by Lethe
Chapter Twelve: Eating
"Excuse me, Shizuka – could you pass the salt?"
"Sure thing! Coming right up!"
"This is pretty good, Jou!"
"Thanks. Have you tried the mashed potatoes? Shizuka did those."
The week had passed without too much event. It was now the weekend again, and the Kaiba and Jonouchi siblings were meeting over dinner. When Shizuka and Mokuba had heard of Seto and Katsuya's slightly-more-than-platonic interest in each other, the two had immediately wanted to meet their brothers' significant other.
They were in the Kaiba mansion, but – after a five-minute demonstration of Seto's skills – the Jonouchi pair had volunteered to cook.
Shizuka and Mokuba had befriended each other within minutes, and were currently immersed in a discussion of their brothers' dueling abilities, Seto and Katsuya occasionally interrupting.
"So Seto used this really cool combo, and wham! He was doomed!"
"It sounds cool! I heard that your brother dueled mine in Duelist Kingdom?"
Jou almost choked on his broccoli. "Now, now, Shizuka, no need to bring that up…"
Mokuba and Seto laughed. "I looked it up on the Industrial Illusions web page," said Mokuba cheerily. "They kept the record. My brother was great!" *
"Of course, he was also dealing with a new system," said Seto fairly. Then he gave Jou a wicked grin. "My disks had you on the ground."
Jou grinned back. "I could have beaten you."
"I'm sure," replied Seto, spooning potato onto his plate. "You just wanted to feel inferior."
Mokuba looked between the two. He had heard of Jou's temper, and was ready to change the subject if he saw any hints of it. They looked like they were just joking. He figured, though, that it was better to be safe than sorry. "But he's gotten better, Seto," he commented.
"Yeah!" agreed Shizuka enthusiastically, followed by a "Well, I suppose…" from Seto.
"However," said Seto, "we shouldn't do anything to inflate his ego larger than it already is."
"That's not even possible," said Jou. "I'm about as conceited as they come. Except for, of course, you."
"They go together great, huh?" murmured Mokuba to Shizuka.
"I'll say," she replied in a stage whisper.
"So, what's for dessert?" said Jou hungrily, not even realizing that he had changed the subject.
"You're still hungry?" said Seto incredulously. "I should have figured… Mokuba, do we have anything?"
"Yep!" Mokuba beamed. "Twelve types of ice cream and half a pie." He thought for a moment. "…Oh, and a fruitcake, too, but I'm not sure whether that was from last Christmas or the one before..."
"Twelve?" said Seto.
"Well, you did say the fridge looked too empty…"
"Let me at them!" exclaimed Jou.
"Down, boy," said Seto, grabbing Jou's shirt and pulling him back to the table. "What do you say you wait until the rest of us are ready for dessert?"
"Aw, nuts," mumbled Jou, looking for all the world like an impatient five-year-old.
**
"I won't be able to eat again for at least a week," complained Seto. He leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah," agreed Shizuka and Mokuba, who had both had extra scoops of ice cream.
"Is there any more?" said Jonouchi hopefully.
"You had more than all three of us combined!" said Seto. "Are you kidding?"
Jou grinned. "Actually, I was kidding. I'm okay… for now," he added ominously.
They all laughed.
"So, how about we see just how much better Jou's gotten?" suggested Mokuba.
"Hear, hear!" agreed Shizuka.
**
"Wow!" said Mokuba. "That was awesome, you two!"
"That was great, Katsuya! You only lost by a bit!"
Jou grinned. "That was a good game, wasn't it?"
"We should have bet on the Duel," said Kaiba. "Then I could have made you do anything…"
"You already can," whispered Jou provocatively, leaning towards him.
Mokuba coughed loudly. "There are children in the house!"
"Um… right," said Kaiba in a flustered sort of way. Shizuka giggled.
"So, how about more of that ice cream?" said Jonouchi after a long, awkward silence.
"Jouuuu…"
And so the night passed.
----
* I realized later that since the duel was played out with Seto's machine rather than the dueling arenas, Pegasus would have had no way to keep track of it. But I, being my lazy self, didn't change it… ^__^;; I hope you can overlook that.
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