(Newly Bound Curiosity)
"Right there."
"Where?" Yuugi demanded. Supposedly Anzu and Mokuba had arrived five minutes ago, and while he had found Anzu, he was still unable to locate Mokuba.
"How can you miss him? Right there!" Yami was insistent. "And he looks great."
"Thanks for the commentary, but unless you can point, 'right there' doesn't mean much."
Yami somehow managed to jab him mentally, and Yuugi grinned; he liked getting Yami riled up. "See the skirt bent over Otogi's CDs?"
"Yea."
"That's him."
Yuugi stared in awe, stepping a bit to his left to see the person in profile. Yami was right: that was Mokuba. He grinned and went over, sneaking up on the boy and gently swatting his rear end. Mokuba bolted upright, and he looked upset about someone touching his ass until he noticed it was Yuugi. He grinned and hugged Yuugi, arms wrapped around his neck.
"Terrific," Yuugi said, leaning down and catching Mokuba's lips in a quick kiss. He added in a quieter tone, "You are so getting some tonight."
"Glad to hear it. So, does it live up to that dream you once had?" Mokuba teased.
"Ha! I told you he still remembers," Yami commented victoriously. Yuugi blushed.
"I think I like this better."
"Good." Mokuba smiled as Otogi approached them, waving.
"Hi guys," Otogi said. "I didn't see you get here, Mokuba."
"Just got here a few minutes ago. Otogi, have I ever told you that your CDs rock?"
Otogi laughed. "At least once a month. Any suggestions?"
"Dance. These people need to liven up some," Mokuba said, grinning. Otogi nodded and grabbed the CDs from the table, flipping through them as though he knew exactly what he was looking for. Mokuba smiled with approval as Otogi put in a CD and steady beat filled the room. Almost immediately people started moving towards the center to dance.
"Let's go dance," Mokuba said, pulling Yuugi towards the crowd; Yuugi was powerless to do anything but follow.
Seto had been looking forward to a quiet night. Friday nights were usually too loud around when Mokuba had friends over, so Seto had given him permission to stay the night with Yuugi. Unfortunately for him, he noticed that Mokuba had left his purse on the kitchen counter. He looked inside, examining the contents: keys, Mokuba's wallet, a camera… and handcuffs? Seto ignored those and looked wistfully at the camera. Goddamn, he really did want Mokuba to get those pictures…
It would only take half an hour, if even that. He heaved a sigh and went to get his car keys.
When he arrived he was surprised to see that the party was more than the usual get-together of six or seven people. There had to be at least two or three dozen people crammed into the building Otogi had gotten for his party. Half of those people were cramped into the middle of the room, dancing to music that was blaring from a stereo in the corner. Seto concealed himself in the shadows of a corner, trying to find Mokuba among the crowd without being seen.
He saw Jounouchi first. He looked less like a dog than Seto had hoped. Instead of some awkward dog suit that Seto had been visualizing, Jounouchi was wearing a few choice props to give the illusion of being a dog. Black jeans rode low on his hips, presumably so that the belt the tail was attached to would be low enough to make the tail appear in the right place. He wore a black turtleneck, with long sleeves covering black gloves. Attached to his head were dog-ears, half-bent like those of a curious and playful puppy. There was a collar fastened around his neck, and a leash hung from the collar, stopping just short of Jounouchi's knees. A dog nose was crudely painted over his nose, and his feet were bare.
It may not have been as dog-like as Seto had imagined… but it was hot. It wasn't just the outfit, even though the way it seemed to cling to Jounouchi certainly added to its sex appeal. Seto's breath hitched as he watched Jounouchi dance… Who would have guessed that Jounouchi could dance? He was emanating sex; Seto could practically see it from where he was standing. Even though he was primarily dancing (rather erotically) with Honda, everyone around them seemed to be gravitating towards them, dancing in time with them. Seto was enthralled by the look of concentration on the blond's face as he moved, seeming to flow with the music. Seto tried to ignore an uncomfortable tension between his legs as he watched.
