Raine: Hey, sorry it took so long. I don't even have time to explain so I'll just post this with a simple apology. Thanks for your patience.
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"We'll start by going out to get something to eat. Waiters and waitresses are usually the easiest targets for negative comments."
"I never said... There's perfectly good food in the dining room waiting." Kaiba stood up.
"Yeah, but as you said...it's cold. And I don't really go for all this rich people stuff anyway. I don't even know how to pronounce the names, let alone know what they mean. I'd rather just have a good old-fashioned hamburger any day."
"A hamburger?" Kaiba said disgustedly. "No, wait. The food isn't even the point. I'm not going to subject myself to something so demeaning, not to mention stupid."
"Demeaning? No amount of money will hide that fact that you're human and need to eat. Or do you like people thinking you're inhuman?" Joey teased.
"Joey, I'm not going anywhere and I'm not agreeing to this...game, you've decided to play. It's a waste of my time."
"Am - I - a waste of your time too?" Joey asked curiously.
"Right now, yes."
"Fine, I see how it is. Well I'm going out to get me a burger. You can do whatever you feel isn't a waste of your time." Joey walked away.
"Are you coming back?" Kaiba asked as Joey reached for the door.
"I don't know. It might just be a waste of my time." He shrugged and walked out leaving Kaiba feeling guilty, which was so totally unlike him. Exactly what kind of hold did this blonde tyrant have over him? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. These feelings he had for Joey had just complicated his life so much more then he needed. They went against almost every one of his theories. His whole mindset was ruined and only seemed to be crumbling more and more the longer he let the blonde stick around. Just one word from him was enough to open up all kinds of emotions that he'd decided were too restricting to pay attention to. But the door had already been opened. If he closed it now, he'd not only be hurting Joey, he'd be hurting himself. But if he kept Joey around, who knew where he'd find himself next week, abandoning his company so he could help show people that money isn't everything? The whole thing was ridiculous. Showing people a softer side once, wasn't going to change all the years of seeing him treat them like the scum of the earth that they were. Disregarding the fact that none of them were even important enough to care about how they'd feel. So all understanding of what happened next was pointless to even try to comprehend.
"Joey wait!" He ran after him. Joey turned around. "I'll go with you." Joey grinned victoriously and took Kaiba's hand in his own as they headed for the restaurant.
At Burger World
"I can't get a hold of Joey. His Dad told me he called and said he was sleeping over a friends house...but we're all here," Yugi said walking over from the payphone. "Well except Duke and I don't really think that Joey would call Duke his friend." Bakura crossed his arms and scowled.
"I'm not either, so why am I here? You're interrupting my sleep pattern," he asked crossly.
"It is rather late Yugi. What is it that was so important?" Ryou asked before somebody could make a return comment.
"It's only seven o'clock guys. What time do you go to bed?" Tristan asked. Ryou and Bakura exchanged looks.
"Well, I like to get to bed early so my mind is sharp for school," Ryou smiled embarrassed.
"Well that's fine, because we don't have school tomorrow," Yugi said sitting down next to Yami in the booth. They had all collected in a booth toward the back of the building but still in view of most of what was going on everywhere else. Serenity, Tristan, and Ryou were on one side, with Bakura directly across from Ryou, and Yami and Yugi settled in next to Bakura.
"My father didn't say which friend?" Serenity asked, more concerned over her brother.
"No. He just said a friend," Yugi returned.
"I'm sure he's fine, Serenity. He's a sm...tough kid," Tristan tried to reassure her.
"I think we found your answer," Yami said watching Joey and Kaiba walk in, Joey smiling as if he'd just won the lottery eight times in a row. Tristan, Serenity, and Ryou all turned around.
"I guess they worked things out," Yugi said.
"Guess so. Hey Joey! Over here!" Tristan called out. Kaiba quickly released Joey's hand and crossed his arms contorting his face to an annoyed disinterest. Joey, already knowing Kaiba's objection to being there in the first place, made a small attempt at a wave and went up to the front counter to order.
"I guess they're in a hurry," Yugi said as they all turned back around.
"Kaiba and my brother? Why would they be hanging out together?" Serenity said confused. Everyone looked at her but didn't say anything. Tristan put his arm around her shoulders.
"I'll tell you later," he said.
"So Yugi, what's going on?" Ryou asked hoping to get an answer this time. Yugi looked at Yami to answer but Yami was too busy watching Joey at the counter. Kaiba leaned over and said something to him and Joey pushed him back playfully. They paid for the food and left without even a glance toward his friends.
"We're here to talk about us," Yami said.
At Tea's house
"Tea, phone!" a voice drifted down the hall.
