Chapter 10 - Dinnertime!

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Just want the characters to have some fun after all of the turmoil they've recently experienced. I cried after the duel with Raphael… sniff.

Well, the last time we left our friends, Yugi and Mokuba had gone downstairs to get sodas, leaving our newest couple alone. A can of fake snow went haywire and Seto and Téa ended up having a most spectacular kiss in the kitchen under the mistletoe hung by our resident mischief-maker. The scene ended with all kinds of shouting starting to happen. Hehe… who's shouting, you ask? Read on and find out.

The Beginning of the End…

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Neither of them heard the front door open and close or the footsteps that pounded their way slowly towards the kitchen.

"Thank God for mistletoe," Seto said, leaning down a bit and giving the top of her head a quick kiss. They stood like that for a second or two longer, just enjoying the peaceful silence between them, before taking a step back from each other. Just as she was going to hand Seto the dishtowel to clean off the rest of the fake snow from his face, his hand came up and his thumb caressed her cheek.

Unfortunately, that's when the shouting started.

"Kaiba! Get your filthy, money-grubbin' hands offa her!" Joey shouted, his voice loud enough to bring the roof down as he walked into the kitchen and surveyed the scene before him.

"Yeah," Tristan added, punching the air for emphasis. Joey, however, took it one step further as he barrelled down on Kaiba. The resounding smack was heard quite clearly as Kaiba's hand was rudely thrust away from Téa's cheek.

Seto's icy glare turned on the blonde-haired boy and the glint in his eye should have been a warning. Wheeler, however, was quite oblivious. Maybe Seto had been wrong about there being intelligence between Wheeler's ears. "I was merely wiping away some of the snow that we were using on the windows in the living room. Do you have a problem with that?" He took the towel that was still grasped in Téa's outstretched hand and took a quick swipe with it over his face, hopefully removing the white stuff. The twinkle in her eyes told him he hadn't even gotten close.

"Yeah, I do, Kaiba. De problem is dat you were de one doin' it!" The exchange of words had reached a high enough pitch that Yugi and Mokuba raced into the kitchen, sodas in hand, to see the three boys in a stand off. Kaiba stood next to Téa, his hands folded over his chest, with Joey being held back by Tristan as he looked ready to pounce and give Kaiba the thrashing of his life.

"What's going on, guys?" Mokuba asked, truly bewildered. He'd never seen his brother look so upset before. There was now a very distinct possibility of seeing blood.

"Yeah, what's all the shouting about?" Yugi asked, wondering what had gotten into his two friends to get them so upset in the first place. Usually they weren't so violent, even if Kaiba was involved. Yami emerged in spirit form from the puzzle and glanced around, hoping that he didn't have to step in and stop a fight. And he'd just been enjoying a most wonderful flavour of soda called 'Root Beer'.

"I came in here 'n' found our friend Kaiba wit' his paws all over Téa…" Joey started to say, leaning forward with every word he said, making Tristan have to lean that much farther back to stop him from pummelling Kaiba. Téa rolled her eyes skyward, praying for the strength to stop herself from thrashing him silly. Kaiba just stared challengingly at Wheeler. The dog had no sense to back off while he still had a chance.

"Joey, stop being so melodramatic! Like he said, he was just rubbing some of that snow stuff off my cheek. Ease up. If he had been 'pawing' me, don't you think I could have taken care of him myself?" Téa stepped between the two boys as she felt the tension escalate. Joey growled and Kaiba just glared, leaning in further himself until he and Wheeler were almost nose to nose. She placed a restraining hand on each of their chests, hoping she didn't have to knock sense into either of them. With Joey, it would be a regular occurrence but with Seto… she didn't even want to go there. It was hard enough having her hand on his chest and not being able to do anything else with it there.

In the heat of the arguing, none of them, except Yugi and Yami, noticed Mokuba slinking closer, an evil grin splitting his face from ear to ear. All he needed were the horns and tail to complete the devilish look.

