I wake up again from a light nap, glancing at the clock to see that it was now well past noon. Jou still hadn't woken up so there was really nothing left for me to do besides lounge around the hospital room like a bum. There was a bathroom near the entrance of the room too, so I decide that it's a good place to go right now.
I step inside and close the door softly, leaving it open a crack, there's really no point in trying to conceal my modesty, no one here to see besides an unconscious Jou. As I finish relieving myself I see the door to the hospital room swing open, and a figure that I can't see too clearly through the small opening of the bathroom door stride in quickly. If the person noticed there was someone in the bathroom, they ignored it and stepped over to Jou's bedside instead.
Slowly, I creak the door open slightly, leaving enough room for me to peek out and snatch a glance at our unexpected visitor. I've never seen Seto Kaiba looks so…dressed down before. Clad in a pair of loose black slacks and a white, only half-way buttoned up collared shit, exposing the creamy skin of his chest beneath. He glares down at the image of Jou laid out on the bed before glancing over at the table near by, as if checking to make sure something was there. The black roses, I remind myself, smiling at the fact that the bastard did have a soft side, buried somewhere beneath all that ice.
"Are you going to be in there all day Otogi? Perhaps I should call for some assistance?"
Dammit, what does this guy have a radar or something? I step out of my shelter and clear my throat, turning to look at Kaiba but he's still staring down at Jou like he was expecting him to burst out in song or perform some other amazing trick. No sound came though, unless you count the steady mechanical beeping admitting from one of the many monitors plugged into his wrist.
I open my mouth to say something, but I am cut short as Kaiba takes that moment to turn that chilling gaze on me. "What happened last night? I want to know everything." He asks, no, he demands. Whatever I was about to say to him was ripped right out of my throat as I am faced with that deadly serious tone.
"Well…" I look down at the ground as I ready myself to explain, not quite comfortable looking into the searching blue gaze right now. "Myself and Bakura went over to his apartment last night…maybe around 5. When we arrived we heard some strange noises coming from inside. When we managed to get the door down we found Jou, well…like this." I gestured over to the bed that we were standing next to, looking up to see Kaiba's expression falter for a moment at the display.
"His father did this I presume."
"Yeah." I breath out.
"I don't understand why he hasn't left, that environment is not good for him."
"Maybe he didn't have anywhere to go."
Kaiba snorts at that. "I don't believe that. You think with all those annoyingly loyal friends he has, one of them wouldn't take him in?'
Well, I have do agree with that. Honda or Yugi defiantly would have helped out, but I got the feeling that Jou didn't really want to be helped, if just for the fact that he wouldn't want to worry his friends over his own personal problems. Or maybe for the sake of his own pride, as stupid as that was. "What about you? Would you help him, if he asked?"
"He's already made it clear that he doesn't want me in his life." I sigh as he turns his back towards me, looking at the window or whatever, dark cloud over his head practically visible in the bright morning sun. These two exhaust me, really.
"Then what the hell are you doing here?" I snap, I can't help myself, he keeps his back turned to me and for a moment I'm not sure If he's ignoring me or if he just didn't hear me.
"I like to keep track of what belongs to me." He answers. It figures, even though he claims that he has no feelings for Jou, he still considers him a possession, an asset to meet his own selfish needs. I watch him turn slightly to glance down at Jou's bedside once more before checking his watch. "I should be going now."
"Yeah, wouldn't want Jou to wake up and get the impression that you actually gave a shit, right?" I snap in the most condescending voice I can muster, expecting him to shot back something equally nasty, but he merely turns to me and gives me his trademark smirk.
"Now you're learning."
Yeah, I'm learning, that you're a fucking coward. I so wish I had the nerve to say that to his face too, but I like my ass as it is, and would not appreciate his foot up it. "What's so important, might I ask?"
"I have some work to take care of. Not that you would know anything about that."
"Of course." I overlook the obvious insult on my business skills. Dungeon Dice Monsters hadn't been as successful as I would have hoped, but at least I took a good chunk of business from Kaiba Corp, and he knew it. There was more important things to worry about at the moment than sales though. If only I could make Kaiba realize that, maybe we'd be getting somewhere.
"If you'd excuse me." Seto turned began walking away from the window briskly, stoping in his tracks at the weak moan coming from the hospital bed. Jou stirred slightly and brought a hand up to his head, looking quite uncomfortable.
"Could you guys please shut the hell up? I feel like shit…" Jou groaned and rolled over to take a peek at his tormentors. "Seto?" Jou gasps out slightly. I look at Kaiba, he looks at me, nobody moves. I think the blonde looks shocked but it's hard to tell because he looks exhausted and dazed at the same time. "What are you doing here?" He tries again, not bothering to acknowledge my existence just yet, but I'm not that insulted.
"I…really should be going." The brunettes speaks softly, staring down at Jou in a dazed manner before tearing his gaze away quickly. As he heads towards the door I step in front of him and cross my arms like a bodyguard would do. I'm not sure if how much this is supposed to threaten him, being as I don't exactly have the bodyguard build, but he stops in his tracks anyway.
"Get out of my way…" He hisses out, looking out of the corner of his eye to spot Jou, probably hoping that he had fallen asleep again.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I hear the blonde slur out from behind us, looks like Kaiba is going to have to confront him after all. I'm glad I have a front row seat for this show. I watch as Kaiba turns from me, walking stiffly over to Jou's bedside and looking down at him with complete indifference.
