. I felt bad for Kaiba too, but it's gotta happen. Here's your update!
Angel: All will be explained. And Kaiba doesn't die (I'm not THAT angsty!), and there WILL be fluff. ^_^;;
Oklina: I know, I feel kinda bad about all the trouble I'm putting Kaiba through, but the boy's gotta learn sometime he can't take on everything by himself. And I personally think Joey is an even better saviour figure than Kaiba.
Keira Maxwell: Hurrah for Seto and Jou! Thanks for the great review. I'm glad you like the difference.
Coley Carissa: Poor Kaiba indeed...but I think Joey may be able to help him out. ^_^
Chibiusaxoxox: Bwahahah! Yay for evil cliffhangers...I'm honored you like this so much. Hope this chapter meets expectations.
Emme1: Wow! *blush* I'm really flattered you like my story so much. Keep reading! It's going to get even better! And this chappie's mostly from Joey's POV, so we get even more of a look inside his head.
LetheSeraph: Hey, good to see you again! And thanks for the fantastic review...I'm really glad you like it so much. Keep watching "Secrets of a Rose" too...I'm working on a new chapter for that one as well.
Dillon: Hey man. I just want to say thanks---I get a lot of encouragement from you and your menagerie...by the way, I DID join A_Dragon's_Lair. It's way cool. Thanks for letting me know about it! So, yeah. New chapter, and this one has even MORE imagery. Seeing a pattern yet?
Tammi1: Thanks for the review! Yes, Kaiba's in trouble, but Joey saves the day? We hope.
Joey: Come on, I'm TOTALLY up for it.
Kaiba: You put my life in HIS hands? -_-;;
Aria: um...Ok, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Clearly. Not that I haven't tried...
RESCUE
Chapter 5
Heat
Joey stared in amazement at the limp figure in his arms.
"...Kaiba..."
He'd dragged Tristan out of school kicking and screaming.
"Come on, man," Tristan shouted, trying to free his arm from Joey's grip, with little success. "I was just joking. We can't go looking for Kaiba, Joey."
He'd turned and glared at his friend, releasing him and folding his arms across his chest. "And why not?"
"Um..." Tristan looked around vaguely and rubbed the back of his head and hazarded a guess. "We have school?"
His arm was grabbed again, and Joey rolled his eyes as he pulled his friend along. "You can't do better than that? 'We have school'. Honestly."
Tristan struggled, and Joey lost his grip for a minute, his fingers lost purchase and Tristan stood up to look at him quizzically. "Why's this so important to you?"
Joey thought about it, although he tried to not think TOO hard about it. If he did that, he might come up with the truth---might have to face the flashing images and waves of heat that rushed through his mind and body when he thought about that pair of cool blue eyes, those slim pale hands. A flicker of uncomfortable longing flashed through the edge of his mind, and he felt the familiar heat start to rise up his spine while he wondered why it felt so necessary to find the self-centered prick. He shivered a little, and, through a supreme effort of will banished a sudden glaring image of Kaiba's hand running through his silky brown hair and then falling softly back to his desk. So he thought about it, and tried not to think about it, and ended up even more confused than when he began. He swallowed, hard, and decided to go with the least dangerous and most obvious option.
"Remember yesterday, when I told you how freaked out he was about somethin'?" Tristan nodded, and smiled, but Joey held up a warning hand. "NOT the time for a wisecrack, buddy. Anyway, just think about it for a second...yesterday something freaks Kaiba out---Kaiba---and he leaves school early because of it, and today he's not even at school. You don't think there's something a little weird about that?"
He could tell Tristan was thinking about it, and he almost grinned. Of course Tristan would have gone no matter what...that's what buddies did. He always had Joey's back.
And if Tristan had been party to some of those rationalizations that had flitted through Joey's head the moment before, he'd still have come. Oh yes, he'd still have come all right, laughing all the way at Joey the puppy and his little fantasies. So Joey didn't think too hard about his rationalizations, because he was uneasily aware, on some level, that rationale didn't have a lot to do with it. Instead, flashes of flickering coats and blue eyes and cold winds flitted through his mind, underneath the conscious will---that deep dark place and it's deepest, darkest dreams.
But he didn't think about this. Instead he clapped Tristan on the back and grinned at him. "Come on," he said. "I know you're a sucker for a pretty face like mine. Can you really say 'no' to this?" He looked at his friend with the biggest, saddest eyes he could muster, and Tristan glanced down and laughed.