"I don't like him near you," Joey growled through clenched teeth. Wiping that smirk off of Kaiba's face was the only plan on his agenda right now. The only things between him and his goal were Téa's hand on his chest and Tristan tugging on his arm.

"Come off it, Joey. Remember, you promised to behave. And if you're both going to act like rabid beasts, I'm going to send you both outside to cool off!" They still struggled against her, Joey muttering under his breath and Kaiba simply glowering at him. BOYS! Would they never learn? Mentally sighing, she stood between them and looked in surprise as Mokuba popped up into her line of sight.

"Um, Téa, Seto, Joey?? Look up!" Mokuba announced, grinning maniacally. This was going to be good.

Very good.

Three pairs of eyes glanced up and two of them instantly realized exactly what they were going to see. Oh no, they'd fallen into Mokuba's trap. Seto mentally congratulated his younger brother on actually managing to pull it off. The blue dish soap incident was one that had failed miserably, once Seto had gotten a hold of his mischievous younger brother and gotten his revenge. The gleam in Mokuba's eyes was quite devilish, reminding Téa of Seto's eyes just before he'd kissed her outside in the snow, as the three teens returned their eyes to him.

Mission accomplished.

Something was about to hit the fan.

"Mistletoe? Huh? How did dat get up der?" Joey asked, looking at Téa questioningly. There was something else going on here as he saw the lightest of blushes staining Téa's cheeks. Maybe her and Kaiba, KAIBA!, had kiss… no that wasn't possible. Téa would never do that. She was too smart to fall for someone like Kaiba… then again… his hair was all messy as if someone, …Téa…, had run their hands through it…

"You know the rules, guys. When you're standing under the mistletoe, you have to kiss the other person that's under it, too," Mokuba announced happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. The sugar rush was in full bloom and the soda he'd had downstairs had upped his energy level considerably. Seto narrowed his eyes, watching his younger brother bask in glee at his success.

"No way!! Der is no way dat I'm gonna kiss Kaiba. My lips'd prob'ly stick t' dat ice block!" Joey stated vehemently. The anger of the moment between Joey and Kaiba had dissipated at the revelation of the mistletoe to be replaced with something much worse. Embarrassment. Humiliation. Mortification. Yugi, Yami and Tristan weren't helping any either. Their snickers could be heard even though they tried covering them up with their hands. Even Téa started grinning, despite the fact that she had been caught under there as well.

"I'm not going anywhere near that mutt! Rabies is a communicable disease!" Seto shot back just as vehemently.

"Then I guess you'll both just have to kiss Téa!" He positively beamed like a small sun in the middle of that kitchen. Mokuba knew it had been a good idea to get that mistletoe. And he had his brother and Téa under the mistletoe together. In about thirty seconds, he'd have all of his suspicions confirmed. He could see in his brother's eyes that he liked the idea of kissing Téa.

"What? Kiss Téa? That'd be like kissin' Seren, my sister… I guess it's not dat bad. Better den kissin' Kaiba anyways."

"Like kissing you would be some sort of picnic? Don't flatter yourself, Wheeler."

"C'mon, you three, you know the rules. What Mokuba suggested sounds fair to me since all three of you are under that mistletoe." Yugi was grinning now, a little jealous that he wasn't the one caught under there with her. But no matter, what's done is done. Maybe he'd find out for sure if Téa was crushing on Kaiba and vice versa.

"Kissing her is a better option than kissing Wheeler, at any rate." His eyes flicked to her, pleading forgiveness for the harshness of his statement. Honestly, he was looking forward to it but he couldn't let it show. He just wanted to keep their new relationship a secret for a little while longer. The quick wink he got in response told him everything he needed to know. Mentally, he shook his head. He couldn't believe that he was asking someone else for forgiveness. Will wonders never cease?

