Her Sweetness: The day's winding down but I've still got a little more for you guys. This is the Marik and Malik Birthday Update Marathon, we're going all out today!


—Hot Man, Hot Dog—

Part Six: Dating Otogi

Not surprisingly, when Otogi finally got out of the salon, it was dusk. When he went to get his hair done, everyone that knew him knew that it meant him being gone for most of the day. But it was worth it as he'd had a good time with his friends, gossiping and swapping stories from the past week. He exited the building, stepping out on the sidewalk and watched as the sun set just over the horizon, making the cobblestones on the roads of the shopping district glow.

"Ah! How beautiful and romantic!" Otogi's green eyes sparkled as he jumped up. Almost immediately, he pouted, putting his hands on his hips, "And where's that Tristan? I thought I told him to pick me up today! Damn him! He's always doing this to me! Well I just won't take it anymore. If he thinks for one minute that he can just… Hmm? Is that… Joey?"

He blinked, using his hand to shield his eyes from the tinted light so he could see across the street better. And, sure enough, there was a head full of blonde hair and a body attached to it that happened to belong to Joey. Otogi ran across the road and cars came to crashing halts and blew their horns at him, in return he gave them the finger and turned back to what he was doing.

After making it across the street, he sauntered up behind the blonde and gently put his hands over the teen's eyes, "Guess who."

"… Um… Hot Dog?"

"No! Ugh, Joey, turn around."

He blinked and did as he was told, smiling when he saw the raven-haired boy, "Well, I was close."

"Y-You were not!" He pouted, "I am not that… that thing."

"Eh, I dunno. You and Hot Dog have the same bone structure."

"…!"

"Anyhoo, so what's up? I didn't expect to see you around here this time of day."

"Yeah, well, I was over at LaQuiesha's for like the whole day. Say… have you ever been there?"

"Nope. I do my own hair!"

"… How thrilling." Otogi yawned daintily and craned his neck to look down each road. He didn't hear any motorcycle and he'd have bet anything at that moment that Tristan forgot he was supposed to come and get him. He looked up and as the sun dipped lower into the horizon and more of the stars came out, he got a little more worried. Turning back to the blonde, he suddenly wrapped an arm around Joey's.

"Um, Otogi…?"

"Joey, Tristan's not coming to pick me up, I know he's forgotten all about me! Usually, I'd blame you and say he was out somewhere with you but since you're right here that means he abandoned you, too!"

"… It does?"

"We're outcasts! We need to stick together!"

Joey blinked.

"It's not safe for someone like me to be out on the streets alone at night. There are thugs and people with bad hairdos! But yours is like one of the worst out there, so I'll be safe with you." He put on his best, most cutest smile and hugged Joey's arm so tight he thought it might fall off, "Come drinking with me."

The blonde raised an eyebrow before shaking his head, "I would, Otogi, but I was just out here to pick up some gum for my new houseguest. I promised Hot Dog I'd be back soon so I shouldn't stay out l—"

"Joey Wheeler! Are you telling me that you're holding that pig testicle over me?"

"…Well…"

"Jo-eeeeeeeeeeeee!" He screeched.

The sound of Otogi's voice at a high-pitch was almost deafening and everyone on the street stopped what they were doing to stare at the two. Joey blushed like mad and waved his free hand around at Otogi as he whispered harshly, "Okay, okay!"

Otogi stopped his yelling and giggled, "Goody."

"Um, but only for a little while, okay?"

"Oh, nonsense! Little whiles are boring. When you're out with me, you're out for a long time. Now, since I don't feel like waiting in a long line… Let's go to the coffee place two blocks from here. It's quieter than going to the West Side." Otogi smiled, raising his hand up to the night sky, "Let's go!"

"Alright." Joey nodded, beginning to walk down the street.

"… Joey! W-Wait a minute!" He caught up with him, pulling on the blonde's jacket sleeve, "What're you doing?"

"…Um… Well, I thought I was going to the coffee house…"

Otogi placed a hand on his hip, "Where's your car?"

"Don't have one."

"Motorcycle?"

"Nope."