"Puppy dog eyes to save Kaiba," he said. "How perfect." He backed off, laughing, as Joey came at him with clenched fists and a mock growl. "Okay, okay," he laughed, cowering in mock submission. "You win. Let's go. But you owe me."
"I'll put in a good word for you with Serenity," Joey growled, feeling a weight lift from his body. Tristan grinned widely.
"So what's the plan, then?"
Joey ran a hand through his hair distractedly. Good thing he'd already gotten Tristan's promise to help. "I don't really know," he admitted sheepishly. Tristan sighed.
"Surprisingly, Boy Wonder hasn't thought things through. AGAIN. C'mon Joey, let's get my bike and start looking."
Joey nodded. "I can only think of two places where he might be," he said as they walked over to Tristan's motorcycle. "It's gotta be either KaibaCorp or his house, right?"
Tristan shrugged and handed Joey a helmet. "Sounds about right. I'll check out the KaibaCorp building and drop you off at the house on my way." Joey nodded, and they took off.
And so he'd stood at the gate of the mansion, fighting intimidation as Tristan waved and sped away, wondering how he was going to get in. He didn't know if there was anyone at the Kaiba mansion during the day, or if they'd let him in if there were.
He looked around helplessly, taking in the pristine green velvety lawn, the red brick mansion, the wrought-iron gates, the driveway where the sleek black limousine sat in a small pool of water, clearly having just been washed.
Joey grinned, walked over to the car, past it, and right through the door he'd suspected would be there, waving to the chauffeur, who sat reading a dog-eared paperback novel in his shirtsleeves, on his way in.
And promptly got lost.
The house was so big and silent, silent with a hum that fazed through his eardrums and soaked through the hallways, which were padded with rich, thick carpets in velvety deep reds and blues and greens against the gleaming wood paneling. He walked softly through the halls, peeking cautiously into the rooms one at a time, opening the doors an inch or two and them closing them gently again. Library, billiard room, study, living room...the list went on and on as his shoes whispered against the thick carpets and his heart thundered in his chest, pushing blood through his body at an incredible rate. Finally being there, in Kaiba's house, was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time---he found himself wondering, vaguely, what would happen if Kaiba was fine, if he was caught wandering around the house, if he'd be arrested, if he'd be sued, if Kaiba would hate him even more...
So thinking, he'd stumbled across a hall that smelled slightly of tangy chlorine and, curious, he'd wandered down it until his feet met with tile and he went through a door to be surrounded by cool air and the tangy smell of chlorine and the sight of Kaiba lying huddled on the cold wet tiles shaking like wet kitten---a cold, wet, vulnerable kitten and he ran over to him, pulled him halfway up until he was resting in Joey's arms, half on his lap and half still on the cold tiles.
Joey stared in amazement at the limp figure in his arms, still shaking like a leaf, and with an unhealthy blue tinge to his fair skin. This close he could see every detail of eyebrow and mouth, could see the delicate translucent skin that he'd somehow never really noticed before. He felt at Kaiba's face for some sign of heat and was taken aback by how soft the skin of his cheek and forehead was.
"...Kaiba..."
The blue eyes were cracked open just slightly, but they didn't seem to be seeing him---rather, they saw through him and past him to some other figure standing right behind Joey, to the extent that he almost wanted to turn around and look himself, even though he knew no one was there.
He tried again.
"Kaiba? Kaiba, are you okay?" Stupid question, the rational part of his mind thought, almost with amusement. Clearly he's not okay. I mean, look at that skin color...not that blue isn't a good color for you, Kaiba.
The blue eyes blinked, trying to clear away confusion. He felt cold from Kaiba's body seeping insidiously into his own warm body, and it scared him to feel that iciness, like a physical representation of Kaiba's own cool personality---but this was deadly, this was ice beyond anything Kaiba ever did or could control.
"Kaiba," he said. The blue eyes closed. He felt a moment's desperation, hesitated, and then said it, feeling the slight weight of the word in his mouth, the way his lips moved, the taste of the name. "Seto...?"
The boy in his arms was still shivering, but he jolted suddenly at this, and one eye opened slightly, blurry with chlorine and cold. He took courage from the reaction.
"Se-seto. Seto, you need to warm up---I need to warm you up. Seto, do you understand me?"
He stared at Joey in confusion. Warm, What could he possibly mean? He was perfectly warm. Wasn't his skin burning? Why did everything feel so cold if he wasn't warm?
Joey shook him slightly---he felt the motion as through a down comforter, muffled and slow. "Say something!"
