Disclaimers: Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't belong to me, but that doesn't mean I can't twist it to my liking in my fanfiction…okay, so maybe it does, but that isn't stopping me.
Warnings: Still SetoxJoey/JoeyxSeto, I still haven't decided which yet.
Sorry for the long time between updates, please bear with me!
~*Beauty and the Beast*~
Joey sighed as he sat down on the large sofa conveniently placed in the center of Seto's very large living room. Like he really needed all the extra space. Joey could be almost certain Mokuba was the only person to take full advantage of what was given to them in these rather spacious living arrangements.
Thinking of Mokuba, things were a lot quieter without him around. Today was a half-day for the high school, but poor little Mokuba was still stuck in school. While Joey normally would have taken the opportunity to run for the arcades and hang out with his friends, he'd sort of been hoping Seto would do something other than work on this all-too-glorious half day. He just had a FEELING something was going to come out of today. Unfortunately, he had no idea if this was a good or bad sign.
Sighing again he moved to lie down, stretching his legs over the soft fabric of the couch and closing his eyes. He rather enjoyed it here, it was like a home away from home…maybe even more of a home to him than his house was. Seto treated him semi-decently for the most part…whenever he was around, at least. He could only hope that Seto would at least let him visit after his stay there was finished. He didn't want to loose the comforting elegance of it all, or the bond he had started to form with Seto. It was a tiny, fragile bond, but it was there, and he would do anything not to break it.
"Get your feet off my couch." Joey blinked as a familiar voice cut into his mind, wondering for a minute if he was dreaming. True, it wasn't a very pleasant dream if he was, but it was the only reasonable explanation for the voice he was hearing at the moment. Hell, he couldn't even register if he had been asleep or not. "Are you deaf or something, get your feet off," Seto tried again, sounding even more forceful. Joey sat up quickly, turning to smile innocently at Seto.
"And why are you down here all of a sudden? Just feel this sudden need to baby-sit me, or were you lonely?" Joey teased as Seto sat down next to him without a word. His silence wasn't very reassuring, that was for sure. "Was I right?" he asked in that overly-sweet voice of his, leaning his head on Seto's shoulder and glancing up at him as cutely as he could manage.
"Shove off. It was too quiet and I couldn't work. I came down here to make sure you weren't wrecking my house. Get off already, damn you!" Seto demanded harshly, pushing Joey away from him. He could feel his cheeks heating up already, and he hadn't the slightest idea as to why. It just pissed him off, not being able to understand why he did some of the things he did. It was all Joey's fault, that was for sure, and so he felt the need to take his frustrations out on the source of his problems.
"Aw, Kaiba was worried about me," Joey teased again, having caught the blush on Kaiba's cheeks earlier. Maybe he was finally starting to get somewhere. It never hurt to hope, did it? "Maybe he likes me," he tried again, staring off into space dreamily. If there was one thing he knew how to do well it was get on people's nerves. It was like a born quality or something…although most people would call it a personality flaw Joey considered it a blessing. Seto was glaring at him, looking like he was about to murder someone at any moment.
"Keep dreaming," Seto snapped, crossing his arms and looking the other way. There was no way he was going to let Joey see what his comments were doing to him, that was for certain. He didn't like Joey; there was no doubt in his mind about that. Maybe as a friend, but only a tiny bit. The boy was still generally loud and annoying, and for the most part tended to annoy him. However, there was no denying that his teasing was getting on his nerves…in a way he couldn't quite understand.
"Oh, I do, every night. Believe me, I lay awake and stare at your ceiling, waiting for you to ride in on a beautiful white horse and take me away from this hellish life." Joey placed a hand to his head and stared at the ceiling, being unnecessarily dramatic with it all. He smiled as Seto stared at him in confusion, obviously wondering what the hell he was doing. "Come on, you don't have to be so serious all the time…do you?"