"Hang it up!" Tea called back from her room.
"He says it's important!"
"And - I – said, hang it up!" There was a brief silence.
"I told him you'd call him back," her mother said from the doorway. She put the phone down on the dresser and left. Tea looked at it annoyed.
"I don't want to call him back," she mumbled. "If I wanted to talk to the jerk I would have taken the phone the first time he called." She took the phone and threw it in the closet and shut the door. "Nobody treats my friends like that and try to make it okay." The phone started to ring, faintly heard behind the closed door. Tea rolled her eyes. "He is persistent, I'll give him that." She opened the door and picked up the phone. "I don't want to talk to you," she said to the receiver.
"Is this a bad time?"
"Oh, sorry Dad. I thought you were someone else. I'll go find Mom."
The walk home from Burger World
"That wasn't so bad was it?" Joey asked before biting into one of his hamburgers. "And don't worry about my friends. They all know what's going on," he said with his mouth full of food.
"Swallow before you try to talk. That's disgusting." Joey just grinned. He swallowed and took another bite, then offered a different burger to Kaiba. Kaiba eyed it skeptically and waved his hand in rejection. Joey swallowed again.
"Aw, come on. You're not even gonna have one? You know you want it." He waved the burger in Kaiba's face. Kaiba grabbed the burger and threw it in a trashcan as they passed by it. Joey stopped walking. "I can't believe..." Kaiba pulled him into motion again. Joey turned back to the trashcan. "But you just..." Kaiba pulled harder.
"It's just a hamburger. You can go buy another one."
"A hamburger is never – just – a hamburger. Every one has it's own special place in my stomach. Now one part of me will be unsatisfied."
"It would have been anyway if I had eaten it, so stop complaining."
"But I needed it."
"Do you ever think about anything besides food?"
"Well I think about you." Kaiba stopped walking and raised an eyebrow in interest.
"What about me?" he asked.
"How cool it'd be if you stopped being such a jerk for once and just agreed with me. To tell you the truth I don't know how long I could hang around with someone who's always contradicting me and making me feel stupid."
"You can go at any time."
"But I know you don't want that. Any more then I want it. I just want you to like me."
"I do more then like you," Kaiba said before he realized that he had. Joey slid his arms around Kaiba's neck and kissed him intimately. "And there's more then one way to taste a hamburger," Kaiba smiled, and kissed him again. "Let's get back to the mansion."
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"We'll start by going out to get something to eat. Waiters and waitresses are usually the easiest targets for negative comments."
"I never said... There's perfectly good food in the dining room waiting." Kaiba stood up.
"Yeah, but as you said...it's cold. And I don't really go for all this rich people stuff anyway. I don't even know how to pronounce the names, let alone know what they mean. I'd rather just have a good old-fashioned hamburger any day."
"A hamburger?" Kaiba said disgustedly. "No, wait. The food isn't even the point. I'm not going to subject myself to something so demeaning, not to mention stupid."
"Demeaning? No amount of money will hide that fact that you're human and need to eat. Or do you like people thinking you're inhuman?" Joey teased.
"Joey, I'm not going anywhere and I'm not agreeing to this...game, you've decided to play. It's a waste of my time."
"Am - I - a waste of your time too?" Joey asked curiously.
"Right now, yes."
"Fine, I see how it is. Well I'm going out to get me a burger. You can do whatever you feel isn't a waste of your time." Joey walked away.
"Are you coming back?" Kaiba asked as Joey reached for the door.
"I don't know. It might just be a waste of my time." He shrugged and walked out leaving Kaiba feeling guilty, which was so totally unlike him. Exactly what kind of hold did this blonde tyrant have over him? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. These feelings he had for Joey had just complicated his life so much more then he needed. They went against almost every one of his theories. His whole mindset was ruined and only seemed to be crumbling more and more the longer he let the blonde stick around. Just one word from him was enough to open up all kinds of emotions that he'd decided were too restricting to pay attention to. But the door had already been opened. If he closed it now, he'd not only be hurting Joey, he'd be hurting himself. But if he kept Joey around, who knew where he'd find himself next week, abandoning his company so he could help show people that money isn't everything? The whole thing was ridiculous. Showing people a softer side once, wasn't going to change all the years of seeing him treat them like the scum of the earth that they were. Disregarding the fact that none of them were even important enough to care about how they'd feel. So all understanding of what happened next was pointless to even try to comprehend.
"Joey wait!" He ran after him. Joey turned around. "I'll go with you." Joey grinned victoriously and took Kaiba's hand in his own as they headed for the restaurant.