He opened his mouth for a biting comment, something to make the mutt take back this suddenly commanding tone, run from his house and never come back, something, anything to prove he was fine, he was, and then honey-clear eyes locked into him, burning fingers gripped his frozen arms. Warm.
Oh God.
"Oh God Je-je-Joey I'm frozen I'm dying..." I'm dying I'm so cold so cold so so so---
"Hell. Oh hell. Let's see..." He felt his body being slid gently back to the floor, felt the absence of those warm hands and the pressure of a warm body as he would feel his own soul being ripped away. He said nothing.
Joey ran around the pool, looking for a towel, a robe, anything to wrap Kaiba up in until he could think of something to do. He found a thick blue towel hanging neatly on a peg by the shower, and ripped it off with more force than he would have expected before running back to Kaiba's prone figure and wrapping him none too gently in the towel. That done, he sat back and ran a distracted hand through his hair.
"Hell. Oh hell." He glanced down at the figure before him, noted the blue tinge to the skin, the shaking muscles. He shook his head. "Hypothermia, you stupid rich bastard. You've gone and gotten hypothermia and what am I gonna do about it?"
He was talking to himself, Kaiba thought, but he tried to pay attention, tried to listen all the same but all he could feel were those burning fingers, and all he could do was watch Joey's eyes dart back and forth nervously, and wonder when they stopped suddenly at a point far above his own prone body. He could practically see the gears ticking along inside Joey's head, and wished he could grin, wished he could make some remark about the mutt's thought processes, or lack thereof. He was mildly surprised to find, then, that Joey's mouth was still moving, that words still fell from him and swirled around and inside Kaiba's head. He was still talking? Why? Words fell on him like frozen drops, glittering off the shell of ice that enclosed him, and was surprised when he was roughly hauled to his feet, supported against Joey's warm frame.
He tried to listen.
"---if this works, you don't kill me for it later, how about?" They were walking, Kaiba pushed along with Joey's own body, following the other's momentum. "Look, I'm sorry but I have to---" What could he conceivably be saying? He was being leaned gently against a cold tile wall, and he collapsed against it gratefully, but then panic flared through him as that heat, that warmth, moved away, he was moving away...
"Joey!" It ripped out of him, that name, shredded his throat and lungs and mind and self as he said it, screamed it, dreamed it, laughed it hated it loved it.
His eyes widened, slightly, as something deep inside him flared and that icy conscious mind that wouldn't recognize whose arms were in his dream struggled to regain control. He wanted desperately to take refuge in his old taunts, wanted desperately to drive Joey away, wanted so desperately to feel the old cold anger rise up to defend himself but he couldn't, he wouldn't.
Joey didn't see that struggle, his back was turned and he was fiddling with something on the wall...the thermostat. He muttered a curse under his breath and turned it up further, further. He hesitated, and turned back. He didn't look at Kaiba, but his brown eyes held a strange, secretive look to them that he didn't recognize.
Was that---shame?
"Look, I'm sorry Kaiba. But I have to---you---you're frozen. I have to---don't---don't---don't be mad." Gentle hands gripped his arms, warm honey eyes looked deep into his own, and then one hand moved, twisted, and Kaiba felt the individual drops of hot water as they hit his head, his face, his body.
Joey checked the temperature. Warm, but not too hot...it wouldn't burn Kaiba's delicate skin, wouldn't heat him up too quickly. He felt the water rain down on his hands, still gripping Kaiba's arms for dear life, and he felt the shiver of muscles underneath his fingers. He watched the skin of Kaiba's chest shudder and pucker at the change of temperature, watched the rivers of water stream down over lean muscle and flood over his body.
Warmth.
It felt alien and raw and sweet and coppery against his body, against his skin, so waxy cold, and he closed his eyes, tilted his face into the rushing water. He could feel himself thawing, could feel that deadly ice begin to melt, his blood begin to flow, his skin begin to warm. Hot water ran in streams over his body, down his back and legs, warming him back to life. He felt Joey's fingers change purchase slightly on his arms, and he wondered how much of his weight Joey was supporting. It felt like a lot. It felt like he would fall if Joey let him go---fall down and out and into the wind and the steaming water...
He lowered his head and opened his eyes, reveling in the creaky movement of his muscles, reviving in the warmth of the water, in the warmth that flooded from Joey's living breathing body to his own. He felt the water as warm fingers trailing down his chest, as warm eyes following the trails of the fingers, and he shivered deliciously, noting how the water soaked Joey's shirt and plastered it against his body, how it ran lovingly through his shaggy golden hair. A stream of water flooded down his back and he felt it slid in a hot river across his skin.