He found himself growling reflexively as he saw a girl near Jounouchi grab onto his leash, yanking him close. She said something, and Jounouchi grinned at her, leaning down as though to kiss her… He must have lost his center of balance, because he tumbled over. Honda tried to catch him and only ended up on the floor with his friend, both laughing as they sat there.
Seto realized that Jounouchi was drunk. He made a face. What a fucking buffoon. To think that for a moment he had been turned on by that idiot…
"Kaiba!" Anzu called from his left. He looked urgently to her and held his finger to his lips, motioning for her to shut up and come to him. She complied, a look of curiosity on her face. "I thought you weren't going to show up," she said. She was dressed up like some sort of angel.
"I'm not," he said stiffly, holding Mokuba's purse out to her. "Mokuba forgot this."
"Oh! Thanks; I'm sure he'll appreciate you bringing it. Do you like Jou's costume?" Was Seto imagining it, or was there a hint of teasing in her voice?
Seto scoffed, "A drunken mutt. It suits him." He turned and left, not waiting for her reply.
He drove around aimlessly for a while. The display bothered him. As a matter of fact, that damn mutt seemed to be bothering him a lot lately, ever since that phone call.
Seto would admit to himself - and no other living soul - that there was something about Jounouchi professing some brotherly affection for Mokuba that made him feel a little less malicious towards the blond. Only a little. Insignificantly little.
And… damn, where had the mutt learned how to dance? He had never seen Jounouchi do anything that even resembled grace. And on top of dancing, he had been dancing with Honda… What did that mean? Seto had heard stories from Mokuba about Jounouchi's random girlfriends…
But the most important question was why the hell did he care?
Seto growled to himself, shifting in his seat and turning his car around to head home. He wanted his quiet night back, and he wasn't going to let some irrational curiosities about a near-stranger interrupt it.
- author thought… -
First, actual important notes. This is where the focus of the story shifts and we stop paying so much attention to YuugixMokuba. Actually, it seems sort of disjointed to suddenly change the focus like that, but without all that transpired in these first 5 parts, the second 5 parts would not have happened. ^_^ I think it'll all make sense by the end… I hope…
One thing I regret: a couple of people commented on how the Seto & Yami breakup would affect Yuugi & Mokuba… and in my dumbness, when I was plotting/writing the story (which was before I posted "Third Grade Logic"), I didn't think of that. By the time I actually realized, "That's a really good point!", the first 4 parts of the story had already been posted, and it would have been… well, next to impossible to go in, remove them, rewrite them, and still leave the last half of the story intact (and I really like the last third of the story). But I really wish I had thought of that way back when, as it really is a good point. I guess part of my excuse is that this is 4 years later, and by now any damage that might have been caused would likely have dissipated… But in the end, I just never caught it. 10 points to anyone who did!
On a lighter note, sucks to be a FF.net-er; you miss an entire half of the part. Literally, 2 pages are lost in the edit… true, its all YuugixMokuba smut, but that's actually quite fun! ...doesn't do much of anything for the plot other than make it clear that Jou is drunk, and that was already noted…
I had not the damnedest clue what to dress Yuugi up as. So I sort of covertly ignored mentioning it altogether. I suck. (though it could have been funny if he dressed up as Yami, hehe) As for Jou's costume… well, I'm not a horribly big fan of puppy-fied Jou, but the very first SetoxJou story I read (god, forever ago, man) was along those lines (the leather! the leather!), and from the beginning writing Yu-Gi-Oh! fan fiction, its always been that dog thing that stuck out at me. So I figured I'd hop on that train just once. ^_^
…Anyway, so that was fun. ^^ or at least I thought so. Hey, does everyone see Senko's significance yet?
And… the title of this Part is really odd. I kind of get it… but it struck me out of nowhere… I guess its pretty bad then the writer isn't even sure what the hell she means. ^_^