Kaiba didn't leave Kaiba Corp. until late the next morning; there had been plenty to do, and he preferred to work than to return to a deserted, dusty house. Yesterday evening he had called cleaners; they promised to have the house done by the upcoming afternoon. Amazing… The pains that people would go through just to please him. He would check up on the cleaners sometime around noon. He hoped they took longer than planned; then he would have a reason to snap at someone, to act like his old self. People would be assured that he hadn't gone soft. He didn't need them thinking that. He didn't really need to be thinking it either.
He began interviews for new Kaiba Corp. employees that afternoon; he had contacted all the appropriate people to spread the news that he was hiring. His secretary had booked some neutral place for that: a glorified warehouse or something. He wasn't looking forward to the task. The word may have just gotten out that he was hiring again, but he knew how it would go: droves of people, all lined up, pleading for work. Most of them would be idiots, or inexperienced, or simply irritating. Perhaps there would be someone mentally-unbalanced enough to try to kill him; it had happened once. At the time he had guards; now he was more vulnerable… and much less concerned.
He was driving aimlessly, heading nowhere. Perhaps he could go for a walk. The cool air could help clear his head… or it would at least save gas. The day was overcast; the clouds were all but threatening to pour snow down onto the expectant city. He parked his car along the side of the street - sort of nice, in a disturbing way, how well his car fit in among all the other cars parked there. Even more disturbing was how he appeared to be just another shopper as he strolled, lost in the endless sea of faces. No one seemed to recognize him, paid him no special attention, but Kaiba didn't really mind. Maybe if he donned one of his trademark flaring trench coats and pinned the Kaiba Corp. logo to his lapel people would notice that he had returned. They had certainly marked his departure; he remembered the magazine articles that his higher-ups in Kaiba Corp. mailed to him after he moved - "Where Has Seto Kaiba Gone?", "Is Kaiba Corp.'s reign in Domino coming to an end?", and many other headlines.
Kaiba soon found himself turning into the gateway of the city park, walking along the leaf-covered paths and watching people with minimal interest. Children ran and yelled, laughed and cried; mothers chased them, yelling or laughing - sometimes both. The din was louder near the playground equipment, quieter near the park benches. To Kaiba's surprise a few people stared at him as though they were trying to recognize his face. He didn't smile at them or give them any acknowledgement, but he was amused that people seemed unable to place him. Did he seem like a stranger to this place?
A man walked past him, mumbling to himself: a short man pushing a stroller. Kaiba paused and looked over his shoulder. Even from the back he knew who it was, and he took on his old arrogant smile - not by reflex, but by choice. "Yugi," he said, turning to face him. Yugi paused, and then turned to look at him. For a second he looked confused, and then his face lit up in recognition.
"Kaiba!" Yugi walked towards him, smiling. "You're back."
"There was work to be done." Kaiba examined Yugi. He hadn't grown much taller; he wasn't more than 5'1" or 5'2". His hair was still spiked and tri-colored, but he finally looked older, more defined; he didn't resemble a child anymore. He had a badly crocheted scarf wound around his neck, and he was wearing jeans with a winter jacket. Sneakers. No leather. Kaiba didn't even see the puzzle. Maybe it was Yugi's day at the dry cleaners… or perhaps his clothing style had changed in over a decade. Either option was plausible.
"Welcome back. I almost didn't recognize you! But you don't look much different… I guess it's the jacket." Kaiba looked down at the jacket he was wearing; a simple waist-length black coat, barely thick enough to keep him from shivering. Underneath he was wearing simple clothes, slacks and a turtleneck. His clothing style was one thing that hadn't changed much, and he still had the trench coats.
Kaiba shrugged. "I recognized you. You still look like a child." Kaiba knew he was exaggerating - lying even - but making such jabs at Yugi reminded him of the past. He meant it as a welcome; it meant more for him to mock Yugi than any "hello" or "I missed you" could. But speaking of child… Kaiba's eyes were drawn to the stroller. There was a toddler sleeping in it, whole body slumped against one side. The little boy was bundled up in a thick jacket, blue winter hat covering the important parts of his head and his ears. There was the slightest trail of drool from the corner of the kid's mouth, and in his right hand he clutched a small stuffed animal. Sort of cute, really… Kaiba had a small soft spot for kids. "Congratulations," he said, indicating the child with a slight nod of his head.