Hotter.
Joey could feel fingers of water running over his eyes from his soaking hair, felt them hot against his face, felt his shirt grow heavy and warm, watched as his skin and Kaiba's began to pink from the heat of the water. The heat---he breathed in warm steam and let it slide out slowly---was it getting warmer? He glanced at the temperature. It hadn't moved, and yet the water that was streaming down definitely felt warmer---hotter---he watched it flow down his hands, streaming down Kaiba's arms and dripping off his fingers. He swallowed hard, the water suddenly burning against his skin.
Hotter.
It felt so good, this warmth against his skin, the weight of Joey's hands on his arms, this feeling---so liberating---of being this close to someone and feeling hot water rushing down his neck and back and chest---hotter---his skin began to pink and steam swirled around them---hotter---he looked up and met Joey's eyes.
He burned. The water was hot---too hot---he was burning and he couldn't break away, like that moment in the hall yesterday when Joey had stopped him. He couldn't move---he burned---he desperately wanted to move. It was physically impossible, and yet this heat was swallowing him whole. He felt the water as fingers through his hair, playing with the heavy mass of it and then trickling down over his face, tracing every line of his eyebrow and jaw, tasting his skin like a kiss. Joey's fingers felt branded, soldered, welded to his arms---they burned, he would burn---
And then the heat spread through him, from his skin to his center, from his head and eyes and mouth to his chest, his back, his stomach, his legs and toes, and he held it within himself and marveled at the feeling. He was held by the serious clear eyes before him---he stared levelly back into them, suddenly realizing where he was, surfacing from his iced-over state and recognizing with dread that he was standing, soaked and trembling, in the shower with Joey Wheeler. He straightened. Joey let go of his arms, and the water temperature immediately dropped. How could he have thought it would burn? It was barely hot---just past warm.
Nothing special.
He watched in silence as Joey ran a hand through his mass of heavy, wet hair and tried to think of something---anything---to say. Something biting, something demeaning, something clever and original---something, anything to protect himself from this awkwardness, but found himself silent as Joey turned and walked away, searching for something.
He didn't see the struggle that Joey was having with himself for control---that deep dark place inside him was moving uncomfortably in the back of his mind, and he didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think about how warm water had steamed and bubbled and grown hotter as it touched his skin---Kaiba's skin...he sighed, and then realized he was looking right at what he'd been searching for...a few more thick towels. He plucked them up and brought them over, still carefully not thinking. He didn't meet Kaiba's eyes as he shut off the water and handed him a one towel, then started toweling himself dry with the other, shaking out his heavy wet hair---but he stopped when he noticed that Kaiba still hadn't moved. The guy still looked pretty shell-shocked, so Joey moved forward, took the towel and draped it around his shoulders. He though briefly about trying to towel that silky brown hair dry, but decided against it and just wrapped him as best he could---and felt a jolt of heat when he accidentally brushed some bare skin at his shoulder.
Kaiba shivered, and for a bright clear rational second he looked up and met those honey-clear eyes and Joey felt again those fingers running down his cheek and over his skin and he opened his mouth to say something---anything---something bold, something stupid, something to drive away that ridiculous frightened look in Kaiba's eyes when he heard pounding steps down the hallway and the chauffeur came running in with Tristan close behind.
He blinked and stepped away, aware on some level that something important had just happened and been missed, but more immediately relieved to have someone break into this.
So he almost didn't notice when Kaiba collapsed.
Aria: ...Wow. What a strange, fun, weird chapter. I hope you all liked reading it as much as I liked writing it...what you probably should know is that this scene is the basis for the entire story. I wanted to write a scene where they're in the shower together, and yet not romantically involved, so there's no interaction except for Joey's hands on Kaiba's arms...yet there's so much attraction between them that they feel it as heat, and as hot water, and they feel the water as the caresses they really want. So...yeah. The next will take a while to write, I'll try to get it out soon, by the end of next week at the latest---I know, I know, another cliff-hanger. Well, if you leave me a really nice review, it might inspire me to put the next chapter up sooner! Hope you enjoyed!
Bakura: That doesn't mean you have to hug ME, you twit.
Aria: Um...right. Sorry Bakura. So, I honor of my faithful reviewers, and 'cause I kinda wanted to do it anyway, there will be Seto/Jou fluffiness in this chapter. Also slight lime, although only by implication. Okay? Okay.
