I know, I know...and I don't have an excuse. I was just naughty and let other plot bunnies attack me. If it helps, I'm veeeeeery, veeeeeery sorry. Please don't hate me.
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"To Bambi; 'cause he's sexy as hell and I get ta see him naked."
A chorus of catcalls greeted the blonde's toast, even as Ryou flushed a bright crimson and looked around in vain for an escape route. Finding none, he looked pleadingly at the man who was toasting him, unwittingly letting his eyes fulfil his nickname in their wideness.
"Jou!" he squeaked in protest, still blushing like a catholic virgin who just got groped for the first time. "You make it sound so…"
"Dirty?" a spiky haired blonde offered, setting his shot glass down on the table with a wicked grin.
"Enviable?" This came from the man seated on the other side of the blonde, his own hair being peaked and bedecked with bright colours.
Ryou was effectively struck dumb with embarrassment, but Jou just laughed and tossed an ice cube at the terrible twosome. "Cool it youse two – just because you're jealous." Marik and Yami snickered, as did the rest of the large group. A large number of Golden Eye's models had gathered in one of the greeting rooms, though both Kaiba and Otogi were conspicuously absent. That didn't mean the party was not still going on – right now, most of them were seated on one of the circular sofas. Large enough to hold all of them, the velvet round even had a table in the middle and the glass top was pretty much invisible for the drinks covering it.
"So how did you wangle getting to see Bambi naked then?" Yami asked as he nibbled on the cocktail stick laden heavily with fruit. Violet eyes gleamed with a sort of feral interest – there was a sense of power about the Egyptian man despite his small height. Despite being shorter than the necessary height for Golden Eye's models, Yami had been hired immediately.
That was how beautiful he was.
Jou chuckled; leaning back lazily on the couch as he ruffled his permanently tousled hair. "Well, I haven't yet." He grinned at Ryou's predictable blush, white teeth flashing in his tanned face. "But I think I might wrangle a no-clothes shoot out of, 'Togi."
"You sure you don't want to be doing the shoot with Otogi himself?" That snide statement came from Carly who was sitting on the other side of Jou. Pegasus' assistant proved to be less uptight than her businesslike appearance had suggested at first. Right now, grey eyes were looking amusedly towards Jou as she tapped her pen absently against her cheek. The woman never seemed to stop working – there was always some piece of paperwork that Pegasus had forgotten to do that ended up being foisted on the woman. Slim glasses gave her an owlish look as she frowned down at the sheet of figures on her lap, but the half empty cocktail glass in front of her suggested that she wasn't just here for the company.
Unabashed, Jou gave his trademark grin; rubbing the nape of his neck with the graceful ease he went through life with. "I've done enough shoots with, 'Togi. Time for some new blood."
"Meaning he can see Otogi naked anytime he wants." Mai's contribution to the conversation effectively steered attention away from the still furiously blushing Ryou, a fact he noted and was supremely grateful for. The blonde flicked her hair and innocently attached her lips to the straw of her cocktail as all eyes turned in surprise towards her and Jou.
"Way ta let da cat out of da bag, Mai," Jou grumbled as he rolled his eyes, though a pleased expression lingered around his handsome features.
"Don't play the innocent, Puppy," Mai said with a chuckle. One of the things Ryou had come to learn in the two months he had been here was that all models ended up having some sort of nickname, a pen name if you will. He'd acquired his fairly early – Bambi had caused a few chuckles and had dutifully stuck. Jou's had hardly been surprising. With those eyes and his bouncy nature, it was hard not to liken him to the young creature his name came from. "You know you were going to let it slip sometime!"
"Let what slip?" That came from Yami, or Pharaoh as his colleagues called him. With his regal air and powerful aura, the name for an ancient ruler was pretty much already ingrained in the Egyptian's nature.
"Nothing…" Jou tried to look coy, but the expression was met with impatient groans and a shower of potato chips thrown towards his recumbent form. Chuckling, he brushed himself down as a slightly dreamy look crossed across his amber gaze.
"Oh God, he's in love isn't he?" Marik rolled amethyst eyes, though his wicked smile accentuated his rugged good looks. Another Egyptian themed nickname for another Egyptian man; Marik was Ra, the King of All.
Ryou perked up, looking towards Jou with interest now that he wasn't the centre of attention. The blonde didn't seem overly embarrassed, but a slight rosy tint was vaguely visible across the golden skin on his cheeks.