"No, I don't," Seto answered in a straight monotone, giving up on understanding Joey at all. They were too different; they were never really going to understand one another. However, Joey's words kept circling his mind, it was slowly driving him insane. Seto sighed and tried to relax, wished that Mokuba was home to disrupt the awkward silence that had grown over the two of them.
"Aren't you tired? Balancing school and work must be really tough," Joey tried again after a while, giving up on trying to get a reaction out of Seto. A normal conversation would be welcome at the moment; he needed a normal conversation to distract him from the thoughts that were running through his mind. There was no way in hell he was going to try anything unless Seto did…he was too afraid.
"Probably." Joey laughed, leaning back into the soft cushions of Seto's couch comfortably.
"Probably? You don't know whether you're tired or not?" he asked after a while, staring at the ceiling as he talked. It wasn't as if there was nothing to stare at. There was a strange enough design on his ceiling that when trying to get out of an argument one didn't have to pretend to be interested in something else. His house seemed to be made for distracting people from actually looking at him. Joey couldn't see why, though. Seto was better than any fancy wallpaper or ceiling design could ever be. Man, he was thinking way too hard about stupid things.
"I suppose."
"Well aren't you talkative today," Joey teased with a raised eyebrow, wishing Seto would say something more. He was getting sick of running the conversation…he'd done that enough in his life. It was about time that Seto controlled a conversation outside of school and work.
"And you're so quiet yourself. It's outstanding, let me tell you," Seto complained, wishing that Joey would either pick something interesting to talk about or shut up and let him think. He wasn't there to be teased or mocked, he was there because…
…actually, he had no idea why he was there.
"Alright already. Geeze, I'm just trying to be nice. It's called conversation, you know?" Joey snapped, growing irritated. It was like Seto tried to keep people away from him. Like he wanted people to hate him or something. It didn't make sense, but that was the impression he was starting to get.
"Maybe I don't want to talk…or maybe I just don't find what you have to say interesting." Joey had been about ready to call it quits when Seto had continued speaking. Things certainly were getting stranger by the minute, weren't they? First Seto came downstairs for no reason, and then he actually spoke…sort of.
"Alright then, what do you want to talk about?" Joey tried after a while of silence. He wasn't going to sit there and rot away when such an opportunity presented itself, that was for sure. It wasn't every day Seto actually started a conversation with someone. Well, he was sort of starting a conversation, anyway.
"Nothing. Can't you keep quite for more than ten minutes?" Seto snapped, growing irritated. He wasn't quite sure what it was that was keeping him there, anyway. There was nothing he wanted to do more than climb back up those stairs and…do what? That was the question. He was growing sick of work, that was for sure. Maybe that was what was keeping him down there, the fact that talking to Joey was at least something. Or maybe it was because even in Joey he found company, and no matter how arrogant and cruel he may seem, he still longed for human contact. For companionship…to a certain degree, at least.
"If I wanted to I could, but I don't want to." Seto growled, patience growing thin. What was it with that boy, that he had to push everything too far before he finally stopped? Was he really so stupid?
"Why does it have to be about you? You're a guest in my house after all," Seto griped, getting sick of this pointless bickering. He wasn't going to back down, though. That was for sure. Seto Kaiba was not going to give in to a blonde, loudmouth brat while in his own territory. If Joey hadn't been staying there he was sure he would have walked off long ago and ignored him. However, different situations called for different measures.
"It isn't always about me, you spoiled little…why can't it be about someone other than you for once?" Joey bitched, glaring at Seto for all he was worth. Why was Seto always so combative? This had all started with a simple little attempt at conversation and Seto had turned it into an argument.
"Watch what you say, brat, if you want to stay here!" Seto snapped, losing his cool. He was getting sick of hearing it, and Joey had just crossed the line. Joey opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but sighed and decided it would be best to drop it. They weren't going to get anywhere if they kept on fighting like this.
"Sorry, I just figured it might be nice to hold a normal conversation with you for once…and if you don't want me here, I'll leave. You know you don't have to let me stay here anymore." Seto's eyes grew slightly wider at mention of that fact. He'd completely forgotten about that. He didn't have to deal with Joey's annoying personality anymore…but at the same time he'd be losing the company he'd grown used to. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked having someone his age around, for as different as they were Joey at least understood a little bit about him.