"I see you're still alive, mutt." Kaiba snaps back, his resorting back to 'dog' comments a clear sign that he was uncomfortable.
"Yeah…I bet you're real disappointed too." Jou replied, and even though I knew the statement was meant as a retort, the blonde sounded anything but angry. He just sounded miserable.
"No." Was Kaiba's simple reply. In a more perfect, cinematic world, this would be the time when Mr. tall dark and broody would confess his love for the man who was lying in the hospital bed. They would embrace one another and gaze into eachother's eyes, promising never to fight again. The Kaiba would carry him off into his horse and buggy and ride off into the sunset and whatnot, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, this was the really real world, and that probably was not going to happen. Especially not with two hard heads such as the men in front of me. Instead Kaiba glared down at the injured boy, and the blonde just stared back blankly. Perhaps it was time for me to step in.
"So…those are really nice flowers Jou." I gesture over to the large display of black roses. "I wonder who sent them?" Jou blinks at me for a second, probably just noticing my presence in the room before turning his head to look at the dark roses.
"Why are they…black?" Was the first thing that popped out of his mouth, before he smiled slightly. "They're really nice."
"Yeah, must have been real expensive too, for so much of a rare color. Right Kaiba?" I comment casually, but if Kaiba's glare is any indication, he knows exactly what I'm getting at. Now we just have to see if any of this is sinking into Jou's pretty little blonde head.
"Seto…did you send these?" Ah, there is is. Jou looks up at the brunette in curiosity, while the other just stares down at him with that blank as a rock face.
"Perhaps."
"That's not an answer." Jou snaps, obviously not in a mood to beat around the bush. But then again, who would be after just having a near death experience only to wake up in a hospital bed with your ex-boyfriend and a guy who put you in a dog suit for company. "Yes or no." Instead of answering the command, Kaiba sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed, placing his hand on the blonde's knee lightly.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Jou flinched a bit at the touch, but didn't protest. It felt way to good to have those hands back on him once more, even if they were being separated by a cotton sheet, and a thin crappy hospital gown. "For what?"
"For treating you like a whore." I blink as the blunt comment that came from the usually eloquent man's mouth, but continue watching the whole exchange with fascination. Now this was really getting interesting. "And like an idiot." Jou doesn't say anything, just looks up at his former lover quietly. "I'm the one who's the idiot whore. I don't even deserve you." I try not to laugh at what was probably one of the strangest apologies I've ever heard, especially coming from the mouth of none other than Seto Kaiba.
"Seto…what are you talking about?" Jou asks softly, and I'm glad he's asked the question, because I certainly didn't want to. With that said, Kaiba decided to elaborate, not taking his eyes off the blonde lying down before him.
"Every day, I sell myself, my persona, my humanity, my entire life, just to get ahead. To make more money, to be successful, to be the best." He closes his eyes, I can see his grip tightening on the bedsheets below. "Where has it gotten me? I'm miserable." He admits, and I'm really not surprised. "I'm the one who's an idiot." He hisses out the last part.
"What are you telling me all the things I already know for?"
"I want to live up to the reputation of being a genius I have, and make the first smart decision I ever made in my life." He speaks, taking hold of Jou's hand and staring down at him hard, as if he was trying to burn holes in the blonde with the intensity of his gaze.
"Seto…"
"Please Jou…" He grits out the first word with what I assume is much pain, I don't think I've ever heard him say please. "Let me be with you." The tone in the last sentence is so desperate, I almost feel sorry for the guy. Jou's expression is unreadable, and I'm wondering what his reaction is going to be. If he rejects Kaiba now, the brunette would probably storm out and start building that ice fortress around himself once more. Or perhaps throw myself and Jou through the window out of pure rage and wounded pride. I for one am really starting to hope his reaction goes in Kaiba's favor.
"Prove it to me." Jou states harshly. "Prove to me that this is real, and not just another one of your games." Kaiba seems to think about this for a minute, before leaning down, brushing a few strands of hair out of Jou's face. The blonde nuzzles slightly into the touch, looking up at Kaiba with wide eyes as he presses their lips together, moaning into the kiss. "Seto…" A kiss? That's it? I for one would not be so impressed, so why does Jou look like he just died and gone to heaven?
"I've been wanting to do that forever." Kaiba gasps out and Jou latches his arms around his neck. Oh I get it. So they never shared a kiss during their affair. Sort of like Julia Roberts thing in that movie. Heh, I guess Kaiba really is a whore…but I digress. I quietly make my exit as the two get all lovey-dovey with eachother, satisfied that I had done my part for now. It looked like the two were heading in the right direction, but who knew what tomorrow would bring. If you ask me, they were made for eachother. Two peas in a fucked up pod. But no one really ever asks me anyway.
Satanic Mechanic: Like, omg! I updated. I hope people are still interested. Anyway, there will be one last chapter after this, to wrap everything up. Please bear with me! I really do love this fic, and I know I've been a bad girl with not updating. But this thing always gets put on the back burner for some reason.
Ah well…off to finish the 4th chapter of Black Ink, and start working on a valentine's day ficlet bunny that won't go away. Cheerio!