"I wouldn't call it love…" he demurred, clearly enjoying the curiosity in everyone around him, but Mai didn't let him lead them on too much.
"The Puppy's getting fucked and fucked good," she said dryly, violet eyes winking amusedly over at Ryou before flicking back to a pouting Jou. Whatever protest he had against that statement was lost in the consequential uproar her words created.
"Wahey! Way to go, Jou!"
"Man, I knew you guys were flirting, but you're such a tease with everyone…"
"Sleeping your way to the top, huh?"
The last comment made Jou bristle slightly.
"Wha? No way, that's not how it is. Me and 'Togi…have a healthy thing going on and…stop laughing Marik!"
The platinum blonde was indeed wriggling around in his seat, his amusement evident in his cackles of delight. Marik had one of those insane laughs that was slightly freaky, but soon had you laughing along with it and the whole room was gradually sinking into appreciative giggles while Jou looked even more flustered – a rare sight.
"No offence, Jou…but sleeping with your boss!" The Egyptian sank back into helpless laughter and didn't even notice when Jou flicked a cocktail stick at him.
"Bastard," Jou snapped, but he was clearly too happy to be anything more than peevish. "'Togi isn't my boss, you ass, Pegasus is."
Yami snorted, wrinkling his nose in a disdainful expression. "Bullshit," he said dryly as he sipped at his murky looking shot, "We all know that Pegsy is just the figurehead here. We'll know soon enough who's the real power in this place and it sure as hell isn't the madman in the attic."
There were snorts of amusement from the group at this comment, answering ripples of derision circling out from the group.
"Mr Crawford is the public front for the company," Carly added, trying to be diplomatic even as she hid the appreciative smile, "But I do admit that, left to his own devices, this company would crumble into dust. What with the new management schemes coming up this year, we're in for some conflict higher up."
Agreement came from the gathered models, from all in fact, except Ryou who looked confusedly towards Carly. "Management schemes?" he asked, demeanour made awkward by admitting to not knowing about something everyone else seemed to.
"The Board of Directors have been pressing a new insurance plan. With it in place, there'll be a much more rigid method of processing model payment plans, not to mention a failsafe system to alleviate from a shall we say, dictator's rule of one company." Carly had clearly headed into businessperson mode and she paused when she saw the blank look on the whitenette's face. "It's basically to incorporate a more rigid power system, make it more hierarchal in a sense." Another blank look.
"What she's trying to say is, when this system's put through, Pegasus will have to give some of his power to someone else beneath him. We'll know who's in charge – it will be official." Surprisingly, the literal translation came from Mai. Seeing Ryou's look of surprise, the blonde woman grinned amusedly. "Sweetheart, if you don't learn the legal jargon, your pretty face is going to get you in some deep shit with your employers."
Looking sheepish, he shrugged awkwardly. "So who will end up in charge."
Carly fielded that question – being as close as she was to the top, most of the employed models turned to her for information, information that she relayed happily. "Either Kaiba or Otogi – that's what all the fuss is about."
It did seem to make sense – from what Ryou had seen, the two long term models had certainly seemed to have made most of the decisions around him. "Who decides…picks between the two of them though?"
"What is this: twenty questions?" Marik asked and the whitenette flushed under his teasing tone. Being the newest among them, not to mention the youngest was hardly inspiring any confidence.
"Leave him alone, Marik," Mai chided, flicking a perfect curl back over her shoulder. "This is Bambi's first gig – we're the ones supposed to be helping him along."
"Quite." Carly sent him a smile and he relaxed slightly, though pale skin was still stained with a ruby tint. "Mr Pegasus will be making the official announcement at the end of this year so…competition will be heated."
"More competition?" Ryou's voice quavered slightly, nervousness seeping into his tone – an increased rivalry between the two was certainly not a prophecy for a peaceful work environment. Judging from the looks they had been giving each other at his last shoot with them, that had only been the tip of the iceberg.
Yami nodded grimly, crimson eyes shadowed in thought. "It's going to get ugly and quickly as well. Those two aren't going to be pulling any punches."
"But how will they persuade Mr Crawford?" Embarrassed at asking another question, Ryou looked sheepish, but mahogany eyes turned to each of his colleagues, hoping for an answer.
But he received none and he was slightly surprised to find that several of them wouldn't meet his eyes. Then again, several pointed gazes were turned towards Jou who flushed, but tilted his chin defiantly.
Am I missing something?