They were silent for a long time after that, neither one of them able to think of something they wanted to talk about, but at the same time growing irritated with the silence. It was all right for a while, but after a bit even the most peaceful of silences become increasingly awkward.
"You said once you had a sister, right?" Seto asked quickly, feeling his cheeks grow hot. He'd never been the one to break an awkward silence before. He was normally the cause of them, and left before anyone could do anything about it. Joey blinked, surprised that Seto had actually spoken. It took him a while to register what he'd said, but when finally his mind caught up with his ears he nodded, smiling slightly.
"Yeah, I do." Seto tried to think of something more to say, confused. He didn't know why this silence was bothering him so much, but it was. It didn't seem to be bothering Joey at all, but he couldn't deal with it. Normally he craved silence, but now it was bothering him. Maybe it was just the fact that Joey and silent never fit into the same sentence easily; it was making things seem a lot more out of place.
"Older or younger than you?" he asked softly, feeling like an idiot. He wasn't particularly interested in what Joey had to say, but getting him to talk was a step forward, closer towards his normal self. Seto had to wonder for a moment if subconsciously he'd been worried about Joey because of his silence, but quickly dismissed the idea. Why in the world would he worry about him?
"Younger, so I'm sorry to say you can't date her," Joey teased, smile growing slightly more genuine, less sad. Seto raised an eyebrow, slightly confused where Joey had gotten that idea. "Oh come on, a girl as sexy as I am…you know you want to date her."
"Really, now? If she's as sexy as you are I pity her," Seto teased in return, surprised he actually wasn't all too annoyed with this conversation. As much as he hated being teased, for the first time he didn't feel like Joey was trying to make him feel self-conscious or uncomfortable with it. It made him a lot less irritable.
"Heh. You'll be sorry one day. You'll be begging to date her and then I'll have to beat you up to keep you away from her." The conversation continued much more smoothly from there, and slowly Seto learned a little bit more about Joey, which was a surprising yet pleasant change. Normally Joey was the one learning something new about Seto, leaving the blonde as a total mystery to him. However, Seto's alarm broke their conversation short, disappointing the blonde to no end. Seto was going to go pick Mokuba up and then return to work, and then things were going to return to normal. No more conversations, no more hanging out. Just Joey watching TV, Mokuba playing video games, and Seto working, same as always.
Joey sighed as Seto left without so much as a good-bye, just a simple 'I'll be leaving now, don't wreck anything.' He could almost literally feel the heavy silence of Seto's house falling down upon him. He wished desperately that he had a CD or something to listen to, anything to drown out the lonely sound of the TV against the silence of an almost-empty house.
"You should have just gone with him, idiot," Joey berated himself as he wandered the halls, hands crossed behind his head. He didn't see why he hadn't thought to ask to tag along with him. However, he had a sneaking suspicion that the second they had gotten into the car they would have gone back to being enemies again. He was sure Seto had only been talking to him to pass time faster, but he had to admit that he'd enjoyed it. It had been nice to pretend that he and Seto actually got along for a while.
Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slow as Joey wandered around aimlessly, looking for something different to do. He was getting sick of sitting on his ass and watching TV. He was going to get fat, and that thought annoyed him greatly. A body like his shouldn't go to waste like that. However, the ticking of the millions of clocks in Seto's house was slowly driving him insane, each one of them there to remind him that valuable moments of his life were being wasted slowly but surely. Who in the world actually needed that many clocks? Whatever the reason, Joey was thankful that at least the headache he was getting actually gave him somewhere to walk to. A sort of miniature purpose in life.
Dropping his hands down to his sides, he walked halfway across the house towards the kitchen. He could go for something to eat, too, now that he thought about it. He'd forgotten that he hadn't eaten lunch yet, seeing as Seto was in a rush to get home and he couldn't be late getting to his house to be picked up. Therefore he'd been forced to forfeit lunch with his friends, however weird that must have seemed to all of them.