"Thanks, but he's not mine."
"I see."
The silence didn't last long before Yugi asked, "So what are your plans today? Maybe we could get everyone together… for old time's sake."
"If we do anything for old time's sake, it would begin and end unhappily, and be life-threatening in the middle."
"For new times sake, then," Yugi countered with a smile. Even after so many years he was still strangely cheerful about everything, still seemed naïve. How could he be like that at 30?
"Thanks," Kaiba said without sounding the least bit grateful, "but I have things to do today. I start interviewing employees today."
"Oh," Yugi said, leaning a little against the stroller; it tipped back the slightest bit, but the child asleep within it didn't stir. "What sort of jobs are you hiring for?"
Kaiba looked at Yugi skeptically. "Do you need work?" Maybe that explained the absence of Yugi's usual wardrobe.
"Oh, no! I run the game shop now, but I know some people who might be interested."
The game shop. How fitting for Yugi. "I didn't think your stubborn goat of a grandfather would give up his shop."
Yugi looked down, biting his lip. "He died a while ago." Oh. For a moment Yugi looked weary.
"Sorry," Kaiba said quickly. His remorse for Yugi's loss wasn't apparent, but he did feel bad, even if he couldn't relate. He changed the subject - it was the best condolence he knew. "I'm hiring for everything. Driver, cleaners, advisors, guards, workers at the corporation… I think my lawyer quit too. I guess I'll need a new one."
"I know a lawyer," Yugi said brightly, and in a moment he was his old self again. "He might be interested."
"Oh?" Kaiba asked.
"Yea. He probably wouldn't say no to some work, especially if it's challenging."
"What does he do now?" Normally Kaiba might have ignored anyone recommended by Yugi, but he wasn't adverse to a worker who liked challenges; he'd dealt with more than enough workers who preferred to get paid for doing nothing. Besides, time had passed; maybe Yugi had better judgment in people.
"He's sort of between jobs."
"Hm." Maybe Yugi hadn't gotten wiser about people. Regardless, he dug into his jacket pocket, taking out the list he had written the day before. Somewhere in another pocket he found a pen. He tore off a scrap of paper and wrote the address of the building there he was holding interviews. "Send him there around 3 o'clock; I'll save my opinions until then."
"Awesome," Yugi said, shoving the scrap into his pocket. The kid whined in his sleep, fidgeting and leaning to the other side. "Well, I'd better get him home. It was nice seeing you again Kaiba. We should go out and do something, catch up on life. A lot's changed."
"Hmph." That translated roughly to a 'maybe.' Yugi smiled and turned to walk away. Kaiba considered a lengthier farewell, but thought better of it in the end. He simply watched as his rival walked away - no longer his rival, really. Did Yugi still play Duel Monsters? It wasn't important in either case.
He looked down at his watch. It was nearing noon. He mentally scolded himself - he had things to do other than meandering through the park aimlessly. It was odd enough that he had chosen to in the first place.
The glorified warehouse turned out to be much better than Kaiba expected; it had tiled floors, painted walls, and even heating. Kaiba had certainly conducted interviews in worse places. Still he sat in his chair with a feeling of contempt. He had seen a few good workers, but it was mostly idiots, just as he had expected. Of the lawyers only one or two showed promise; it was mostly ambulance chasers looking for a fatter paycheck. Idiots. He wondered which one had been sent by Yugi but hadn't asked. He wasn't going to let anyone know that he had expectations.
He was flipping through papers as another person came though the divider that was serving to block Kaiba off from the throng of people outside. A business card was slipped onto his desk, but he didn't look up. Nice hands - clean hands. That was a good sign. Kaiba liked to get his first impressions of people from how they cared for their hands. A cell phone rang - not Kaiba's.
