Kaiba didn't talk to anyone about the kiss – not Joey, not Mokuba, no one. The only person he conferred with was himself… Not that he would ever admit to talking to himself.
A part of him wished he had been drunk, if only a little bit, just enough to blame alcohol for his impulsivity. All he wanted was a simple reason for his momentary stupidity, a simple reason that didn't involve him thinking about it anymore than he had to. Awfully smart of Joey, lying about being drunk; at least then he didn't have to form a decent excuse, whereas Kaiba couldn't quite move past it.
There was one thing that bothered him more than his action, and that was Joey's reaction.
"It's not that you're not…"
Those words, that line… Kaiba was a lot of things, but exactly which word had Joey been searching for at that moment? Given the situation, Kaiba was pretty sure that the adjective of choice wasn't "an asshole." But no matter how many times he told himself that he didn't care what Joey was thinking, he knew it was lie – he was curious.
It was a curiosity that he didn't pursue. They stopped working together outside the office. Inside Kaiba Corp. they were always professional, but outside Kaiba didn't know what to expect, didn't want to know what would be said, what the accusations might be… It was kind of a shame – Mokuba had been gone for nearly a week, and he had that entire house to himself again. He damned himself for it, but he had grown accustomed to having his privacy invaded. Him. Imagine him, used to company. If he had been in a better mood he would have laughed at the absurdity of it.
But he wasn't in a good mood: he was confused, irritated, tired, and sitting alone in his office at 9:37 PM. To add the list of things that were getting on his nerves, he was out of coffee and had to talk to Joey. It simply was not his night.
He went for the coffee first, taking his time drinking it. He was almost hoping that by the time he finished it Joey would have left – Joey never stayed late. At 10:19 Joey was still at work, arms splayed over his desk, head resting on his upper arm. He was absently twirling a pen in his fingers, staring at it.
Not Kaiba's night at all.
"Do I pay you to do nothing?" Kaiba demanded from the doorway.
"I'm done workin'," Joey replied lazily, not looking away from the pen.
"Then why are you here?"
"Killin' time. Serenity invited our mom over to play with Alex, and I'm waiting for the all-clear call."
"All-clear?"
Joey let out a small snort of laughter. "Let's just say I avoid my mom when I can." He kept his focus on his pen as he sighed. "I mean, I guess she's not bad, not really – she did what she could, given the situation – but it's hard to reconcile with a woman who just leaves you, no matter how much she loves you. Doesn't help much when she talks either." Joey pitched his voice a little higher, obviously imitating his mother. "Oh, he's so beautiful, Joseph! You remind me so much of your father back when you were Alex's age." Joey frowned.
Kaiba was inwardly amazed: Joey managed all that self-pity without moving his eyes away from the pen. He sat in a chair, waiting for Joey's tirade to end. He wasn't sure if it was because he cared or because he wanted Joey to get past it so they could work; he hadn't decided how he felt about Joey's habit of pouring his heart out.
"So," Joey sighed again, "I guess since you're sitting that means you need something, right?"
"Figures for – "
"Folder." Joey nodded his head towards a folder on the desk. Kaiba picked it up, surprised to see that it was what he was looking for. That had been easier than he thought it would be.
"Good."
"Yea – I may not understand anything you do outside Kaiba Corp, but I think I've gotten the hang of your professional routine."
Kaiba stood to leave.
"Hey, you ever noticed…" Joey paused and finally looked up at Kaiba, still moving the pen in his fingertips. "If something is too far away you can't see it, but if it's too close you can't focus on it. Did you ever notice that?"
"Of course," Kaiba said impassively. "That's common sense."
Joey didn't look away, didn't flinch under Kaiba's tone. His mouth opened as though to speak, but just before any words came out the phone rang. Kaiba left as he reached for the phone.
It was midnight before Kaiba finally gave up on work and made his way out to the parking lot. He was surprised to find Joey leaning against his car, playing with his lighter. "I swear I'll fire you if you're smoking," Kaiba warned as he approached.
"I'm not," Joey swore, holding his hands up; the lighter was held between two fingers.
"Good. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I… waiting for you," Joey admitted. He didn't look embarrassed.
"It's midnight."
"Oh. Uh, well… I didn't realize it was so late."
"Any reason?" Kaiba asked impatiently.
"I wanted to know if you were interested in coming over Saturday," Joey blurted. "Not for business, just… friend… like stuff."
"Planning another get-together with 'the guys'?" Kaiba asked, a slight sarcastic edge to his voice. Yugi had tried to invite him a couple of those, but he had always declined.
"No, just… us. We could discuss politics… or something."
Kaiba would eventually have to tell Joey what a horrible liar he was. First the drinking, then 'discuss politics': pathetic. He chose to ignore the implications of Joey's question. "Why?"
"Just curious."
"Curious?" Kaiba questioned disbelievingly; he had suspected that Joey's reasons were a bit more illicit.
"Yea – wondering if we could get along in a normal situation."
"And why should that matter?" Kaiba countered. He might have enjoyed the whole question-and-answer session if Joey had been more nervous; as it stood he didn't look nervous at all. He looked calm, nonchalant, prepared for anything. Not very like him at all.
"Maybe it doesn't," the blond replied with a shrug, "but it'd be nice to know. You don't have to… just drop by if you feel like it." Joey didn't look at all discouraged as he walked to his car – he even waved as he drove off! Kaiba went into his own car, started the engine, but he didn't drive off. He stared off into space, one question circling his mind.
What the hell was that?
Did Joey presume that because of one kiss – a kiss that Kaiba had told him he regretted! – that they would magically be friends? Of course, then there was the simple fact that a kiss usually implied more than friendship… not that Kaiba meant it that way at all.
And Kaiba was focused on that damn kiss again, with a new question attached to it: what had he meant? Did it mean anything? He sank down in his seat, returning to Joey's question instead of his own. He could go, have a horrible time, and have a good excuse never to be alone with Joey ever again. Then again, he didn't need an excuse NOT to go – he was under no obligation to do anything. He cursed softly to himself.
Damn life. Just when he thought he had things figured out, it had to throw him another twist.
- notes -
... I got nothin'; what ARE you thinking? lol.
I think this is the shortest chapter thus far; it's one of those chapters that's supposed to transition. There's one in everything I write, lol. Given the length (or lack thereof) of this chapter, I'm going to try and have chapter ten up sooner than usual; I just need to run through it a couple of times.
So I have these ideas about Joey's relationship with his parents, but that's not so important at the moment. ^^
Kaiba & self-pity... doesn't strike me as his style; he keeps looking down on it, lol.
Random comment: in the rough draft, we're currently fighting (literally, it's being such a pain in the ass) with Chapter 20, and we're nearing the conclusion of things. maybe more like a climax? (hey, not that kind - -at least not then! lol) Just to give you some idea of where we are in the story.
..::reviewer responses::..
lightning sage: thank you! ^^ I was a bit concerned that Mokuba's advice tied into the chapter wouldn't work quite right, lol.
pestilence GH: *dramatic* I knew it! XD lol, thankies!
bladegryphon, lilrubydevil, alostblackcat, xiaolang's ying fa, ranma higurashi, tadashi, shadow-demon18b, lady kaiba, angel-belle, gyrrlgenius: arigato ^^
tanya maxwell: careful about that smiling thing; it hurts your cheeks after a while. ^^ omg, when I read "discover your inner gayness!!" I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed... so on and so forth in that manner. It amused me. ^^ thanks.
millenniumdaggerholder: whoa, who woulda thought what? *looks around dramatically* lol. ^^