To my reviewers:
Animom: Sorry I wasn't there to get your IM...I'm glad you like my story! Thanks for your great review! I've always wondered what Joey thinks in his deepest secret mind...I guess this is one way to find out.
Yami Hoshiko: *blush* You're way too kind. I'm happy you enjoy my story. I felt bad for Kaiba too, but it's gotta happen. Here's your update!
Angel: All will be explained. And Kaiba doesn't die (I'm not THAT angsty!), and there WILL be fluff. ^_^;;
Oklina: I know, I feel kinda bad about all the trouble I'm putting Kaiba through, but the boy's gotta learn sometime he can't take on everything by himself. And I personally think Joey is an even better saviour figure than Kaiba.
Keira Maxwell: Hurrah for Seto and Jou! Thanks for the great review. I'm glad you like the difference.
Coley Carissa: Poor Kaiba indeed...but I think Joey may be able to help him out. ^_^
Chibiusaxoxox: Bwahahah! Yay for evil cliffhangers...I'm honored you like this so much. Hope this chapter meets expectations.
Emme1: Wow! *blush* I'm really flattered you like my story so much. Keep reading! It's going to get even better! And this chappie's mostly from Joey's POV, so we get even more of a look inside his head.
LetheSeraph: Hey, good to see you again! And thanks for the fantastic review...I'm really glad you like it so much. Keep watching "Secrets of a Rose" too...I'm working on a new chapter for that one as well.
Dillon: Hey man. I just want to say thanks---I get a lot of encouragement from you and your menagerie...by the way, I DID join A_Dragon's_Lair. It's way cool. Thanks for letting me know about it! So, yeah. New chapter, and this one has even MORE imagery. Seeing a pattern yet?
Tammi1: Thanks for the review! Yes, Kaiba's in trouble, but Joey saves the day? We hope.
Joey: Come on, I'm TOTALLY up for it.
Kaiba: You put my life in HIS hands? -_-;;
Aria: um...Ok, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Clearly. Not that I haven't tried...
RESCUE
Chapter 5
Heat
Joey stared in amazement at the limp figure in his arms.
"...Kaiba..."
He'd dragged Tristan out of school kicking and screaming.
"Come on, man," Tristan shouted, trying to free his arm from Joey's grip, with little success. "I was just joking. We can't go looking for Kaiba, Joey."
He'd turned and glared at his friend, releasing him and folding his arms across his chest. "And why not?"
"Um..." Tristan looked around vaguely and rubbed the back of his head and hazarded a guess. "We have school?"
His arm was grabbed again, and Joey rolled his eyes as he pulled his friend along. "You can't do better than that? 'We have school'. Honestly."
Tristan struggled, and Joey lost his grip for a minute, his fingers lost purchase and Tristan stood up to look at him quizzically. "Why's this so important to you?"
Joey thought about it, although he tried to not think TOO hard about it. If he did that, he might come up with the truth---might have to face the flashing images and waves of heat that rushed through his mind and body when he thought about that pair of cool blue eyes, those slim pale hands. A flicker of uncomfortable longing flashed through the edge of his mind, and he felt the familiar heat start to rise up his spine while he wondered why it felt so necessary to find the self-centered prick. He shivered a little, and, through a supreme effort of will banished a sudden glaring image of Kaiba's hand running through his silky brown hair and then falling softly back to his desk. So he thought about it, and tried not to think about it, and ended up even more confused than when he began. He swallowed, hard, and decided to go with the least dangerous and most obvious option.
"Remember yesterday, when I told you how freaked out he was about somethin'?" Tristan nodded, and smiled, but Joey held up a warning hand. "NOT the time for a wisecrack, buddy. Anyway, just think about it for a second...yesterday something freaks Kaiba out---Kaiba---and he leaves school early because of it, and today he's not even at school. You don't think there's something a little weird about that?"
He could tell Tristan was thinking about it, and he almost grinned. Of course Tristan would have gone no matter what...that's what buddies did. He always had Joey's back.
And if Tristan had been party to some of those rationalizations that had flitted through Joey's head the moment before, he'd still have come. Oh yes, he'd still have come all right, laughing all the way at Joey the puppy and his little fantasies. So Joey didn't think too hard about his rationalizations, because he was uneasily aware, on some level, that rationale didn't have a lot to do with it. Instead, flashes of flickering coats and blue eyes and cold winds flitted through his mind, underneath the conscious will---that deep dark place and it's deepest, darkest dreams.
