Story: Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix
Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.
Warning: Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon.
Pairings: Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda
Summary: Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?
Symbols:"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End
Chapter 17: A thousand words
The brief blinding flash followed by the whirr of machinery could only be Jou, who was circling the mansion's yard, snapping one meaningless picture after another. Box hedges and bursts of roses were purposefully placed about the enclosure, encircling the lawn in a florid beauty, while ponds broke up the dry ground. But the disciplined look of it and the clear indication that people had been paid to do the gardening cast sort of a cold insensitive feeling over the life filled area.
Yet, as he walked amongst the blades of grass, he was not without a sense of awe at the expanse of vegetation that bordered the house. He never felt that Kaiba was a nature sort of guy, but if he was willing to pour this much money into his backyard, he must enjoy it somewhat.
Finding another tasteful arrangement of flowers and leaves, Jou bent down to focus in on it, satisfied and pleased with his eye for beauty that he never discovered until now. Maybe this assignment wasn't so bad after all.
That did not seem true when they received the three page packet explaining in clear detail that not only were they required to take pictures, they had to incorporate themselves into it as well. The last thing he and Kaiba wanted to do was take pictures of each other, even if they were on better terms.
'Until that time comes, I'll practice on more sensitive things that don't scowl all the time.' It was a simple enough task because even a lifeless rock was more sensitive than Kaiba.
Jou smiled in spite of his thoughts. Even if he was dead tired today from staying up so late last night, he was glad to see Kaiba in a way that hardly anyone else had. Exhausted and disheveled, making mistakes. It was just too cute.
'Wait…cute wasn't exactly the word I was looking for. I must be really caught up in this whole beauty thing if I having thoughts like that now.'
A little too disturbed by himself to go on, Jou decided to go look for the man himself. It was time for Kaiba to get out and appreciate his million dollar garden for once. He was probably just upstairs overworking himself anyways.
As he entered the house, thankfully remembering to wipe the mud off his shoes before removing them this time, he frowned at the quiet atmosphere that he met. Kaiba did make noise, even if he was working, and he did require light to see. So why was the house so silent and dark?
"Kaiba?" He called upstairs only to be answered by his own voice. Damn these big houses and their spooky echoes anyways. "Are you up there?"
No answer. Of course, Kaiba could be just be doing what he always does and ignoring him but Jou wanted to at least check if he was alone or not.
Walking up stairs without making too much noise, Jou paused at the top and peered into the dark hall ahead. He was a little freaked out, he admitted to himself, especially since this floor was devoid of humanity and light as well. Where had that idiot run off too?
Venturing cautiously forward, he quickly glanced into each passing room, only to find them empty. Jou wondered why he was even bothering to search for the guy, since spending time with the heartless CEO wasn't exactly an enjoyable task. Yet he felt that, for at least Mokuba's sake, he needed to check if the dolt hadn't passed out somewhere and was currently lying in a puddle of his own drool.
Suddenly, he felt that he wasn't alone and Jou whirled around, feeling his flesh crawl.
"Boo."
"UuuaAAH!" Stumbling back out of sheer shock and terror, Jou landed on his rear in a most unattractive fashion, his mouth still hanging open in shock.
"Oh, what's the matter?" A smooth voice came from overhead. "Did I startle you?"
"K…Kaiba!" Jou managed to sputter as he struggled to his feet, rubbing the newly formed bruise on his ass. "What did you have to go and do that for?"
Kaiba only smirked, his usual form of response. But the other teen saw mirth dancing in the cold, endless depth of his eyes and couldn't seem to come up with a witty retort like always.
"What have you been up to?" The brunette asked after a brief heavy silence had passed between the two, causing the Jou to feel even more awkward than he already did.
"I should be asking you that." Grumbled Jou, trying to regain a sense of normality. "I was out practicing photography, if you must know, for that god-awful project."
"Hn, I supposed we should really get started with that." Kaiba sighed, his annoyance obvious. "Leave it to that poor excuse for a school to come up with such ridiculous tasks for us to complete."
"Yeah, well, the sooner we get it over with, the more time we'll have to avoid each other." Jou wondered why he couldn't seem to put more feeling into what he was saying. After all, it was true. In the time they were allowed to spend apart, Kaiba and Jou were usually at opposite sides of the mansion.
"Now that's something worth working towards. C'mon, mutt, let's hurry up now." The teenaged prodigy snapped, turning to walk briskly away, not even bothering to wait to see if Jou was following him.
For some reason, as he struggled to catch up, Jou had a feeling that his last comment had bothered Kaiba. He was startled with the unexpected change from an almost pleasantly social mood back to that bitter, calculated one that Jou had grown expect from Kaiba. Was it possible that he had hurt the guy's feelings?
'Ah, I'm just thinking too much.' Jou thought as he followed Kaiba outside to the garden again. 'God forbid the day when I can actually damage Seto Kaiba's humongous ego.'
-Outside-
"Try not to scowl so much."
"I'm not scowling."
"And I'm not Katsuya Jounouchi. C'mon, lighten up a bit. You're wilting the flowers."
Kaiba shifted impatiently from one foot to the other, crossing his arms in defiance. "What does it matter what I look like? Just snap the damn picture already and be done with it."
Jou sighed for what felt like the millionth time and ran his free hand through his already mussed hair. They had gotten through his section of pictures rather quickly. Jou was not shy in front of the camera, and he willing threw himself into the moment, trying to look like he fit right in amongst all the nature.