"Damn," the man said. "Could you excuse me for a moment?" The man turned his back and answered his phone. Hm, answering a cell phone at an interview. Bad manners - strike one. Just when Kaiba had started to think this one would be better than the rest, too. He couldn't hear the man's words, only the low mumble of his voice, sharper at times, then gentler. Kaiba took that time to examine the man from behind. Dressed nicely. Tall. Hair was neat: blond hair, fairly long for a lawyer… maybe he was some sort of hippy-activist gone lawyer? Kaiba didn't need an activist; he wasn't out to legalize pot or save the whales. On the plus side, the man held himself well. He didn't fidget, and he stood straight. The business card was a nice touch. Kaiba took a sip of his coffee before picking it up and reading it… He choked on the coffee upon reading the inscribed words.
'Joseph Wheeler.' It said something else, but Kaiba's focus was on those two words, that name. Wheeler's name on a business card… The pieces fell into place almost immediately. Wheeler was Yugi's lawyer friend. Kaiba blinked.
Wheeler was a lawyer?
Wheeler turned around, cell phone slipped into his pocket. "Sorry about that, there were some problems-" he stopped suddenly, staring at Kaiba. Kaiba stared back, hoping his surprise wasn't obvious. He was vacillating between shock and old feelings of hatred. Wheeler had aged gracefully; it was probably the only thing he COULD do with any semblance of grace. But a lawyer…! Kaiba knew that in high school Wheeler's grades had to have been the worst. What would possess him to become a lawyer?
Wheeler was clearly as surprised as Kaiba; that came a small consolation. "Have a seat," Kaiba said neutrally. What had Yugi been thinking? He knew that the two had never gotten along… Still, as long as the blond was there Kaiba wouldn't waste time; he never wasted time.
Maybe he would get a laugh out of it.
- author thinks... -
Whew. I actually probably could have had this up three or four days ago, but I was sort of lazy, and more than nervous, so I never got around to typing it up.
"What," you may say, "Joey, a lawyer? Impossible! Inconcievable! It's got to be against all the laws of ... everything!" To which I would probably stick out my tongue and say, "Shoosh and think about it."
You see, I don't think Joey is dumb at all; actually, I think very highly of him. And whilst I was sitting around on that lovely (or maybe it was dreary?) morning of November 22nd and heard that lawyer-guy (Johnson?) call Joey 'Joseph Wheeler', my mind went "Oh!" That business card (and Kaiba nearly choking on coffee upon seeing it) was the mental image that got me thinking about writing this story. The original idea was something much more smutty but I got to thinking -- as I tend to do despite what some of you think, lol -- and I thought "Wait, why the hell would Kaiba EVER hire Joey?" But I sat at the computer that afternoon... and I wrote the prologue; it started to slip into place for me, to some extent. I mean, 15 years is a long time... as everyone in this story keeps repeating, haha.
Anyway, where I was starting with that paragraph, despite Joey's... erm, random "special" moments, I think he's much more intelligent than he acts, and I think he'd be capable of being a lawyer so long as he wanted to and put his mind to it.
As for the name "Wheeler" and why it's being used instead of "Joey": the way I see it, Kaiba probably wouldn't be thinking of Joey on a first-name basis, at least not right away. Basically trying to make a point of the POV, and that it's still all coming from Kaiba's eyes.
And, since Yugi happens to be here, I thought I'd ask myself a question... Where the hell is Yami? And you know, I have not the damnedest clue. -_-;; Logic says that after 15 years, he would have, um, moved on. The guy is dead, technically, right? The more romantic part of me wants to say he's still in Yugi's mind, right where he belongs, lol. So I don't know who's going to win out: romance or logic.
Another one of those "since it was mentioned for all of two seconds" things, I was thinking that Kaiba would be a kid sort of person, if for no other reason than nostalgia, considering that Mokuba is all grown up. On top of that, he's an adult now, and it seems logical that he might be noticing the absense of family, and that might make him inclined to like other people's kids.
..:: responses to reviewers ::..
(just to prove I really read them, haha)
nenya85: we meet again, lol. ...right, I think I'm funny. anyway, glad you thought it worked. ^_^ actually, the amusing thing about writing midlife crisis is that I wouldn't know much about it, seeing as I haven't reached midlife yet, lol. and Mokuba's whereabouts come into play later.
arrowsphere, kaneda-shotaro..., & Johnny-Depp-luv: thankies.
malvolio1342: seems like you're not too fond of Mokuba... *coughs* thanks for the well-wishing. :)
bladegryphon: goin' blind is a scary thing. x.x thanks to you too. :)