She sighed dramatically. There really was no way to get out of this situation gracefully. "Well, if you both have to kiss me, might as well get it over with. Only a kiss on the cheek. No one said that it had to be on the lips." Her heart sped up at the thought of just having his lips on her skin once more. Too bad there were going to be so many witnesses to this. The three of them were never going to live this down. "C'mon, hurry up. The sooner it's done, the sooner we eat. I'm assuming that the lights are strung up outside?"

"Yeah, we were jus' comin' in t' get an extension cord t' plug 'em in." Joey's face was turning a very interesting shade of red and he was about to try stalling the inevitable when a chorus of "Do it, do it, do it" started up. Yugi and Tristan, who'd by now let go of Joey's arm, were almost on the verge of giggling uncontrollably as they chanted. Mokuba was, by far, the loudest of the three and Yami just looked on in amusement. This was something he'd never seen before. Such strange traditions in this era. Amazing that one small piece of greenery held so much meaning in this culture. His deep voice, inaudible to anyone but Yugi, joined in the chorus nonetheless.

"We're waiting," Mokuba stated in a sing-song voice. He might as well get as much pleasure as he could from this since Seto was probably already planning his revenge against him.

Téa's hands fell to her sides as the boys relaxed their stance, no longer in danger of actually rubbing noses. Inhale. Exhale. This was going to be one weird experience. Joey felt his cheeks heat up a little. This was Téa, his best friend. At least she was way better looking than Kaiba was. And female. Seto concentrated on just looking at Téa and trying to keep from going scarlet in the presence of Yugi's little fan club. It wouldn't do to have their little secret spilled just yet.

The boys leaned closer, closing their eyes and praying that it would be over quickly, and let their lips touch Téa's cheeks. So soft and warm, Seto thought, letting his lips part a little as he took a quick taste of her skin. Sweet, with a hint of honey. He'd have to remember that for later. When they were alone. Joey barely let his lips brush against her cheek. It was too weird to kiss his best friend. It felt… wrong. Téa stood still as a statue and felt that little lick from Seto on her skin. Oh, he was going to pay for that since she couldn't do it in return. She'd have to remember that for later. When they were alone. Joey's lips just tickled her.

The ear-splitting catcalls bounced off the walls of the kitchen and echoed through the air… it was a minute or two until everyone settled down, grinning wildly at the hilarity of the situation.

"Der. Satisfied?" Joey backed away quickly, running his hand through his hair to calm himself down. He liked Téa well enough as a friend but he'd been right. Kissing her, even her cheek, had been like kissing his sister.

"Now that it's over, how about we all sit at the table and eat?" Téa announced calmly, wanting to dispel the memory for now. No doubt it would be brought up continually. For the next few decades or so. Sparing herself from it right now was a worthwhile cause.

Tristan, Yugi and Mokuba burst out laughing uncontrollably once more. The whole scenario had been absolutely hilarious. Joey's face was so red and Kaiba looked ready to kill the first person who mentioned it as he tried again to scrub the fake snow from his face. And Téa? Her cheeks were a brilliant shade of magenta, having passed way beyond the red spectrum. She spun around quickly and headed for the stove, glad that she had an excuse to turn her back on the group. Turning off the oven and grabbing a pair of oven mitts, she opened the oven door and pulled out the lasagna. Immediate silence filled the room as they sniffed the wonderful aroma of dinner.

The sounds of scraping chairs and murmured "Excuse me"'s were all she heard when she turned around again and brought the huge, steaming dish over to the table. Joey sat at the far end of the table, as far away from Kaiba as possible while remaining in the same room, next to Tristan who had sat down next to Kaiba. Tristan was only there to basically stop the two of them from killing each other should the need arise during dinner. Yugi and Mokuba had sat next to each other, leaving the head of the table across from Joey open for Téa to sit down at.

"Is dat what I tink it is, Téa?" Joey asked, ready to start salivating. Food, of any kind, was a good thing but if that dish was what he thought it was, dinner was going to be a heavenly experience.

