"Peace offering?" Yugi held a lollipop out to Kaiba; he looked meek and embarrassed. Kaiba took the candy, eying it warily.
"A sucker? I figured you thought a little more of me than that."
"Oh, no, that's not what I mean! I got it from a quarter machine on the way up; as it turns out, they don't sell olive branches in machines."
"The way people treat each other around here, they should – it'd be a goldmine."
Yugi laughed nervously. "Yeah, I probably deserved that. Can we talk?"
"Are you going to get me drunk first?" Kaiba retorted.
"Okay, so maybe that wasn't my best idea, but we didn't know what else to do!" Yugi said. "We just want to see things get fixed, and we – well, I thought if we got you drunk you'd loosen up and admit you had stronger feelings for Joey than you were letting on."
Amazing that the only people who were going out of their way to fix the relationship were the ones that had nothing to do with it. "I don't like to be manipulated."
"I know, and believe me, I got hell from Mokuba. But nothing can move you! I just thought you could use a little help."
Kaiba turned away from Yugi, finding a spot on the far wall to focus on. "You shouldn't meddle in things that don't concern you. None of you should."
"And I'm sorry, but if you and Joey would just… I mean, if Tea and I can get past our issues, I bet you and Joey can."
"You and Tea are vastly different from me and Joey."
"But the principle of the matter is…" Yugi paused. "Can I tell you a story?"
"Is it about Joey?" Kaiba didn't want to hear any more stories about Joey. He'd heard enough. Yugi was right about one thing: pity had never moved his heart.
But something much deeper did.
"No," Yugi said. "It's about… well, me."
"Go ahead."
Yugi took a seat and stared at the floor, as though he was looking to it for help. "I've lost a lot of people: my parents, my grandpa, my…" Yugi took a deep breath. "I never got to say goodbye to any of them, either. One day they were there, and the next they were gone. For a while I even thought that Domino was cursed – so many bad things kept happening, so what other option was there? But you know, I came to a conclusion one night; a big group of us went out drinking, and I realized that giving up wasn't really an option. I missed a few opportunities, sure, had a few misfortunes, but I still had a lot going for me. You know what I did the next day?"
"Well, you obviously didn't hang yourself."
Yugi didn't seem to appreciate the humor. "No, I took Tea to dinner."
"Success stories in the making," Kaiba said dryly. "Then life nearly ruins your marriage and denies you a family. Doesn't sound like you made it very far to me."
"Sure it did. We fixed our problems, and we found out last week that we're going to get our family after all, so what I can I say?" Yugi smiled hopefully, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Kaiba made a note to congratulate Yugi. Later. "You stick out the rough patches, and things eventually smooth out. Things weren't perfect with Joey – "
"You said you weren't going to talk about Joey."
" – but you're still alive, and barely. You still have a chance, and I've never known you to pass up a good opportunity."
"You're an optimist, and an idiot."
"And what are you?"
"A realist."
Yugi shook his head. "I don't believe that. After all, they way Joey talked about you sometimes… well, it painted you in a flattering light. Almost makes you sound like a bit of an optimist yourself. I guess… I don't know. It was definitely different that you and Joey got together; I wouldn't have seen that coming a mile away. But you know, it was so different that I thought for once he'd just stop being… Well, like he is. Every time we talked, he sounded so damn happy… I guess I just assumed you were too."
Kaiba refused to reply, and Yugi smiled.
"I've outstayed my welcome. I wanted to apologize for what we did, and for yelling at you in your office – I had to no right to do that. I guess we were upset to see Joey so distraught…" He made his way for the door.
"Yugi," Kaiba called out, and Yugi stopped. "Congratulations."
"For…?"
"The new baby."
"Oh, thank you. Goodbye, Kaiba." Just when Kaiba was considering forgiving the petite male, Yugi added, "By the way, Bakura might be stopping by later." With that, he was gone. Kaiba growled low in his throat.
Fine. He had a thing or two he wanted to say to Bakura anyway…
"I'm not going to get in trouble as an accessory, am I?"
Somehow, Kaiba liked the question – he preferred self-preservation to penance. He kept his eyes on the book that Mokuba had brought him. "No."
"And you're not going to sue me or make my life a living hell just because I constantly piss you off?"
"No."
"Good – keep that in mind."
"Why?"
"Because you might lash out at me for what I'm about to tell you. Ready?" Bakura didn't wait for an answer. "Joey's in the hospital too; they have him on suicide watch."
"What?" Kaiba demanded, head snapping up to look at Bakura. The white-haired male looked down so his hair covered his face, and his shoulders were shaking minutely. "Why would he…!" Sure, he had been pissed at Joey, but he didn't think… Despite all his better reasoning, he panicked. "He's okay, right? If they don't keep a good eye on him, I'll – "
"Ah ha!" Bakura shouted triumphantly, and Kaiba watched in shock as Bakura looked up, grinning. "See? You DO care about Joey, even now." He sat down in a chair beside the bed. "I lied; Joey's crashing with us until he can find a new place to stay. Right now he's probably playing games with Tristan and Alex."
Kaiba glared. Maybe he WOULD make Bakura's life a living hell after all… "Out."
"Not until you listen to everything I have to say."
"I'm going to call security."
"I just want to tell you that I think you're both fools," Bakura announced. His words were rushed as he continued, "Anyone who would be as stubborn as you guys deserves the title. So you and Joey have some issues – deal. Tristan and I have been living together for eight years, and if we had split up every time we had a big fight, we wouldn't have lasted a month."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Kaiba asked haughtily.
