Chapter 13 – 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Well, folks, we're reaching the end of our little Christmas journey that was begun sometime in 2004 last year. Thanks for staying with this story so far. One more chapter and an epilogue to go after this little card game is completed. Stay tuned for all of the action…

Thanks for being so patient while I was gone on vacation. Had a great time at home and then spent a lot of time with my sister when she flew back here to go Stampeding with me.

Enjoy…

The second hand of the game had gone rather well, she thought as she contemplated the cards left in her hand, preparing to make her move. Yugi had given Joey and Tristan a break and played a low pair of threes. The sigh of relief from her blonde friend let her know that the gesture had been truly appreciated. Mokuba still seemed a little nervous when playing cards. His hand had been shaking quite badly when he'd thrown out a pair of tens to top Tristan's nines. Seto, on the other hand, had been shaken up for other reasons. Téa hadn't been able to stop herself from throwing a little diversion in his direction. It hadn't taken much to do it, either. Just a little rubbing of her toes across the top of his foot under the table. That must have been a very sensitive spot as she watched the tips of his ears turn a most delicate shade of maroon. Almost a perfect match for the silk pyjamas he wore.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been enough of a diversion to make him play a stupid (high) card. Instead, he was still trying to see if she'd play one first. A pair of Kings had joined the small pile of cards in the centre of the table. If he expected her to roll over and throw the game, he had another thing coming. Two Aces finished the set and Joey raked the hand off to the side to be sorted later. She was going to have to resort to more drastic measures to take his mind off the game at hand. A little strategy never hurt either.

"Nice move, Gardner. Got anything in that hand to back it up?" Seto's whiskey voiced drawl just made her want to crawl into his lap and give him a long, slow kiss that he would never forget but with Joey still being a little too attentive to her and Tristan just being completely oblivious, that would never happen. Focus, Téa, she reprimanded herself and then threw him a smirk.

"Think I've got nothing to keep me going? Think I'm desperate, do you?" Yugi noticed the similarity between her smirk and Kaiba's and found it… comforting that his best friend could hold her own against someone like Kaiba. Téa wasn't the type to back down from a challenge and this one was turning out to be especially rewarding.

"If the shoe fits…" Seto could hardly contain himself. Playing cards for anything but his reputation hadn't happened in quite some time and to his surprise, he was thoroughly enjoying the test of besting Téa at this 'Idiot' game. There were no stakes involved here. No world to save, no company to save, no little brother to worry about. Just a group of teenagers having fun the night before Christmas, one of whom he was getting seriously head over heels about.

"Whatever, Se…Kaiba. Trash talking will get you nowhere. I'm not the Queen of this game for no reason, remember." She boldly met his blue eyes and almost burst out laughing at the look she encountered. Seto Kaiba, recently dethroned ice-god, was having a good time. A really good time, even with Yugi, Joey and Tristan around. This was seriously one for the record books.

Téa was just about to select her next hand to throw down when Mokuba looked up from his plate of almost finished cheesecake and stared at Seto for a second. The biggest grin split across his face and every eye at the table immediately swung in his direction. The brightness was dazzling. A small sun at the other end of the table, with hot chocolate and cheesecake crumbs all over his upper lip.

"Hey, Seto? I was just thinking…" Mokuba started and it was then that Seto noticed the empty plate of cheesecake and half-finished mug of hot chocolate. At least he wasn't talking with his mouth full this time. There was another problem however. The wide pupils and vibrating body told him a lot more than he really wanted to handle.

The sugar high had begun.

"What is it, Mokuba?" He couldn't hide the inclination to strangle his little brother. The silent message he'd given him earlier should have kept him from inhaling the dessert in four bites. Too late now. This was exactly what he didn't need on top of everything else – the beginnings of Téa's strategies to keep him hot and bothered (not that just sitting next to her wasn't having the same effect) – having to play cards with Dumb and Dumber (although it wasn't as bad as he'd thought) – suffering in silence under Yugi and Mokuba's knowing looks (although how much Yugi knew was still an up in the air question). Seto Kaiba, normally calm, cool and in control was feeling a little "out of sorts".

"Well, if Téa is the Queen of this game and if you beat her, then that means that you become the King…" Mokuba's grin was positively face splitting by this point. Here it comes, Seto thought. Crazy thoughts came out of Mokuba when he was on a sugar high. Last weekend's mistletoe kiss was the prime example of that. So was his surprise visit to his home office when he'd caught them unawares. What was he going to come up with this time?