Ryou once more felt that familiar pain of knowing that everyone else knew something, but weren't letting him in. Nibbling on a lower lip, he looked away, automatically hiding behind the barrier of his hair. Was there nowhere in this world where people would actually let him in?
A hand complete with immaculate indigo nail varnish appeared in his line of vision, brushing away the curtain of snowy white hair and he looked up into sympathetic violet eyes.
"Let's tale a walk, Bambi…"
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"They're only looking out for you, sweetling."
Ryou nodded absently, closing his eyes as he let the midday sun bathe his face in its warmth – it was late May and the heat was tolerable, though a heat wave was predicted for the oncoming weeks. Beside him, Mai had removed her jacket and was gaining several appreciative looks from the people they passed as they meandered through the park. As usual, she paid them no heed, her attention being focused on the young man she was walking with. Ryou was attracting his own share of glances from people along the way, but he was lost in his own thoughts.
"If you walk with your eyes closed, you'll end up banging into something." The wry comment startled the whitenettes out of his daze and he gave a sheepish smile, brown eyes opening fully.
"Sorry…just thinking."
"I saw." Mai sighed and, gripping Ryou's elbow, began to lead him over to a bench at the edge of the path. "Don't get hung up on this, Ryou, it's nothing to get your panties in a twist over."
Ryou flushed, pouting slightly in a way that inadvertently made him all the more appealing. "I'm not hung up on it. I just…" He sighed, letting Mai seat him down on the bench. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he let his chin rest on the table they formed, eyes downcast. "I just wish people would let me in on whatever this is about – I mean you know, don't you."
"Yeah, I know…" Mai admitted, her voice soft as she rested her hands behind her head, leaning back so she could look up towards the sky. A dappling shadow rested over both of them, the bright light filtering through a sparse ceiling of green leaves to bathe them in a filigree of shifting light. "But they are trying to keep you safe."
"I can take care of myself you know," Ryou mumbled into his knees. With his eyes on the ground, he couldn't see the sympathetic look crossing Mai's face, nor the sadness in her large eyes.
"No you can't. Honey…you're new to this business. Time was it used to be about being beautiful and getting the perfect shot." She sighed, wriggling in the sun like a happy cat – a sunaholic, that was what Mai was. "Now it's all about whose got the power. There are the ones that dabble in mind magic, the ones who can give you a paper cup and talk you into believing that it's gold. Marik and Yami, those two have silver tongues. Good thing they're happy where they are else we'd all be in trouble. It's like they have powers those two. Then there are the ones who don't give a shit about anyone else. They'll bitch, they'll blag, they'll do anything to get their way to the top. You don't want to get in their way sweetheart, they'll just use you and lose you before you've even had time to fall in love with them."
Ryou was half aware that she gave no examples for this branch of the modelling species; then again, he probably didn't want to know.
"And then there are the artists." Mai's voice had softened, gaining a sunny tone that warmed Ryou despite his black mood. "The ones who go by the old ways – it's making art, Ryou, it's making art with your body, your face. It's knowing that you're beautiful and taking that to the edge of perfection and letting it spread out to the world. The artists don't need to be divas, they don't need to push and pull. They're above it because it's all about the beauty." The whitenettes felt a hand rest on the back of his head, felt Mai stroke him gently with a sort of languid sadness in her actions.
"You and me, Bambi, we're the artists. True, I've had to learn the jargon to save my hide, I've had to go deep down that technical road, but I'm still in it for the art." She gave a sort of helpless laugh and he was surprised to sense a bitterness in her voice that he'd never heard before. "Problem with being an artist is that you can get lost in the beauty – when the art comes first, nothing else compares. You sacrifice love for that one perfect image. We give it all up, little one, but there's a beauty in the path to the perfect image. You've got it in you, I can see it." Another sigh, this one lighter as the pressure of her hand disappeared to places unknown. "We don't need the power, but we're the key ones in the power struggle. Which is why you have to be careful – that pretty face of yours, it's attracting attention from those that rule this world and you're too god damned sweet to see it. You're going to have people who think the sun shines out of your eyes and you'll have to get used to being loved. You're going to be pulled up the ladder while everyone else has to climb, but you can't believe anything anyone says, sweetheart. I've been there – that sugar they speak has a poisoned lining and you don't want to take their offer, no matter what they say."
Ryou was confused by now, lost in this sea of words and warning and talks of artists and beauty, but he let the waves wash over him as he sought to take it all in.