"Because Tristan is a lot like Joey; why do you think they get along so well?" Bakura looked proud of himself. "I bet you're like me – never questioned what put a tent in your pants, right?"
"Crude."
"But true. Tristan and Joey aren't like that; they're two guys who got in on this whole game late. Hell, in high school they'd spend Friday nights watching porn and drooling over the girls. Quite lucky for us, I'd say, or they might have discovered each other instead. Granted, Tristan is a little more logical than Joey, and I'm sure some of the circumstances are different, but the issues sound the same. If you love him, it'll be worth working through the bad times."
"And who says I love him?"
Bakura smirked. "Just a hunch."
"You have no proof to back that up," he snapped.
"And you're impossible," Bakura replied. With a sigh he added, "Joey's trying to quit smoking."
"Another story?"
"May God strike me down if I'm lying," Bakura said seriously. "He's been cranky as hell because of it too. But he's never tried to quit before, and he won't tell us why he wants to now. I'm willing to bet you could."
It had been one of their recurring arguments; Kaiba hated the taste, the smell, and he had never liked having either in his home. Joey had never offered to quit, though; he just endured Kaiba's snide remarks with a sense of humor. "I wouldn't have a clue."
"I think he wants to prove he can do it – I think you make him want to, somehow. You know he doesn't hate you."
"Why is this such a big deal for you?" Kaiba demanded. "Why are you trying so hard?"
"Two reasons. One: Joey is my friend, and he was happy with you, even if he doesn't want to admit it. Two: metaphorically, I've been where you are. I've been frustrated and had to deal with a guy who was confused and afraid – you wouldn't believe how long it took me to get Tristan to leave the bedroom light. Now I can't get him to turn it off." Bakura smirked and continued, "Like I said, Tristan and Joey are like fruit from the same tree; they act tougher than they are. And you know, dealing with Tristan has taught me something important."
When Bakura didn't elaborate, Kaiba swallowed his pride and asked, "Which was?"
Bakura clicked his tongue. "I can't tell you that; it'd be cheating, and I don't really know the words to describe it, anyway. It's one of those things you have to learn on your own. Well, I'd better get the hell out of here before you live up to your threat and call security." He stood and looked around, stretching slightly. "This place looks awfully dull," he said exaggeratedly. "Maybe I should bring you a… hmm, a little toy to keep you occupied."
Toy? Kaiba blinked, and Bakura rolled his eyes.
"Or maybe a pet or something."
Oh! He wanted Kaiba to talk to Joey. Kaiba mulled over the idea; good thing that Bakura didn't appear to be in any hurry to leave.
It would be a lie to say that he hadn't been moved a bit by everything that he had been told – Mokuba, Yugi, and now Bakura; they all told him something that shed a little light on everything he thought he had understood. The more Kaiba thought about it, the more he hated it – the pity, the utter bullshit of it all… It wasn't something he needed, something he wanted. It bothered him that he'd put himself in a position to be hurt, it bothered him that Joey was fucked up enough to hurt them both, and it bothered him that he cared at all.
What bothered him more than any of that, though, was that he wanted Joey back where he belonged, and Kaiba had come to see that place as with him. He had never regarded anyone like that… except Mokuba, but that wasn't the same thing.
It was a tough call to make, and in the end, Kaiba wasn't even sure if he made the right one.
"I think I could use the entertainment; Mokuba won't bring me any work, and they won't let me leave for a few more days."
Bakura grinned. "Then it's a date; tomorrow at three I'll bring you a good plaything. Good luck, Kaiba."
notes
Many thanks to Sarasusa, not only for beta'ing, but for pointing out the whole play on words that "sucker" opened up, which had completely gone over my head. ^^; I didn't exploit it very well, but it made me laugh.
So I know that Yuugi's mom is in the show, but they cut her out in the dub, so I went with the most feasible reason for that I could muster -- his parents must have died. So forgiveth me. *bow* ^^
The story behind why Bakura calls Joey a toy -- in the original version of chapter sixteen, Joey didn't know he was going out with Tristan and Bakura; there was a scene where they stopped by Kaiba Corp to pick him up. So in this scene Bakura literally walked into Kaiba's office while he was talking to Marianne, announced this, and made the offhand comment "Don't worry, we'll have your playtoy back by midnight." Well, at this point Marianne found out, but her knowing isn't conductive to the plot at all, and neither was the entire scene -- I just liked seeing Bakura being a sneaky little punk. Anyway, so when I originally wrote Bakura referring to Joey as a toy here, Kaiba knew what he was talking about. Obviously, once that went, so did Kaiba's understanding of the term.
On Yugi and Tea... I liked Yugi's story -- it made me smile. I've been entertaining the idea of writing a one-shot from Tea's point of view, given that all these things keep happening around her, but she's never really given a part in the story; very odd, given that she's the reason behind Yugi leaving, and Yugi was part of the reason that Joey left... It's very interesting, methinks. But that might just me.
..::review responses::..
Okay, due to FF.net cracking down on... some new policy involving internet language, I wasn't sure if these were okay or not.
However, I couldn't NOT reply, so I simply put them on my site. *bow* I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm a good kid, lol -- I try to avoid trouble at most turns. ^^;; I have all the responses saved in .txt files (because I am a total dweeb like that. ^^;), so I'm slowly going to be going through here and moving them from here to the site. Just FYI in case anyone actually finds them interesting. o.O You never know -- it could happen.
So responses are here (sans spacing): http:// www.geocities.com / enjoythehiatus / stories / le / currentreviews.html