He blinked as he realized the kitchen doors were closed. Funny, they were almost always open…at least as far as he could remember, anyway. He vaguely remembered hearing Mokuba say something about it once, but he couldn't remember what it was right now, and it really didn't matter. He didn't feel a need to remember everything everyone said to him all the time. It was just a waste of time, in his opinion.
Opening the door carefully Joey felt around for a light switch, wondering if anyone was working or if he was going to have to cook for himself. Not like it was a disaster if he did, he wasn't all that bad of a cook…in his own opinion, at least. He blinked as he found the switch and flipped on the lights, taking a look around carefully. He hadn't found the kitchen, that was for sure. Maybe he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere or other, or maybe he'd just gone too far down the hallway. Either way, he was rather curious as to where he was. Boxes lined the walls and floor randomly, a few open and the rest closed.
Moving carefully he walked towards the closest open box, almost as if he knew he wasn't supposed to be there. Kneeling next to it he opened it further, glancing inside. A few pictures lay scattered over a pile of books and papers inside it, and Joey couldn't help but take a quick look at them. He smiled to himself as he caught sight of the kids in the picture, lifting a particularly good one out of the box carefully to see it more clearly.
It was Seto and Mokuba, probably a good six or seven years ago. Maybe even longer than that, Joey couldn't be sure from the picture. It must have been a long time ago, however, as Seto didn't look like he hated the world back then. You'd think a person like Seto would never have been able to smile and play happily, but he guessed even assholes were innocent young children at some point. Grabbing a few more pictures, Joey looked through them slowly, enjoying the small glimpse into the more human side of Seto, before his eyes grew so empty and cold, and he actually smiled without a second thought.
"You were cute as a kid," Joey mumbled bitterly, wishing Seto could have stayed that way. He much rather preferred the idea of a friendly, nice Seto to the cold asshole everyone was used to. However, he couldn't be sure he'd ever have gotten the opportunity to get to know him if it wasn't for that cold emotionless side, and that was a rather depressing thought in itself.
"I know, now put it down." Joey jumped as someone whispered in his ear, turning quickly to stare at his new companion. Seto didn't look particularly pleased with him, and for good reason, too. Joey should have known better the to snoop around in Seto's things. It hadn't been his business. "God, are you stupid or something?" Seto snapped, grabbing the pictures from Joey and throwing them back in the box he'd gotten them from. "What the hell are you doing in here, anyway?"
"Got lost and found my way here. I was just curious as to what was in the boxes. Sorry." Seto sighed and sat down on the floor next to Joey, leaning back on his hands and thinking. He didn't like it when other people touched his stuff, that was for sure, but at the same time…he was considering letting Joey continue his explorations if he wanted to. He doubted anyone really cared about what was there, but he honestly didn't care if Joey pried a little bit into his life, for some reason or another.
"Well, are you going to continue looking or are you done?" Seto snapped after a while of silence, growing sick of Joey's nervous fidgeting. He pulled the box between the two of them and waited, almost hoping that Joey would show at least some interest. He wanted people to like him, honestly he did, he just had troubles making friends. He hadn't always been so hopeless, though, and he kept those pictures around to remind himself that he wasn't all that bad of a person sometimes. Whenever he was feeling particularly hated he'd look through them and remind himself that at least he still had Mokuba, so he couldn't have changed too much.
"So…how old were you?" Joey asked, scooting over to sit next to Seto as he removed the pictures again, flipping through them just as slowly, taking his time to admire the hidden side of Seto.
"I don't remember, and it's not like it really matters." Joey nodded slowly and held out a picture, examining it from all sorts of angels before turning towards Seto. Carefully he examined the differences between child Seto and asshole Seto, trying to find bits of his childhood self in the person he knew now. There had to be at least something left. "What are you doing?" Seto asked after a while, feeling a bit uncomfortable with being stared at so intently. It was making him feel funny again, and he didn't like it. It was really starting to bother him now.