"Yup. Dieter's Nightmare Lasagna," she stated proudly, setting the heavy dish down on the trivets in the middle of the table. Removing the foil, everyone sighed in appreciation. Mokuba looked askance at his big brother. He'd never eaten anything with the word 'nightmare' in it, except for a cake called Triple Chocolate Nightmare. Or was it Double Chocolate Dream? He couldn't remember. Seto gave him a little thumb's up sign and he visibly relaxed.

Dinner was going to be an interesting affair.

"So, who's hungry?" Téa asked, picking up the knife and getting ready to start cutting up the lasagna. Joey's plate was the first one thrust in her direction. No surprise there.

After serving dinner to all of her friends, Téa was surprised when Seto stood up and gently removed the spatula from her hand and dished out her serving of the lasagna. Their eyes met briefly and a pin could be heard dropping somewhere in the distance.

"A gentleman always serves a lady," he stated smoothly, seating himself back in his chair before shooting a look of contempt at Wheeler. The mutt had no manners at all.

Joey saw the look and fumed to himself. Kaiba thought he was so smart and sophisticated. Well, he'd show him. Filling his glass from the pitcher of juice that sat on the table, Joey raised it high and announced, "A toast to de hostess wit' de mostest."

Everyone seconded Joey's toast, even Kaiba, with a "Here, here", though the sneer he wore was enough to get Joey's blood boiling. Stupid Kaiba thought he didn't know how to behave. Well, he'd show him that he was a gentleman, too. Yugi and Tristan just sighed. Joey was going to be competitive to the end, no matter how much of a fool he made of himself. It couldn't be as bad as watching him duel Kaiba, at any rate.

"Well, don't stand on ceremony! Dig in!" Téa said. That was all anyone needed to hear. Joey, Yugi and Tristan attacked their mess of lasagna with a passion while Seto and Mokuba took a smaller bite. They'd never had this before and so didn't know what to expect.

"MMMMMMMM wow," Mokuba shouted, grinning happily before digging in just as eagerly as Joey, "This is really good. I don't think I've ever had anything like this before." A home cooked meal was so much better than the dinners Seto usually brought home from the restaurant down the street from their house. Maybe Téa would come over and cook for them sometime. With his suspicions confirmed, Mokuba was confident that the sight of Téa at their house wouldn't come as a shock to him.

"Now I know why it's called a Dieter's Nightmare," Seto murmured to her from her right side. She couldn't help but be pleased at the compliments. She was so happy that she decided to tease Seto a little more. No rest for the naughty. Taking a quick bite of lasagna herself, Téa deliberately let a little of the white sauce stain her lips. His attention was focussed on her once more as her tongue came out and licked that little spot away. At the same time, she pressed her foot against his calf, sliding it slowly up and down, watching his involuntary gasp and subsequent cough. Don't you dare blush, he thought to himself, watching that small pink tongue travel around her lips once more and feeling her foot sensually caressing his leg under the table for another short moment. She was really going to torture him tonight if she kept that up. It just made him even more anxious to collect on their little 'agreement'.

No one else noticed this little exchange as they started to chat about their favourite topic, other than food. Duel Monsters, what else? Téa tried to keep up with the conversation but deck building strategies and when to use trap cards was a boring topic to her. Seto, however, got very involved in the conversation, demolishing almost every single one of Wheeler's ideas. A deck couldn't be built that depended solely on luck. Power was more important. On and on they went, the two of them, trying to best each other with their knowledge. Eventually, even Yugi, Tristan and Mokuba stopped talking, letting the other two have the floor.

She sat back and watched the scene unfold before her. They were actually having a semi-normal conversation. No one was trying to kill anyone, yet, and there was no shouting whatsoever. Whoever would have thought that Seto and Joey could have an intelligent conversation? They would probably be good friends if they could ever get over their intense dislike of each other. Maybe this was the first step towards some sort of reconciliation.