"Take their promises with a pinch salt and you stay as sweet as you are now. Leave the protection to me, Ryou, I'll take care of you." Mai smiled as she looked towards the hunched up figure and couldn't resist smoothing down an errant lock of white hair. "I'll take their poison because I know how – you concentrate on being beautiful."
"Mai…"
She silenced him with a wave of her hand as she looked down into wistful brown eyes. "I don't need thanks, sweetling and you don't need to know why. I used to know someone like you, that's all and it was a long time before I realised what was happening to him, but by then it was too late. He's one of the big people now and whatever me and him had, it's gone now. He sacrificed love for power and it's gotten him what he wanted, but he's lost himself in the process." There, that was it – Ryou saw that sadness in her eyes again before they lit up like violet lamps once more. "Just trust me, that's all I ask."
"I trust you – don't see how I couldn't." This was said with honesty as Ryou sent a smile up at her from his hunched position and it was returned with equal warmth.
"Just don't go telling people we had this talk – they'll think I'm going soft." Mai busied herself brushing her skirt down as Ryou watched her with an odd sort of wonder. This woman, as beautiful as she was, had a heart and all that heart seemed to be set on helping him and he had no idea why. She was a golden angel who seemed to have some hidden goal, but he couldn't help, but know that there was no way she was going to let him fall. The whitenettes was lost for words and was merely content to watch her for the time being as she got out of whatever odd mood she had been in.
"Oh…" Her eyes had suddenly taken on that sad quality again as she turned to him, putting her face on a level with his. "Ryou, I know how much you like Jou, but don't put too much faith in him, okay?"
"Why not?" This had surprised Ryou – Jou had been the first friendly face he had seen at Golden Eye. He was the lively chatter that had gotten him through hard days and the solid shoulder he knew he could lean on. Whenever he'd had a bad shoot or had his photos rejected, it was to Jou he had always turned for some cheery comment or sunny smile. It was Jou who had shown him the roots and made sure that he wasn't late for his schedule – Jou kept him running.
"Trust me on this one – for all his friendliness, there's actually a mind behind that pretty face and you don't get where he is through being nice. It's perfectly all right to be his friend, but don't take his words as the truth. Don't let him in too deep else he'll hurt you real bad and probably won't give it a second thought."
Jou? His Jou? The same Jou he had spent a morning watching as he tried to catch cheese puffs in his mouth? The same Jou who laughed at everything and had an odd perchance for watching old 'I Love Lucy' episodes? The same Jou who could always sense when Ryou was down in the dumps and bring him back up again with an enthusiastic hug.
But this was Mai and how could he not believe her?
"O-okay…" he managed to say and the blonde looked relieved as she ruffled his hair.
"You're a good kid – too good to be true in fact." Mai chuckled as she smoothed her hair down, returning to her sunbathing. "Give it a few years and you and me will be heading down to Milan – it's High Fashion for us beautiful people and I'd like to see anyone stop us."
Ryou laughed softly – images of him making it in the world of high fashion were so absurd that he couldn't help laughing, but her optimism was contagious.
"Where would we live?" he asked, mimicking her position so he could catch a few rays as well.
"Penthouse apartment – we can have a floor full of pretty boys for you to play with and a floor full of beautiful guys for me to flirt with, but the top floor will be just for us."
"You're a menace Mai – you have the male population of Domino after you and they're all wasted on you." Ryou could feel Mai's grin, even though his eyes were closed.
"I just haven't found the right guy for me yet, sweetheart," she drawled lazily, her fingers brushing over his cheek slightly. "I haven't been interested in love for a while." If his eyes had been open, he might have seen a look of brief wistfulness crossing her strong features, a shadowed expression of loss and pain that was quickly erased when he spoke next.
"So, penthouse in Milan then…"
"Yep, but it's the nightlife we'll be there for. Parties for miles around, all with our names on the VIP list because we'll be the biggest thing for years around. We'll be the Queen Bees."
Ryou gave a surprised laugh. "Queen Bees? Us?"
"Damn straight." He gained a mischievous wink from the woman lying next to him. "We're gonna be top of the model world, you and me. You and I are gonna go far, Bambi…"
Hearing his nickname, Ryou opened his eyes fully as he looked curiously towards Mai. "Hey, Mai?"
"Hmm?" She didn't open her eyes, but she did tilt her head slightly in his direction.
"How come you don't have a modelling name? Everyone has one except you."