At Burger World
"I can't get a hold of Joey. His Dad told me he called and said he was sleeping over a friends house...but we're all here," Yugi said walking over from the payphone. "Well except Duke and I don't really think that Joey would call Duke his friend." Bakura crossed his arms and scowled.
"I'm not either, so why am I here? You're interrupting my sleep pattern," he asked crossly.
"It is rather late Yugi. What is it that was so important?" Ryou asked before somebody could make a return comment.
"It's only seven o'clock guys. What time do you go to bed?" Tristan asked. Ryou and Bakura exchanged looks.
"Well, I like to get to bed early so my mind is sharp for school," Ryou smiled embarrassed.
"Well that's fine, because we don't have school tomorrow," Yugi said sitting down next to Yami in the booth. They had all collected in a booth toward the back of the building but still in view of most of what was going on everywhere else. Serenity, Tristan, and Ryou were on one side, with Bakura directly across from Ryou, and Yami and Yugi settled in next to Bakura.
"My father didn't say which friend?" Serenity asked, more concerned over her brother.
"No. He just said a friend," Yugi returned.
"I'm sure he's fine, Serenity. He's a sm...tough kid," Tristan tried to reassure her.
"I think we found your answer," Yami said watching Joey and Kaiba walk in, Joey smiling as if he'd just won the lottery eight times in a row. Tristan, Serenity, and Ryou all turned around.
"I guess they worked things out," Yugi said.
"Guess so. Hey Joey! Over here!" Tristan called out. Kaiba quickly released Joey's hand and crossed his arms contorting his face to an annoyed disinterest. Joey, already knowing Kaiba's objection to being there in the first place, made a small attempt at a wave and went up to the front counter to order.
"I guess they're in a hurry," Yugi said as they all turned back around.
"Kaiba and my brother? Why would they be hanging out together?" Serenity said confused. Everyone looked at her but didn't say anything. Tristan put his arm around her shoulders.
"I'll tell you later," he said.
"So Yugi, what's going on?" Ryou asked hoping to get an answer this time. Yugi looked at Yami to answer but Yami was too busy watching Joey at the counter. Kaiba leaned over and said something to him and Joey pushed him back playfully. They paid for the food and left without even a glance toward his friends.
"We're here to talk about us," Yami said.
At Tea's house
"Tea, phone!" a voice drifted down the hall.
"Hang it up!" Tea called back from her room.
"He says it's important!"
"And - I – said, hang it up!" There was a brief silence.
"I told him you'd call him back," her mother said from the doorway. She put the phone down on the dresser and left. Tea looked at it annoyed.
"I don't want to call him back," she mumbled. "If I wanted to talk to the jerk I would have taken the phone the first time he called." She took the phone and threw it in the closet and shut the door. "Nobody treats my friends like that and try to make it okay." The phone started to ring, faintly heard behind the closed door. Tea rolled her eyes. "He is persistent, I'll give him that." She opened the door and picked up the phone. "I don't want to talk to you," she said to the receiver.
"Is this a bad time?"
"Oh, sorry Dad. I thought you were someone else. I'll go find Mom."
The walk home from Burger World
"That wasn't so bad was it?" Joey asked before biting into one of his hamburgers. "And don't worry about my friends. They all know what's going on," he said with his mouth full of food.
"Swallow before you try to talk. That's disgusting." Joey just grinned. He swallowed and took another bite, then offered a different burger to Kaiba. Kaiba eyed it skeptically and waved his hand in rejection. Joey swallowed again.
"Aw, come on. You're not even gonna have one? You know you want it." He waved the burger in Kaiba's face. Kaiba grabbed the burger and threw it in a trashcan as they passed by it. Joey stopped walking. "I can't believe..." Kaiba pulled him into motion again. Joey turned back to the trashcan. "But you just..." Kaiba pulled harder.
"It's just a hamburger. You can go buy another one."
"A hamburger is never – just – a hamburger. Every one has it's own special place in my stomach. Now one part of me will be unsatisfied."
"It would have been anyway if I had eaten it, so stop complaining."
"But I needed it."
"Do you ever think about anything besides food?"
"Well I think about you." Kaiba stopped walking and raised an eyebrow in interest.
"What about me?" he asked.
"How cool it'd be if you stopped being such a jerk for once and just agreed with me. To tell you the truth I don't know how long I could hang around with someone who's always contradicting me and making me feel stupid."
"You can go at any time."
"But I know you don't want that. Any more then I want it. I just want you to like me."
"I do more then like you," Kaiba said before he realized that he had. Joey slid his arms around Kaiba's neck and kissed him intimately. "And there's more then one way to taste a hamburger," Kaiba smiled, and kissed him again. "Let's get back to the mansion."