Of
Felinity and the Brotherhood:
Nachzes Black-Rider
Mokuba glances sideways at his brother as he packs the last box into the car; studies the stiff manner in which Seto stands in the doorframe; the way his hands are jammed into his pockets; how his blue eyes are fixed steadily on the pavement right in front of Mokuba's Corvette.
The raven-haired nineteen-year-old sighs deeply, and shakes his head, giving the box one last pat before standing up, closing the car door, and walking back up to Seto.
Okay, 'Nii-san, it's all packed." He pauses, searching Seto's stony face for telltale signs, but finds none. He signs again, and glances down briefly, before meeting his brother's eyes and saying, "I should go now."
Something flickers through Seto's eyes, but he nods curtly, and says, gruffly, "You should." He takes his hands out of his pockets; raises his arms; and for one, fleeting moment Mokuba thinks Seto's going to hug him—but then he seems to hesitate, and instead folds them tightly over his chest. "Don't want to be late," he continues, eyes not meeting Mokuba's own.
"No," the younger agrees. "I don't." He turns away reluctantly, and is just starting to pull out of the driveway when he hears Seto calling him. Turning the radio down, he sticks his head out and yells, "WHAT?"
"YOU LEFT SOMETHING!" Seto shouts back, holding up a box.
Confused, Mokuba glances into the back, and then shuts off the engine and climbs out of the convertible.
Taking the box from Set, he nearly drops it—startled—when it moves in his arms and yowls belligerently. "Seto…" he says slowly, setting the box down and pulling the top flap open, "tell me you didn't…."
He did.
Mouth open in awe, Mokuba reaches into the box, and lifts out the protesting kitten. The feisty little male is glossy chestnut brown, with intelligent yellow-green eyes—and now Mokuba is crying, because he can't believe it.
"Mokuba?"
The teen thuds against his brother's warm chest, beaming as Seto's arms wrap around him instinctively. The hug in perfect, even though the kitten between them is howling and struggling to get free, and the younker's arms are beginning to cramp.
Finally, Mokuba pulls away, saying (all in a rush), "I'll be okay, Seto—and I'll come and visit every second weekend; for Christmas vacation, and Spring Break, and Thanksgiving weekend, and New Years, too, just like always." Mokuba stops abruptly, because Seto is crying—but he's smiling through the tears, and Mokuba knows he's proud of him, and that alone makes it all worth it.
-o-
Mokuba climbs into his car for the second time that day, eyes red, and smile on his face, and waves to his brother as he shuts the door. "Come on, Seto," he says to the kitten curled up on the box on the seat beside him, "let's go make 'Nii-sama proud."
End