"I've still got my first one from my first agency." Mai made a face, wrinkling up her nose in distaste. "But I think my assassin team has gotten pretty much everybody who knows about that."
"Come on – you know you want to tell me!" Chuckling softly, Ryou turned warm eyes towards her, part of him aching with a sort of joy that simply came from being able to be this comfortable with someone.
"Not really – if I told you, sweetheart, I'd have to kill you."
"Is it that bad? Can it get much worse than Bambi?"
"It's much worse than being named after some doe-eyed deer." Mai snorted, her eyes flickering behind her lids which made her eye shadow glitter with restrained iridescence. "I'd drop it now before I'm forced to introduce you to your fanclub."
"Fanclub?" Ryou looked perplexed at his.
"All those high school girls who saw the Hugo Boss adverts – they did plaster it on every bus in the area, so you're famous now."
Ryou shivered and looked at her with horror in his eyes. "You wouldn't!"
"Push the nickname thing any further and you'll find out – Mai will do fine as a name."
"Spoilsport…."
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I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Miyosuke – it was their review that reminded me I had to update this. A handy hint for anyone who likes this story and wants chapters churned out faster, just keep nagging me. I crack under constant pressure so after the first few nags, I'm writing away. Anyway, I got Miyosuke's prod and I started writing immediately.
Oh and I've had a few requests for fanart for this story. The problem is, I'm so bad at drawing, my squares look like circles – if any of you know or are good at art, I'd adore seeing some work for this fic. Anyway, on to the reviews:
Snowice: You made me blush, terribly – praise always flusters me and I ended up going ruby red (which is hard when you have skin as dark as mine) Heh, what is it? Three months since I updated? That's pretty bad…Heh, I do that – ramble in my reviews I mean. Gawd, I really need to get this animated, huh? I'd love to see this in real life or as one of the anime episodes! Eeep, you're making me blush – the descriptions are because I normally have some random image in my head and it's the only way to get my thoughts across. Wow, well, this is a bit late, but happy birthday! I'm glad I could make it a good one.
Sunshine Pie: Each to their own – I'm pretty much open to any pairing. I'll certainly read anything and I write loads of pairings, depending on what plot bunnies I get.
MotherCHOWGoddess: If someone had offered, I'd have still been…uh…thanking them now. I have sent out a plea, I just hope someone answer. Thanks – the English teacher finally succumbed to my charms when I showed him the starts of my original fiction so that's smoothed over. It's my Biology teacher now who seems to be threatened by me (s'not my fault people ask me and not her…) Heh, I don't even have a day job to quit! At least I'd be making money then, but sadly I'm still stuck in school…Sigh
Wish he was Mine: Um…yeah, sorry about that…I hope you haven't been craving too much. But I have my muse back at least! You're bragging again – you don't need to make me feel inferior because you have so many fans…ha, Tracee!
TinyClownBean1: Again, sorry for the wait – but your review made me all squishy and happy. )
Kitsune's Grrl: I know…I know…so damn short, but this one is longer! And so should the next one (I'm halfway through it so hopefully a quick update is in order)
Clingy: Chuckles I got sidetracked writing those images. It was fun coming up with outfits and having them as models just gave me excuse to describe them so thoroughly. Hmm…I'm not sure whether there'll be a lemon or not – I'll probably post something on AFF, but I'm trying to stay clear of smut right now. I'm not sure enough of my writing skills to do it confidently.
Ragdollsally13: There's a whole lot of Ryou and Seto interaction in the next chapter, so that's something for you to look forward too. Actually, this should be a fairly long story – I originally had it down as being only about six or seven chapters long, but my written plan seems to be heading towards eighteen to twenty chapters which is slightly scary…Hey, I feel guilty for not writing YOUR story fast enough and I'm certainly not worthy of being your idol – it was your story that got me into Seto/Ryou.
RalphiereRedeux: I feel your pain sweetheart, but it's not that great anyway. I only post here because it's easiest for me. I'm glad you like it – your opinion means so much to be and it's nice to know it isn't just hormonal teenagers who read this XD Oooooh, there will be more – much more! Cackles
Sugarholic: Damn and you had to wait an eternity again – I'm sorry! So Sorry! But I've got Spring Break now so I should be able to get back on track with my writing! Oreos…damn, that's a really good analogy! I might have to steal that!
Elle-Fatex-: Merci, tu es trop sympa!
Miyosuke: Heh, I did update and it was all thanks to you! Hugs