"That's right, Mokuba…" Seto prodded the boy along, wanting to get the thought out of his little brother as fast as possible. The sooner it was over with, the sooner they could get back to playing and he could return his attention to the gorgeous girl next to him, his only true competition.

"So, in a sense, you'd be King of Idiots until someone took your title away." Mokuba looked innocently up at his older brother, pupils so wide it was impossible to tell what colour his eyes really were. Téa's cheesecake had been good while it lasted.

Silence engulfed the table at Mokuba's comment. It took a moment for everyone to digest the exact meaning of it but when they did, the table erupted into peals of laughter. Joey laughed so hard that he began to snort as he held his sides, picturing Kaiba sitting on a throne, dented brass crown perched precariously to one side of his head as he waved around a tin sceptre topped with a quartet of playing cards.

Tristan looked over at a scandalized Kaiba and started to point a finger in his direction, mouth opening between howls of laughter, to add his own comment to Mokuba's announcement before he thought better of it. Not only would it be wrong and rude to insult him further but also there was the distinct possibility of Kaiba kicking the crap out of him, Christmas holiday or not. Calling Julie on Christmas morning and trying to talk through missing front teeth didn't sound romantic in the slightest. Shrugging his shoulders once, he folded his hand back up and banged it on the table instead of provoking Kaiba further. Mokuba really didn't need his help there anyways.

Yugi and Yami shared an amused gaze before identical grins lit up their features and boisterous laughter bubbled forth. Neither of them could have stopped it. Kaiba had been trying for so long to gain the title "King of Games" that Mokuba's statement just added another ironic level to the card game they were involved in. Yami's deep laugh rolled over Yugi and his grin became just that much wider to see the Spirit having such a good time. It was nice to finally have some time away from defending the world from the various and sundry maniacs that kept trying to take it over and/or destroy it. Nothing could have made the night better.

Téa bit her lip in an attempt to hold her own laughter in at Mokuba's pronouncement. If she laughed, what would Seto think? She'd done a lot of things to him over the last few years. She'd yelled, screamed, and gotten mad at him. She'd liked, kissed and touched him, too, but laughing at him was a whole other ballgame. What would happen to their fledgling relationship if she laughed at him? Glancing over at him, lips still tightly pressed together, she was surprised. The shine in his eyes from holding in his own laughter was incomprehensible and her lips formed an "O" in shock but no sound came forth at all.

Mokuba was the only one that had ever been able to catch him so completely off guard. He'd been doing it for as long as Seto could remember. It was never maliciously intended (although he could argue about the blue dish soap incident) and it was always done with the insight only a sibling could have. It was only natural then to applaud Mokuba's skill and give in to his urge to laugh. A deep rumble of mirth set his shoulders shaking as his mouth opened and the unexpected sound issued forth.

Silence ruled the table once more as everyone looked shocked at the emotional display Kaiba was putting on. No glittering, stony eyes or unamused smirk.

Seto Kaiba, for the first time in their living memories, was laughing.

At himself.

The hilarity of the whole situation changed the atmosphere of the entire room as, moments later, a few more chuckles echoed through the kitchen when Téa finally played her next hand.

"Read 'em and weep, boys," she declared as five eights made their debut in the centre of the kitchen table. Groans from all around told her that no one had been expecting such a big hand to be played so early in the game. She'd learned a long time ago to always change her strategy. If they started to anticipate her moves, it was time to change them.

"Great play, Téa. You've already played out over half your hand," Yugi commented as he deliberated over the cards still clasped in his own hand. "At least I can beat it."

Yugi gently placed five Jacks over her eights as Joey and Tristan each contributed the required five pennies into the bowl in the centre of the table. With miserable looks on their faces, they leaned back and scanned the others around the table. They had nothing else to occupy their attention until Kaiba paid or played, depending on Mokuba's next move that was. Neither of them missed the heated glance she sent to her Vice President.

"Still think I'm desperate, Kaiba?" she asked, her eyebrow arched up at him, much as he usually did to her. She didn't miss the look in his eyes, as if he was still laughing, as she turned up the heat once more.