"Eh, just checking. Wanted to see if that's really you, because you look almost nothing alike," Joey answered easily, and almost immediately Seto snatched the picture away from him, looking at it himself. There had to be at least something, right? People didn't change entirely from their childhood selves'…right?
"Who cares if we look the same, that has nothing to do with me." With that Seto dropped the picture back into its box and went back to thinking. There was really nothing more for him to do in there. True, he had work that had to be done, but he didn't want Joey ruining or stealing his things, either. They may not have been worth much, but they meant something to him, as weird as that might have seemed. Most people seemed to think he had no human emotions or habits, but even he liked to think back on the better, happier days. Back before he found out how much everyone really hated him.
"Hey Seto, who's the chick?" Joey asked in that annoying tone of his, leaning forward as he displayed the picture to Seto, grinning evilly. "She your childhood girlfriend or something?" he teased, waiting for a response. Seto glared at him for a while before taking the picture from him harshly, staring at the girl in the picture. She looked about the same age as him, with red curly hair and a light blue dress. He could almost remember her, but only barely. He was sure he must have known her at some point or another.
"No, I don't date." Joey rolled his eyes; sitting back and taking the picture back from Seto. He dropped it back into the box carefully and set the other pictures down so he could finish this conversation.
"Why not? It's a bit of a waste, isn't it?" Joey asked, honestly curious. He would love to have girls all over him like Seto did…or used to, at least, before they tried to talk to him. Now they all just stared at him from afar and complained about how it was such a pity that such a cute guy was such an asshole to just about everyone.
"I don't think so. I don't like people, so why should I bother trying to date them? Besides, no one likes me anyway," Seto offered in his defense, sounding actually rather sad about it. Did he want to date? Why didn't he, then? It didn't make any sense.
"A lot of girls like you, what are you talking about?" Joey asked with raised eyebrows, confused. Seto used to be the guy every girl wanted to go out with. He was still rather popular around the school. Any girl he wanted he could have without any sort of hassle.
"No they don't. They think I'm cute. They don't like me." Joey nodded slowly, finally understanding what Seto was talking about. That was his own fault, though, wasn't it? I mean, if he just acted nicer he was sure people would like him for who he was. He liked him, so he was sure other people would, too if people got to know him. But at the same time, that would make it a lot easier for Seto to get hurt. Seto was too busy protecting himself to worry about making friends.
"If it helps any, I like you," Joey offered, instantly wishing he hadn't said that aloud. Seto blinked and turned to stare at him, confused. Joey…liked him? Someone in this world actually didn't hate him? Joey obviously didn't know what he was saying. No one would like an asshole like him; even he would have hated himself. He wouldn't put it past the idiot to just say it to make him feel better.
"I don't like liars," Seto said coldly, glaring at Joey. He had to be lying, HAD to be. Even if he wasn't lying, Seto didn't believe he deserved for anyone to like him, especially not Joey. What with all the mean things he said to him, about him…all the things he did to his friends, why would he care?
"I'm not lying. I like you. You're nice…in a weird, twisted, awkward sort of way." Joey was getting a little frustrated now. He didn't like being called a liar, and he couldn't see why Seto didn't believe him. He let him stay there, and he let him win in a card battle that cost him both his pride and $127. There was no way he could be a total asshole if he did those sorts of things for people.
"You called me a spoiled brat earlier," Seto pointed out, growing ever more confused. It wasn't like him to be so out of it. He should have just told him to shut up and leave him alone, to stop teasing him, but he couldn't. Maybe it was his unconscious hope for a friend that kept him from being able to scream at him…or maybe he was actually enjoying hearing Joey say good things about him. He couldn't be sure, but he just couldn't make himself be angry with Joey.
"No I didn't, I called you spoiled." Joey hadn't even realized how much closer he was to Seto until now, and it scared him. They were almost nose-to-nose now, and he was sure Seto wasn't aware of it either; both of them were so focused on proving their point.
