This vaguely connects to my story for Tree but you don't have to read it to understand what's happening in this one. You're welcome to read it anyway though :D

Pet

Seto Kaiba wasn't particularly fond of animals.

Legend had it that a puppy died every time he smiled.

If that was true it was a pity that Atem had cats.

There were a few times where he had wanted to try and see what would happen if he smiled at them, but his smiles were actually reserved for two people in this world and he wouldn't waste them on these creatures.

He always knew Atem would become a cat sooner or later and he'd been right when he "saved" that stray from the tree and kept her but by now he had two of these animals and things were starting to get out of hand.

Whenever he saw him interact with his cats Seto couldn't help the pang of jealousy that hit him. It was like Atem couldn't take his hands away from them and they meowed happily and purred loudly whenever he touched them. It was completely and utterly annoying.

Besides, Seto thought them to be quite deceitful. As soon as Atem turned their back on them – which didn't happen that often – they behaved mischievously.

Mana, which Atem had "rescued" from a tree, was quite playful and clumsy and all in all a little rascal. She always seemed to play hide and seek with him and he had stepped or sat on her more than once. And one time when the bronze-colored kitty got her head stuck in a vase and was left with a neck collar when she tried to free herself from it Atem had laughed himself to tears. Seto hadn't really understand what could possibly be so funny about the destruction of his interior and had to scold both, Atem and the cat but when she crawled out of another vase only two days later, Seto knew she definitely wouldn't learn and simply decided to buy her a some new toys. And in a strange way Seto even liked her for all the chaos and ruckus she caused.

At least more than Mahad.

Mahad.

He hated that damn tomcat. How he strutted around the apartment, head and tail held high like he was Bastet incarnated (yes, he knew the name of the Egyptian goddess by now, thank you), his amiable gaze every time he looked at Atem and the little tricks he did from time to time had Seto on edge. He'd often lay on his laptop for hours and Seto was sure he wanted to keep him from working because the self-satisfied way with which the animal stared at him certainly gave him away. But the worst were his silver colored fur and green eyes. If anything his eyes should be blue. Then again no one should even dare to imitate his Blue Eyes and especially not this nuisance of a cat. Atem had also laughed at the way Seto and Mahad interacted with each other but this time Seto wasn't so kind to overlook it and asked him what the hell was going on.

After he told him though Seto was just as incredulous about this whole cat thing as before.

Atem had seriously given his pets the names of his childhood friends whose souls were now residing in his favorite cards. At least Seto thought so. Because even if Seto thought this more than awkward at first, the more time he spent with them the more it actually made sense and he got the feeling their souls weren't in the cards only. Atem had told him a lot about his childhood by now and there surely was a lot of his friends in these cats, he had to admit that. Only silently of course but he did.

Whatever the case may have been, it didn't justify the fact that Atem tended to his cats more than to him. He had spent so much time and effort to get to him and make it possible for them to live like this and had fought himself for this, he felt like he deserved his attention and appreciation far more than those two stupid cats. Nevertheless they were always greeted first when Atem got home – except for the times Seto came in later than him, which he made sure happened more frequently now –, he played with them on the weekends more than he dueled him, he let them snuggle him from both sides so that there was no space left for Seto and he didn't even seem to care about that. It hurt his pride immensely but he wouldn't dare say anything to Atem about that matter.

As time went by however he couldn't hold back anymore. He called Atem out on it when he was playing with his cats again although Seto stood right beside him.

"What's so great in stroking these animals all the time?"

"'God has made the cat to give man the pleasure of caressing the tiger.'" Atem quoted and winked at Seto who just gritted his teeth, swallowing a sigh down and instead stared daggers at him.

"And what's so desirable in caressing a tiger when you can have a dragon?"

"I'd have thought dragons don't want to be caressed."

"How can you know when you haven't tried?" Seto shot back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just because I don't purr when you touch me doesn't mean I don't want your… touches… at all..." Seto realized too late that he had shot himself in the foot before he had finished his sentence and even before Atem had started to grin at him triumphantly.

"Really?" Atem made puppy eyes at him as he stepped closer and Seto was tempted to smile and see what happened when Atem began to stroke with his hands over his sides slowly. "You won't?"

"No." Seto said as he felt his concentration slipping away when Atem pushed his hands under Seto's shirt to continue his stroking on his bare skin. "I'm not your pet."

"You're not?"

"I am your partner."

"And… as my partner you are jealous…?"

"I am not jealous." Atem just raised a mocking eyebrow at him and Seto grabbed his hands to stop his movements. "I miss you." He blurted out and Atem looked at him surprised.

For a moment they both just stared at each other and Atem even seemed as if he'd stopped breathing altogether. Seto took a deep breath, relieved to see that Atem did the same and pulled Atem's hands out from under his shirt. "I felt this once… and I never wanted to feel it again.

It took another moment for Atem to register to full meaning behind his words, but then he nodded and laced their fingers together. "And I don't want you to feel it again."

Seto nodded slowly, feeling his discern on that matter fading a little now that he had actually said it out loud. It was weird to be so open and honest about these things and he could only hope that things would change but he had trusted Atem enough to tell him about it and he would in his words too.

And there was this one particular thing they were both pretty good at and that always seemed to convey their feelings better than words ever could. "You know the new dueling system has been installed at Kaiba Land today. It needs to be tested."

Atem chuckled, grabbed Seto's hand and pulled him to the door. "Then we better hurry."