But he didn't think about this. Instead he clapped Tristan on the back and grinned at him. "Come on," he said. "I know you're a sucker for a pretty face like mine. Can you really say 'no' to this?" He looked at his friend with the biggest, saddest eyes he could muster, and Tristan glanced down and laughed.
"Puppy dog eyes to save Kaiba," he said. "How perfect." He backed off, laughing, as Joey came at him with clenched fists and a mock growl. "Okay, okay," he laughed, cowering in mock submission. "You win. Let's go. But you owe me."
"I'll put in a good word for you with Serenity," Joey growled, feeling a weight lift from his body. Tristan grinned widely.
"So what's the plan, then?"
Joey ran a hand through his hair distractedly. Good thing he'd already gotten Tristan's promise to help. "I don't really know," he admitted sheepishly. Tristan sighed.
"Surprisingly, Boy Wonder hasn't thought things through. AGAIN. C'mon Joey, let's get my bike and start looking."
Joey nodded. "I can only think of two places where he might be," he said as they walked over to Tristan's motorcycle. "It's gotta be either KaibaCorp or his house, right?"
Tristan shrugged and handed Joey a helmet. "Sounds about right. I'll check out the KaibaCorp building and drop you off at the house on my way." Joey nodded, and they took off.
And so he'd stood at the gate of the mansion, fighting intimidation as Tristan waved and sped away, wondering how he was going to get in. He didn't know if there was anyone at the Kaiba mansion during the day, or if they'd let him in if there were.
He looked around helplessly, taking in the pristine green velvety lawn, the red brick mansion, the wrought-iron gates, the driveway where the sleek black limousine sat in a small pool of water, clearly having just been washed.
Joey grinned, walked over to the car, past it, and right through the door he'd suspected would be there, waving to the chauffeur, who sat reading a dog-eared paperback novel in his shirtsleeves, on his way in.
And promptly got lost.
The house was so big and silent, silent with a hum that fazed through his eardrums and soaked through the hallways, which were padded with rich, thick carpets in velvety deep reds and blues and greens against the gleaming wood paneling. He walked softly through the halls, peeking cautiously into the rooms one at a time, opening the doors an inch or two and them closing them gently again. Library, billiard room, study, living room...the list went on and on as his shoes whispered against the thick carpets and his heart thundered in his chest, pushing blood through his body at an incredible rate. Finally being there, in Kaiba's house, was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time---he found himself wondering, vaguely, what would happen if Kaiba was fine, if he was caught wandering around the house, if he'd be arrested, if he'd be sued, if Kaiba would hate him even more...
So thinking, he'd stumbled across a hall that smelled slightly of tangy chlorine and, curious, he'd wandered down it until his feet met with tile and he went through a door to be surrounded by cool air and the tangy smell of chlorine and the sight of Kaiba lying huddled on the cold wet tiles shaking like wet kitten---a cold, wet, vulnerable kitten and he ran over to him, pulled him halfway up until he was resting in Joey's arms, half on his lap and half still on the cold tiles.
Joey stared in amazement at the limp figure in his arms, still shaking like a leaf, and with an unhealthy blue tinge to his fair skin. This close he could see every detail of eyebrow and mouth, could see the delicate translucent skin that he'd somehow never really noticed before. He felt at Kaiba's face for some sign of heat and was taken aback by how soft the skin of his cheek and forehead was.
"...Kaiba..."
The blue eyes were cracked open just slightly, but they didn't seem to be seeing him---rather, they saw through him and past him to some other figure standing right behind Joey, to the extent that he almost wanted to turn around and look himself, even though he knew no one was there.
He tried again.
"Kaiba? Kaiba, are you okay?" Stupid question, the rational part of his mind thought, almost with amusement. Clearly he's not okay. I mean, look at that skin color...not that blue isn't a good color for you, Kaiba.
The blue eyes blinked, trying to clear away confusion. He felt cold from Kaiba's body seeping insidiously into his own warm body, and it scared him to feel that iciness, like a physical representation of Kaiba's own cool personality---but this was deadly, this was ice beyond anything Kaiba ever did or could control.
"Kaiba," he said. The blue eyes closed. He felt a moment's desperation, hesitated, and then said it, feeling the slight weight of the word in his mouth, the way his lips moved, the taste of the name. "Seto...?"
The boy in his arms was still shivering, but he jolted suddenly at this, and one eye opened slightly, blurry with chlorine and cold. He took courage from the reaction.
"Se-seto. Seto, you need to warm up---I need to warm you up. Seto, do you understand me?"