"Spoiled people are brats." Joey growled, getting sick of arguing with Seto over whether he was a good person or not. Seto was glaring at him in return, seemingly dead-set on winning this argument. Damn it was getting annoying.
"Not all of them. You're not." Seto opened his mouth to protest when, without warning, Joey leaned forward quickly, pressing his lips to Seto's and hoping to God he wasn't going to get killed for this. Thinking back on it, it had been a rather stupid move, but there was no way to go back and fix it now. He could only hope Seto wasn't really going to kill him when he finally realized what was going on.
Seto's eyes grew wide as his present situation clicked in his mind, surprised and confused all at once. Why in the world was Joey kissing him…and why the hell didn't he mind? What the hell was wrong with him, letting a boy kiss him like that? However, despite his mind's protest blue eyes closed slowly as Joey didn't pull away, and a hand reached up to touch the other boy's cheek gently. However, Seto's mind was still racing, his mind protesting everything he was doing even as he subconsciously did it.
However, as slender fingers touched Joey's cheek softly everything shattered, and Seto moved his hand to his shoulder instead to push him away roughly.
"What the hell is WRONG with you?" He screamed, standing up quickly and covering his mouth as he stared down at Joey in disbelief. How in the world could he have let himself…he'd…he'd just been kissed…by a BOY! A loudmouth, annoying boy for that matter…and he'd liked it! What the hell was going on? Why wasn't anything making sense anymore?
Joey just stared up at Seto, absolutely confused. Just two seconds ago Seto hadn't minded, now he looked furious and absolutely disgusted. Joey opened his mouth to make up some sort of an excuse for himself but Seto cut him off immediately.
"I don't care about your lame excuses. Get the hell out of my house and never come near me again. You sick, twisted, little…" Seto couldn't even finish his sentence, he was so mad. His cheeks were burning red and that only made him more upset. Why wasn't he in control of his own body anymore? Without another word he stormed out of the room, keeping a hand clamped firmly over his mouth. However, he stopped abruptly at the end of the hallway and waited for the sound of Joey's footsteps to assure him that he was leaving. However, those footsteps never came.
"I said get out! Are you stupid or are you trying to piss me off?" Seto screamed back at him, marching back to the doorway and glaring at him, dropping his hand back down to his side. When Joey made no effort to move Seto stormed inside and grabbed his bruised wrist tightly, pulling him up quickly and harshly. Joey stared back at him with wide eyes, looking both scared and confused as he tried to pull Seto's hand off his wrist. "Leave," he demanded one last time and let go, and Joey nodded slowly, rubbing at his sore wrist. He was still so damn confused, but he figured it was probably in his best interest to go to Tristan's house now an leave Seto alone.
God had he screwed things up this time…
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SHE LIVES~!!! Didya'll miss me? I thought so. I finally finished up with this chapter after working on it for so long, so be happy ^_^
I promised a friend I would finish this chapter by today so I did, so you can all thank her later (or hate her for making me post such crap).
However, I'm never too tired to write yet another really messed up
MANDATORY MOKUBA KIDNAPPING PART 6:
Mokuba: So…Joey kissed my brother…
Seto: *still brushing teeth*
Joey: Yeah.
Mokuba: and…Seto…?
Joey: Is cleansing himself
Mokuba: So does that mean…that you two aren't going to get together then?
Anime-club friend of PG who bribed her into writing this by Saturday: Not if I can help it!
Seto: Like hell…
Anime-club friend: Oh yeah? *Takes Mokuba hostage*
Mokuba: WHY ME?!?!
Joey: Um…how is that supposed to get us together?
Seto: Give me back my brother -_-
Anime-club friend: First you have to kiss Joey.
Seto: -_-
Joey: ^_^
Mokuba: Couldn't you have used someone else for that? I'm getting sick of being kidnapped… -_-
Lots of love to the people who read this story, especially to those of you who have been waiting for updates. Sorry it took so long, but it's finally here! I hope you guys haven't given up on me, yet.