But when they started on Kaiba's pictures, the task had turned out to be nothing short of impossible. He had been trying unsuccessfully for the past ten minutes to get Kaiba to show a little emotion, anything besides that stone cold look he usually wore. But no matter what he tried, the CEO's sullen face still stared back at him unchanged; contrasting so sharply against the rich vibrancy of the foliage behind him it was almost comical.
"Listen, I'm not going to take the picture until you stop standing there with such a dark look on your face and cheer up. Make my day and actually smile for once."
The shark-like grin he got in response was the stuff nightmares were made of.
Jou rolled his eyes and let out a snort of laughter. "That's not smiling, that's baring your teeth. Now be serious—or actually, unserious—and smile. Think about something that you have great affection for; puppies, rainbows, hard drives, large amounts of cash. Anything that'll get you to turn that frown upside down."
Kaiba's brow only furrowed further and Jou had almost started to tell him off again, when, almost tentatively, a serene, calmed look softened the brunette's face into a half-smile. The act was so surprising, so un-Kaiba like, that Jou almost forgot to take the picture.
As soon as the click-whirr of the camera sounded, the telltale sign that the picture had been taken, the expression disappeared in a flash and Kaiba resumed glaring at him in his typical manner. Jou was relieved, since the turmoil of emotions that had roared up inside him from seeing Kaiba like that had left him disturbed.
"There." Jou said, slightly breathless. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Kaiba only glowered in response and Jou began to think that he had imagined the whole thing.
"Well, I think that's enough for the project. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself from smiling like that too often." The blonde smirked, glad he had calmed enough to fall back into his usual routine with Kaiba. He'd have to work out those confusing feelings later, when he was not in danger of letting anything slip.
-Dinner-
"So, how did the project go?" Mokuba asked cheerily over the food-laden plates that were spread out atop the table.
"Do you even need to ask?" Jou sighed, twisting his perfectly cooked spaghetti with his fork absent mindedly. He didn't feel particularly hungry today, especially since his stomach was still fluttering from earlier. "Trying spin straw into gold is easier than getting a smile out of your brother."
If Kaiba had been affronted with Jou's comment, he didn't show it. He remained stoically hidden behind his newspaper, the business page of course, an occasional rustle of pages the only indication that he was still there.
Jou didn't mind though. Kaiba had come down to eat with them on his own accord, without so much as a plea from either of them. Granted, all he was eating was a small bowl of soup. But it was better than nothing.
He was making an effort.
There it was again. That small turn of his stomach that wasn't disgust but something else. Jou hadn't allowed himself to dwell long on these swooping feelings he was getting whenever he thought about Kaiba. He was too afraid of what he might discover.
"Yeah, he's like that." Mokuba's comment brought Jou out of his thoughts and back to the conversation at hand. "He hasn't always been like that though. He used to smile more, a lot actually, well, until-"
"Mokuba" Kaiba effectively cut the rest of the sentence off with the sternest tone Jou had ever heard him use on his little brother. Usually there was an undercurrent of affection in Kaiba's voice whenever he addressed Mokuba. This time, it just echoed coldness and anger.
And fear.
The air around them was uncomfortable and tense where it had just been relaxed a moment ago. Jou sat, speechless and dumbstruck, until he felt it slowly piece together in his mind. Suddenly, it all made sense.
What an idiot he was to be so easily lulled into believing that he was a part of a family for once, a family where he was finally accepted and wanted. It just might have been the case in any other situation. But he forgot one important thing.
He was dealing with Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba, who had secrets and memories that he would never share with Jou. Kaiba, who wanted nothing to do with him. Kaiba, who looked absolutely stunning just sitting there with that cold, dark look in his eyes.
Jou felt as if he'd been punched in the gut.
"Well, I'm pretty tired tonight." Jou said, getting up and faking a yawn. The uneasiness was apparent in his voice; he could only hope the hurt he was feeling was not. "I think I better be getting on up to bed."
"Oh, uh, are you sure, Jou?" Mokuba quickly said, trying to smooth over what had just happened. "Your dinner, you haven't even-"
"Yeah, it's okay. I'm not too hungry. I ate a big lunch." Jou was already at the door, trying his best to keep a smile on his face and his eyes on Mokuba. If he looked at Kaiba, he didn't know what would happen to him. "Ah, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Uh…night."
When Jou got to the guest room, he didn't do all the things that he thought was supposed to happen during moments of great sorrow. He didn't throw himself upon the bed crying or slam the door shut in a fit of anger.
He just stood there, in the middle of the room, shaking.
"Ha ha, pretty stupid you are, Katsuya." He heard himself say weakly, voice echoing in the spacious room. "Thinking you belonged and all…pretty fucking stupid."
When he finally did allow himself to cry, Jou felt that he would never stop.
End of Chapter 17
Author's notes: Well, can you even believe it? After more than two years, the lovely Lothwen finally updates. Wow, it has been forever. I wonder if anyone is still even reading this story? I must say, looking back and rereading the past chapters again, I find it horribly corny and cliché. XD Oh well, what can you do, huh? No way am I going to redo it. Ha ha. Just so you all know, my writing skills have probably done nothing but decrease in quality these last couple years, especially since I haven't been writing much at all. I just had a sudden inspiration to finish this chapter though and I thought I'd post it for any faithful readers out there, if they even exist anymore. I have no clue when and if I'll finish the next chapter. But I'd appreciate any and all reviews, even if it is to tell me that I wrote the worst chapter ever written in the history of fanfiction. I want to hear from you guys (gals). And wow, this place has changed a lot since I've last been here. Got to go get used to it again…