He stared at Joey in confusion. Warm, What could he possibly mean? He was perfectly warm. Wasn't his skin burning? Why did everything feel so cold if he wasn't warm?
Joey shook him slightly---he felt the motion as through a down comforter, muffled and slow. "Say something!"
He opened his mouth for a biting comment, something to make the mutt take back this suddenly commanding tone, run from his house and never come back, something, anything to prove he was fine, he was, and then honey-clear eyes locked into him, burning fingers gripped his frozen arms. Warm.
Oh God.
"Oh God Je-je-Joey I'm frozen I'm dying..." I'm dying I'm so cold so cold so so so---
"Hell. Oh hell. Let's see..." He felt his body being slid gently back to the floor, felt the absence of those warm hands and the pressure of a warm body as he would feel his own soul being ripped away. He said nothing.
Joey ran around the pool, looking for a towel, a robe, anything to wrap Kaiba up in until he could think of something to do. He found a thick blue towel hanging neatly on a peg by the shower, and ripped it off with more force than he would have expected before running back to Kaiba's prone figure and wrapping him none too gently in the towel. That done, he sat back and ran a distracted hand through his hair.
"Hell. Oh hell." He glanced down at the figure before him, noted the blue tinge to the skin, the shaking muscles. He shook his head. "Hypothermia, you stupid rich bastard. You've gone and gotten hypothermia and what am I gonna do about it?"
He was talking to himself, Kaiba thought, but he tried to pay attention, tried to listen all the same but all he could feel were those burning fingers, and all he could do was watch Joey's eyes dart back and forth nervously, and wonder when they stopped suddenly at a point far above his own prone body. He could practically see the gears ticking along inside Joey's head, and wished he could grin, wished he could make some remark about the mutt's thought processes, or lack thereof. He was mildly surprised to find, then, that Joey's mouth was still moving, that words still fell from him and swirled around and inside Kaiba's head. He was still talking? Why? Words fell on him like frozen drops, glittering off the shell of ice that enclosed him, and was surprised when he was roughly hauled to his feet, supported against Joey's warm frame.
He tried to listen.
"---if this works, you don't kill me for it later, how about?" They were walking, Kaiba pushed along with Joey's own body, following the other's momentum. "Look, I'm sorry but I have to---" What could he conceivably be saying? He was being leaned gently against a cold tile wall, and he collapsed against it gratefully, but then panic flared through him as that heat, that warmth, moved away, he was moving away...
"Joey!" It ripped out of him, that name, shredded his throat and lungs and mind and self as he said it, screamed it, dreamed it, laughed it hated it loved it.
His eyes widened, slightly, as something deep inside him flared and that icy conscious mind that wouldn't recognize whose arms were in his dream struggled to regain control. He wanted desperately to take refuge in his old taunts, wanted desperately to drive Joey away, wanted so desperately to feel the old cold anger rise up to defend himself but he couldn't, he wouldn't.
Joey didn't see that struggle, his back was turned and he was fiddling with something on the wall...the thermostat. He muttered a curse under his breath and turned it up further, further. He hesitated, and turned back. He didn't look at Kaiba, but his brown eyes held a strange, secretive look to them that he didn't recognize.
Was that---shame?
"Look, I'm sorry Kaiba. But I have to---you---you're frozen. I have to---don't---don't---don't be mad." Gentle hands gripped his arms, warm honey eyes looked deep into his own, and then one hand moved, twisted, and Kaiba felt the individual drops of hot water as they hit his head, his face, his body.
Joey checked the temperature. Warm, but not too hot...it wouldn't burn Kaiba's delicate skin, wouldn't heat him up too quickly. He felt the water rain down on his hands, still gripping Kaiba's arms for dear life, and he felt the shiver of muscles underneath his fingers. He watched the skin of Kaiba's chest shudder and pucker at the change of temperature, watched the rivers of water stream down over lean muscle and flood over his body.
Warmth.
It felt alien and raw and sweet and coppery against his body, against his skin, so waxy cold, and he closed his eyes, tilted his face into the rushing water. He could feel himself thawing, could feel that deadly ice begin to melt, his blood begin to flow, his skin begin to warm. Hot water ran in streams over his body, down his back and legs, warming him back to life. He felt Joey's fingers change purchase slightly on his arms, and he wondered how much of his weight Joey was supporting. It felt like a lot. It felt like he would fall if Joey let him go---fall down and out and into the wind and the steaming water...