"Moped?" He asked desperately.

Joey scratched his head, "I think I had a tricycle once but that got impounded…"

"Ah! Well, I hope you don't expect me to walk anywhere! I do not walk, my feet start to hurt after a while. Besides I have my best pumps on today."

"Well then how are you going to get anywhere?"

Otogi grinned.

.0.0.

It wasn't two minutes later that Joey was trudging down the sidewalk of the shopping district and blushing, trying to dodge the stares of people that were standing on street corners. Joey moaned at their giggling, "Otogi, this is humiliating."

"Oh, stop it. Do you know how many men would give up their right arm just to have me on their back?"

"… How many?"

"Approximately 3 billion and growing."

"I see…"

Otogi laid his head on Joey's getting a bird's eye view of where they were going. Though, at the same time, he looked down at the blonde hair his chin was resting on, "Hey, Joey, when's the last time you washed your hair?"

"I wash my hair whenever I take a shower." He answered, matter-of-factly.

"And… when was the last time you took a shower?"

Joey blinked and then silently counted on his fingers, "Um… Hey, do weekends count as days?"

"…Yes…"

"Then about twenty-three days ago."

"OH, GROSS!" Otogi squealed, jumping off of the boy's back and retching on the cobblestones on the street. People who were standing by scurried away and Joey watched as Otogi stood back up and shock off his disgust. He sighed, pointing forwards, "There it is. And Joey, when we get in there, I want you to go into the bathroom and scrub yourself!"

"In a dirty old bathroom?"

"The bathroom in there is clean enough. Cleaner than you anyway. Now scat." He shooed the blonde in the direction of the bathroom in the back when they had entered the small and quaint building. Otogi sat himself down at a table by the large window until Joey came back out. He smelled like public restroom but at least his skin wasn't tan anymore.

He sat down across from the dark-haired teen, "Better?"

"A little. I already ordered, you're having the same thing as me."

"Uh… but, Otogi, I barely had enough money for that gum I bought."

Otogi rolled his eyes and lifted the pink, stylish purse he had hanging over his shoulder, "I've got it covered."

"Oh."

Joey sat there, looking out the window and twiddling his thumbs nervously. He looked at his watch that had been broken ever since he was three years old. His eyes widened as he thought, 'Wow, I can't believe it's only four o' clock! It sure does get dark early.'

Otogi looked at him and tilted his head, "Joey, can I ask you a question?"

"As long as it's not math."

"… It isn't. Maybe you haven't heard about it lately, but there are rumors floating around that you're dating that hotdog of yours. Now, I'm all for different relationships and the fact that everyone's equal… but Joey, don't you think this is crossing the line?"

He frowned, "Why? Me and Hot Dog get along great and there's nothing wrong with it."

"Uh, yeah, there kinda is. Isn't the relationship kinda one-sided with 'Hot Dog' being all inanimate and everything?"

"Hot Dog isn't inanimate! Stop calling my friends stuff that I don't know how to spell!"

"…" Otogi held his head, "This is not going anywhere. Joey, what I am trying to say is that—"

"Here're your Mocha Lattes." A man set down two cups filed with brown foam in front of the two before walking away. Joey blinked and looked at his before gasping and shouting, "Hey! There's toilet water in this! It's all brown!"

Otogi's eyes widened and he waved his arms around to get the blonde's attention, "Joey! Mocha Lattes are supposed to be brown! That's the mocha in it!"

"Hey, call it whatever you want but I know toilet water when I see it…" He grumbled, pushing the offending drink away.

The raven-haired boy sighed and sipped his latte, "Alright, back to what I was saying. Whatever you do in your apartment is no one else's business but what you do in public gets talked about and I have to put up with it. Think about it, I'm always with Tristan and he's always with you. Sooner or later people are going to connect me with you in some disgusting hotdog-filled scandal."

"That's gotta be the silliest thing I ever heard."

"It isn't silly when it's my reputation on the line!"

"What reputation? The reputation as Domino's biggest flirt? Or the reputation as the guy who once serenaded Kaiba through his window for 12 hours straight just for some money for hair gel?"