Seto was, to say the least, surprised at how well Wheeler understood Duel Monsters. He'd always taken him to be a bit of a fluff ball, a stupid, blonde mutt, but they were actually discussing something with a degree of intelligence that Seto had never found in anyone else except Yugi. Hmm, maybe the dog wasn't so bad after all. Wonder if his deck's gotten any better? Surprise registered across his face as the thought hit him.

Joey was, to say the least, surprised that he was having such a normal conversation with the human popsicle. He'd always seen Kaiba as a pompous, obnoxious, arrogant jerk but to hear him talk so passionately about Duel Monsters had him thinking a little differently about the elder Kaiba. Whoever would have thought that he'd find himself actually agreeing to some of the points he was making about how to build a deck?

"Now, what if I used 'Fissure' t' destroy one o' yer monsters. How would you counter dat?" Joey asked, helping himself to a third piece of lasagna. Better enjoy it now, since Téa wasn't likely to give him any leftovers.

"You'd never get the chance to use it. I'd have 'Magic Jammer' face down on the field. I wouldn't be stupid enough to leave myself wide open to such a simplistic attack," Seto replied, helping himself to a second piece of lasagna. Maybe he could get Téa to give him a plate of leftovers to take home. This was so much better than take out from that Italian place down the street from his house.

"But my trap card 'Seven Tools…'" The conversation continued on and on.

Even Yugi and Yami were impressed with the way the two were discussing Duel Monsters. The level of intelligence and complexity of detail the two were talking about was amazing. They knew that Kaiba was a great duellist but to hear Joey speaking as he was was a shock to the ancient Spirit and his host.

Wow, they're actually getting along, Mokuba thought to himself. Maybe Seto would finally put his grudge against them aside and really be friends with these guys. They were fun to hang out with, when the world wasn't in need of saving, anyways. And even then… it was interesting.

Tristan moved his head from side to side, watching the two guys argue back and forth like it was a tennis match. They'd gone a lot further into detail about stuff and he'd lost them somewhere between 'Skull Dice' and 'Swords of Revealing Light'. Whoever would have thought that Joey would talk to Kaiba in some semblance of a normal tone without having to be held back from trying to pummel him to death.

Will wonders never cease?

A half hour, dessert and much discussion later, the group stood up from the table. Joey patted his full stomach and glanced at Téa, hoping to catch her eye. Her eyebrows rose as she caught his glance. He walked over to her and grinned sheepishly before stating his request.

"Hey, Téa, since der's so much lasagna left, couldja gimme some leftovers? I can't ever have enough o' dat stuff. And you only make it once 'n a while so…please? Ya could consider it as part o' my birthday present…" Looking as desperate as he could usually won her over and today was no exception.

She smiled at him, happy that he hadn't ended up trying to kill Kaiba over dinner. Maybe their Duel Monsters discussion would lead to something more akin to friendship between the two. "Sure, Joey, help yourself. But don't take all of it. I need to save some for myself for tomorrow."

"Sure ting, Téa." Joey's grin split his face in two as he heaped a huge portion of lasagna on his plate and went looking for the plastic wrap. Tomorrow's breakfast was ready.

"Well, thanks for dinner, Téa. It was great, as usual," Yugi said.

"Yeah, better than last time when Yugi's grandpa cooked that rice thing. It still gives me nightmares," Tristan added. The two boys ambled slowly out into the living room, presumably to get their coats from the banister that led upstairs. Téa was immediately assaulted by the black haired younger Kaiba as he threw his arms around her waist and threatened to crush her with his hug.

"That was the best dinner I've had in a long time. Maybe you could invite us over for dinner another time," Mokuba said, his voice not betraying a hint of slyness at all. He knew, all right. He knew everything. And Seto was going to get him for the whole mistletoe thing.