Stiffening in his chair, Seto felt something touch his leg tentatively. Still peering at the only person that could be responsible for the flash of heat across his skin, he saw that twinkle in her eye that could fool the Devil himself into thinking she was innocent and sweet. He had evidence to prove otherwise. She was a mischievous girl. She was definitely up to something wicked. Seto watched her shoulder give the slightest hitch up and down. Yet more evidence to prove she was just as provocative as she was innocent. That little move dislodged the thin strap of her tank top to fall gracefully down her upper arm. She kept her eyes on him as she reached over with her free hand to push it back where it belonged. How he wished it were his hand moving across that soft, creamy skin. Memories of the other day in his office flew through his mind and he recalled just how sensuous an experience that had been.

She didn't miss the low-throated growl of need from the Vice President sitting next to her. Fortunately, everyone else did. Just knowing that she could affect him like that made her skin tingle and her smile grow wider. If only he knew what he did to her. Mere inches separated them and she was surprised that he couldn't feel the heat pouring off her as a reaction to his presence.

Yami gave a soft whistle at Téa's diversionary play before he whispered to Yugi. 'Did you see that move? I would not want to face her in a duel were I in Kaiba's position. I am surprised that he has not found a way to get her alone yet, what with the intensity I have seen between them. Kaiba seems ready to explode and Téa, I fear, is not much better off.'

'I know but you have to admit, it's fun watching the two of them battle it out. I hope that Téa wins, though, or Kaiba will be insufferable in his gloating at having managed to do something none of us have ever done.'

Mokuba watched those two with great interest as he pretended to stare at the cards in his hand. He already knew what he was going to play but he wanted to see those two play off each other. Seto was usually so reserved and unemotional that it was a nice change to see him happy enough to laugh at what Mokuba had said. Everything had changed after that and he saw the muscles in his big brother's shoulders relax for the first time in a long time. The sparks had started to fly a minute ago when Téa pulled her pyjama strap up but he didn't really understand why Seto had liked that move so much. Maybe he'd ask him to explain it sometime.

"Your move, Mokuba," Tristan said, breaking the younger Kaiba's reverie by startling him back to the here and now. The game had to be moved along. The faster he got to bed, the faster he could dream about Julie and what he would say to her in the morning when he called. That was really the only thought consuming him right at that moment, that and maybe getting another slice of cheesecake.

"Sorry, just thinking about what cards to play." Mokuba pulled out three twos and tossed them onto the table to take the hand.

Or so he thought.

"Good move, little brother, but I can top that," Seto said, pulling a single card out and placing it over the three twos. A single Joker, the highest card in the game, seemed to be grinning maniacally at the younger brother. That was twice his victory had been snatched away from him. A long, drawn out sigh escaped him as Seto smiled fiercely. The win was almost his. Four hands or less and he could claim the title of President. What a sweet win it would be, too.

The cards were raked to the side and Seto enjoyed a moment of pride before he played the fourth hand of the game. An easy hand that would maybe rattle Téa and have her wondering what he was up to. He needed a way to pay her back for her little manoeuvre earlier as well. Eyeing his mug of hot chocolate, he knew exactly what to do.

"Great play, Mokuba. Too bad your brother is always a step ahead of you. I may have to take him down a notch or three before this game is over," Téa stated, noticing the resigned look in Mokuba's eyes. When Seto played, it was for keeps. No letting Mokuba win just because he was younger. Then again, that wouldn't help Mokuba at all. He needed to learn how to strategize to beat his brother, although the outburst he'd had earlier had been a stroke of sheer brilliance on his part. Why should he even try to beat Seto at cards when it was so much easier to do what he was good at – be his little brother.

"You are going to take me down a notch? We'll see. I wasn't the Duel Monsters champion for backing down from a challenge. But I'll go easy on you this hand. I'll play something that even the Idiot and his Vice can match." Seto tossed down a pair of threes, much to the delight of everyone except Téa.

"C'mon, Téa, show him what a card shark you are," Tristan stated, readying the highest pair he had in his hand. There was no way he was going to pass up the chance to play cards. Maybe Mokuba wouldn't be able to make a move, which would leave him free to start the next hand.

"Yeah, Téa, show him de reason none of us have been able to take ya down in de last few years." Joey eyed his hand and picked the highest pair he had available to him. Maybe he'd get to start the next hand. And if not, he looked morosely at his plate of non-existent cheesecake, he could always wrangle another slice of heaven from the fridge.