He lowered his head and opened his eyes, reveling in the creaky movement of his muscles, reviving in the warmth of the water, in the warmth that flooded from Joey's living breathing body to his own. He felt the water as warm fingers trailing down his chest, as warm eyes following the trails of the fingers, and he shivered deliciously, noting how the water soaked Joey's shirt and plastered it against his body, how it ran lovingly through his shaggy golden hair. A stream of water flooded down his back and he felt it slid in a hot river across his skin.
Hotter.
Joey could feel fingers of water running over his eyes from his soaking hair, felt them hot against his face, felt his shirt grow heavy and warm, watched as his skin and Kaiba's began to pink from the heat of the water. The heat---he breathed in warm steam and let it slide out slowly---was it getting warmer? He glanced at the temperature. It hadn't moved, and yet the water that was streaming down definitely felt warmer---hotter---he watched it flow down his hands, streaming down Kaiba's arms and dripping off his fingers. He swallowed hard, the water suddenly burning against his skin.
Hotter.
It felt so good, this warmth against his skin, the weight of Joey's hands on his arms, this feeling---so liberating---of being this close to someone and feeling hot water rushing down his neck and back and chest---hotter---his skin began to pink and steam swirled around them---hotter---he looked up and met Joey's eyes.
He burned. The water was hot---too hot---he was burning and he couldn't break away, like that moment in the hall yesterday when Joey had stopped him. He couldn't move---he burned---he desperately wanted to move. It was physically impossible, and yet this heat was swallowing him whole. He felt the water as fingers through his hair, playing with the heavy mass of it and then trickling down over his face, tracing every line of his eyebrow and jaw, tasting his skin like a kiss. Joey's fingers felt branded, soldered, welded to his arms---they burned, he would burn---
And then the heat spread through him, from his skin to his center, from his head and eyes and mouth to his chest, his back, his stomach, his legs and toes, and he held it within himself and marveled at the feeling. He was held by the serious clear eyes before him---he stared levelly back into them, suddenly realizing where he was, surfacing from his iced-over state and recognizing with dread that he was standing, soaked and trembling, in the shower with Joey Wheeler. He straightened. Joey let go of his arms, and the water temperature immediately dropped. How could he have thought it would burn? It was barely hot---just past warm.
Nothing special.
He watched in silence as Joey ran a hand through his mass of heavy, wet hair and tried to think of something---anything---to say. Something biting, something demeaning, something clever and original---something, anything to protect himself from this awkwardness, but found himself silent as Joey turned and walked away, searching for something.
He didn't see the struggle that Joey was having with himself for control---that deep dark place inside him was moving uncomfortably in the back of his mind, and he didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think about how warm water had steamed and bubbled and grown hotter as it touched his skin---Kaiba's skin...he sighed, and then realized he was looking right at what he'd been searching for...a few more thick towels. He plucked them up and brought them over, still carefully not thinking. He didn't meet Kaiba's eyes as he shut off the water and handed him a one towel, then started toweling himself dry with the other, shaking out his heavy wet hair---but he stopped when he noticed that Kaiba still hadn't moved. The guy still looked pretty shell-shocked, so Joey moved forward, took the towel and draped it around his shoulders. He though briefly about trying to towel that silky brown hair dry, but decided against it and just wrapped him as best he could---and felt a jolt of heat when he accidentally brushed some bare skin at his shoulder.
Kaiba shivered, and for a bright clear rational second he looked up and met those honey-clear eyes and Joey felt again those fingers running down his cheek and over his skin and he opened his mouth to say something---anything---something bold, something stupid, something to drive away that ridiculous frightened look in Kaiba's eyes when he heard pounding steps down the hallway and the chauffeur came running in with Tristan close behind.
He blinked and stepped away, aware on some level that something important had just happened and been missed, but more immediately relieved to have someone break into this.
So he almost didn't notice when Kaiba collapsed.
Aria: ...Wow. What a strange, fun, weird chapter. I hope you all liked reading it as much as I liked writing it...what you probably should know is that this scene is the basis for the entire story. I wanted to write a scene where they're in the shower together, and yet not romantically involved, so there's no interaction except for Joey's hands on Kaiba's arms...yet there's so much attraction between them that they feel it as heat, and as hot water, and they feel the water as the caresses they really want. So...yeah. The next will take a while to write, I'll try to get it out soon, by the end of next week at the latest---I know, I know, another cliff-hanger. Well, if you leave me a really nice review, it might inspire me to put the next chapter up sooner! Hope you enjoyed!