Seto, who knew his younger brother MUCH better than Téa did, heard the implied sly tone. Sigh. At least Mokuba was smart enough to keep his mouth shut about his newfound knowledge. Placing his hand on Mokuba's shoulder, he pulled him out of his rib-crushing grip around Téa's middle, feeling jealous that his little brother could be so free with her little friends around. If HE tried something like that, Wheeler would try to break his arms. 'Try' being the operative word.

"Thank you, Gardner. We had a most… interesting evening. But now, it's time to get Mokuba home and ready for bed. Isn't that right, Mokuba?" Seto didn't miss the face his little brother made at him and grinned in response. Oh yes, Seto was so going to get revenge on him for that whole mistletoe fiasco.

"It was quite interesting, wasn't it, Kaiba?" she agreed. He couldn't miss the gleam in her eyes as she stared at him knowingly, the corners of her mouth tilted upwards.

"Mmm, indeed. And dinner was excellent. Thank you again," he said, giving her a little wink that no one else could see.

"Hey, Téa, could we have some leftovers, too? I think that's the best dinner I've had in… in… forever!" Mokuba looked at her pleadingly and she couldn't very well refuse someone as cute as Seto's younger brother.

"Sure, Mokuba. The same rules apply. You have to leave some for me." She grinned down at him and gave his hair a quick ruffle before he ran off to fill a plate and get the plastic wrap from Joey, who was currently taking a heap of the apple crumble as well. What Téa didn't know, wouldn't hurt her, he thought.

"So, I guess I'll see you later," Seto said softly, looking into her eyes and watching them crinkle at the corners as she smiled at him. How he wished he could just take her into his arms and give them all an example of what a real kiss was. Not tonight. Their relationship was too fragile and too new still.

"You better. Or I'll make you regret your little act out there in the snow," she whispered, his eyes full of laughter and wonder at her words. She'd have to plan a time to meet him again. But they could work out the details of that another day, before the Christmas Eve party. Such a shame that they couldn't share a proper goodbye. Soon though…

Joey and Mokuba raced out into the living room, holding their plates of leftovers closely and carefully, as Téa and Seto followed slowly behind them. She watched them all get ready to leave, putting their coats on and stepping into their shoes. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" came on the radio, she noticed absently.

Her friends were all chatting happily amongst themselves as they moved slowly towards the front door until a short game of "Keep Away" broke out when Tristan stole Joey's plate of lasagna. Seto stood off to the side, a smirk on his lips as he watched Téa gather up a few loose ends and herd everyone a little faster towards the front door, after getting back Joey's plate of lasagna. He was definitely going to see her later. She just didn't know how soon 'later' was going to be. Once Mokuba was in bed…

Opening the front door, she shooed them all out, feeling Seto's hand trail fire across her arm as he walked passed her, and shouted, "Thanks for all of your help, guys. See you Christmas Eve." Waving her arm over her head, she watched the five of them depart and sighed happily.

Another successful "Get Ready for Christmas Eve Party." Way more successful than the last time they'd done this at Yugi's. She'd actually managed to get Seto over here this time. Setting up her Aunt Carol with Roland was one of the best ideas she'd ever had.

Will wonders never cease?

Fin

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Author's Notes:

Well, folks. Whew, that's the longest chapter I've ever written but the end has come. Thanks for sticking with it and for giving me such great reviews. I apologize for the cliff-hangers… wait no, I don't. They were a lot of fun.

Stay tuned for the epilogue which will be up in a week or so. Did you really think Seto was going to go home, and stay there, without collecting on his 'binding legal agreement'? Shame on you. It's not going to be a lemon but it will be cute and sweet...

There will also be a sequel to this story. I haven't really decided on a title but it's going to be about the Christmas Eve party. And it will probably have the word Christmas in it somewhere to celebrate the season. After all, no one knows about our newest couple. They have to find out sometime… Poor Joey…

I've issued a bit of a challenge to anyone willing to check it out. It's on my profile page. And let me know about it. I really want to see what you guys and gals come up with.

Thanks for the great laughs. See you in the future.

Aphrael21 ;)