What was he planning with that hand? Didn't he have anything higher he could have played? Why was he playing low cards when the object of the game was to get rid of your hand as fast as possible? Maybe that Joker had been the only high card in his hand and he was bluffing as to what else he had. She shrugged her shoulders and put two nines down over his threes. "Haven't got anything better to play? That's a pretty low move. If you keep playing like that, you're going to stay in the Vice President position until the next time we play." That smirk should have warned her something was coming. Something big. Huge. Gigantic. Ginormous, even though that wasn't a real word should have been just to describe the look on his face! He looked like the cat that just got the cream.

Or in this case, the hot chocolate.

His mouth fascinated Téa. He remembered her mentioning that in his office that afternoon they'd been caught by Mokuba. The only reason he remembered that was the naughty look in her eyes just before she'd whispered it in his ear. Now he was going to play it to his advantage, much as he'd played the low hand. His fingers curled around the handle of the mug and he brought it up to his lips, noticing that he had her complete, albeit covert, concentration focussed on him. He watched her gulp once, her throat rising slightly at the movement. Oh yes, this had been a grand idea.

Taking a sip of the sweet liquid within, he closed his eyes, tilted his head back slightly and swallowed, sighing soundlessly in the process before he set the mug back down on the table. He could tell her mind wasn't currently on the hand that Yugi had just played (a pair of tens) but completely on him. Now, it was time for the final move of his strategy.

Joey played his two Jacks, the highest pair he had, over Yugi's tens before turning to Tristan, intent on asking him if he wanted another slice of Téa's infamous cheesecake after he played his hand, when something strange caught his eye. He saw something that shouldn't have been conceivably possible. Something that rattled every warning nerve in his body.

Téa was blushing.

Over what, he had no idea, although he noticed that her downcast eyes weren't focussed on her cards. Rather, off to the side, he thought. Towards Kaiba. What the hell had he done to her now? The snake hadn't said anything to her to make her react like that, besides the trash talking. But Joey expected that from Kaiba. He was always doing it, no matter who his opponent was. That alone shouldn't have been enough to bring such a weird shade of red to her cheeks.

'Something fishy is goin' on between dose two,' he thought, watching the elder Kaiba's eyes gleam in uncharacteristic warmth. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned back to Tristan to ask him the cheesecake question. There would be time enough later to ask Téa what was going on and if Kaiba were still harassing her. He wouldn't try anything with a room full of witnesses.

Téa willed her heart to stop its frenzied beating as the urge to fan herself with her cards almost overwhelmed her senses. She still couldn't believe he'd done that to her, in the middle of a card game with her friends surrounding them both. Thank God, Joey had been too self-absorbed in what he was asking Tristan to have noticed Seto's latest ploy.

It had been a simple thing, really. Any other person would have assumed it was a natural reaction to drinking something. Mokuba had done it moments before, just after his announcement, and no one had done anything. It wasn't an illegal move but it was one that Seto had stolen from her. She'd used it on him during the decorating party. Maybe he was of the same mind that all was fair in love and war.

She closed her eyes and played the images back again to make sure she wasn't mistaken.

She wasn't.

Seto Kaiba had licked hot chocolate foam from his upper lip.

The move itself hadn't affected her. Well, okay, beyond a flush to her cheeks and a tripling of her heart rate, it hadn't done much to her. It was the way he had done it that had sent her mind spinning in all sorts of erotic directions. The slow, sensuous slide of his tongue across an upper lip that she knew was soft tempted her to no end to throw down her cards and to tackle the guy sitting next to her in an attempt to find out how he tasted when covered with chocolate. Only Yugi's delicate cough from her left side had kept her from going through with it. She'd bitten her lip with enough force to draw her out of her personal fantasy and back to the card game at hand with only one thought left.

Beat him at this game of teasing mercilessly.

She had one trick left and it was a doozie. If he recovered from it and still managed to win the game, he was not a red-blooded male – he was a snake.

I just had to leave this chapter here. It's taken me a long time to get to this point and I apologize for the huge wait for it. I'll be starting the next chapter tonight but it may take a few days to work through all of the details. I have it all planned out, I just need to write it.

Thanks for everything. To my wonderful reviewers, you are the best in the world. To my shadow readers, you are also the best in the world. Thanks for reading this story and I hope to post more in the near future.

As always, I am…

Aphrael21;)