"Both!"

"… I'm going home. Hot Dog's probably worried about me."

"It's a hotdog!"

Joey stood from the table and grabbed his untouched Mocha Latte. He shook it and turned, "I'll take this, too. My toilet bowl's dry." With that last statement, he walked out of the door. Otogi slammed some money down on the table and ran out after him, shouting, "Joey, wait— Ack!"

As it turns out, Joey had not gotten far and he happened to be standing right in front of the door to the coffee shop when Otogi came sprinting out and ran into him. Joey rolled his eyes and helped the boy up, "See what wearing pumps gets you?"

He pouted, "These shoes are gorgeous."

"Ugh. So do you want a ride home or not?"

"That's what I came out here for." Otogi fluffed his hair and hopped up on Joey's back, wrapping his legs around his waist and waiting for him to start off.

"Going to your house is really out of the way, you know." He said after they had been walking for a little while.

"Yeah."

"It's pretty inconvenient."

"And?"

"Don't you care about other people's lives?"

"Define other people."

"Oh my god." Joey groaned, shaking his head, "You're so self-centered! Why does Tristan hang out with you so much?"

"Because I'm hot, I'm spicy and I can samba to elevator music."

"… You must drive him crazy."

"Not any more than you do. You know, he loses sleep over this little fiasco with you and 'Hot Dog'. Why, just the other night he was interrupting one of my riveting stories just to tell me about how you were living with that thing. Now, Joey, don't you think this is a bit immature, making Tristan worry over your nonsense?"

"It isn't nonsense." He answered calmly as they turned a corner and he had to scoot Otogi higher up on his back to keep the boy from falling, "I told you, me and Hot Dog are getting along really good. And the relationship isn't just physical, we have conversations and we play cards…"

"Who wins at cards?"

"Mostly Hot Dog. But we tied once."

"…" Otogi blinked before resting his head on the now semi-clean blonde hair, "You're a pretty strange guy. But, I guess if you're into that kinda stuff, it's kinda cool."

"What's cool?"

"The fact that you're in love with a hotdog. It makes you so mysterious and unpredictable. It's like no one knows what you're going to do next. Joey Wheeler: The Man of Tomorrow." He was quiet for a moment before giggling and squealing, "It's so cool!"

Joey looked up, "Wait a minute, first you say I'm ruining your reputation and worrying Tristan… Now you say I'm a man of mystery and that I'm cool."

"… So?"

"Which is it? And make up your mind."

"Oh, I dunno. I guess you're probably a combination of both. You're crazy and you're cool…" Otogi took this time to look ahead to where they were going. He recognized this place as being only a few blocks away from his house and it was pretty nice hearing the echo of Joey's sneakers hitting the cobblestones and bouncing off the walls of the buildings on the sidewalk. Otogi tapped his chin and whispered huskily, "I want to see your hotdog."

"HUH?" He stopped and almost dropped the teen, "W-What'd you say?"

"Your hotdog, that thing you date. I want to see it."

There was a moment of silence before Joey sweat dropped and sighed, "Oh, God… Otogi, you've gotta explain stuff like that before you just blurt something out. W-Why do you want to see Hot Dog all of a sudden?"

"Well… I know I've seen it before, but that was only for a split second. I want to get a better look!"

Joey scratched the back of his head, "But isn't Tristan waiting for you or something?"

"Oh who cares about Tristan? He didn't care enough to come pick me up before it got dark! He can wait all night but I want to go with you! Please!" He whined, making his green eyes become large and sparkly giving the appearance as if he were about to start crying. He begged, "Please, Joey, I'll never ask for anything ever again!"

"… Pheh…" Joey shook his head and turned around, starting off in the direction of his apartment.

Otogi smiled triumphantly, "It'll be fun, you'll see… We can even have a slumber party!"

"We cannot!"

"Oh, why?"

"Because I barely have enough room for me and Hot Dog, let alone you!"

"I don't take up much space…! Please, Joey!"

"… Well, mayb—"

"YAY!"

"HEY, I DIDN'T SAY YES!"


TBC…