Oh boy! Fourth chapter!
Big news guys, my good friend lil1diva has offered to check over my chapters for mistakes, so you guys wont have to worry about the ones I miss anymore! Yay!
Kisa: (bounces in seat) c'mon c'mon c'mon, lets get going so we can get to the juicy stuff!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, I don't even own my left arm, that belongs to bob down the street…
Joey cursed and slammed the door to his attached bathroom shut. He hoped that he'd at least make the ceiling rattle a little, but the place was built solid as a rock.
He finally had a decent place to sleep, and that goddamn prick had to mind meddle with him. He hadn't quite accepted the fact that it was a dream and not Kaiba's evil plot to drive him insane. He was still contemplating the possibility of the blue eyed boy being an alien.
"Wouldn't surprise me," Joey muttered, as he undressed and stepped into the shower, "It would at least explain why the guy can work so much without collapsing."
He turned the silver nozzle and yelped when cold water struck his skin. He forced himself to stay still though, and sure enough, the water quickly turned from lukewarm to steaming hot.
He gave a content sigh, feeling better already. Kaiba was a prick, but he had been right about the water being shut off at his Pop's place. The good for nothing drunkard had refused to go to his low wage job for weeks now, and whenever someone called to warn about the piling bills, the old coot would shout insults down the phone that even tax men didn't deserve. So yes. It was bad. Joey had mostly been washing at Tristan's or Yugi's when he managed to come up with a good excuse or if he was sleeping over.
Joey scratched at his skin, relieving it of the dirt and grime that had been slowly building over the past few days. He felt considerably better, now that the uncomfortable itchiness was gone. In a way, it was like he could temporarily wash off thoughts of his dad, the damn bastard.
To say Joey hated him wouldn't be completely accurate. After all, the guy had brought him into this world with his mom, but his mom had abandoned them, taking away his sister and causing his dad to delve even more into his bad habits. Shortly after that…
Joey looked over to the side, at his left shoulder. A scar, a battle wound. The first time his dad had tried to kill him in a drunken stupor. Of course, the next day when he had recovered enough from his hangover, he had grumbled an apology, and offered a bottle of beer to Joey, regardless of him being underage. That's the way it always worked, hate, more hate, then grudging acceptance that Joey would be here and there was nothing else he could do but try and keep him around so someone would make food before he got drunk again.
Joey stared at the scar, wishing desperately he could wash that away too, but he knew that no matter how much it healed, even if others couldn't see it, he would always see the scar plain as day.
"I would leave the old man if I could," Joey mumbled to himself as he grabbed a random bottle of shampoo Kaiba had the decency to give him, "But I ain't got anywhere else to go…"
The blonde did his best to keep thoughts of home away and finished washing himself off quickly. Making a mental note that he would have to go and get his own bath supplies from his house soon, he walked out of the shower briskly, not giving the inviting looking bathtub a second glance. He didn't want to get used to all the fancy stuff because he was only here for a month. Moreover, a shower did the job just fine, why waste the water?
Getting changed into his newly mended uniform, the blonde walked out of the second floor bathroom, only to meet face to face with the object of his aggravation.
"Gah! The fuck Kaiba?" Joey exclaimed, stumbling backward and nearly falling over in an effort to get away from his 'enemy.'
Kaiba reacted quickly, though, and he caught the blonde around the waist, bringing him back to his feet. He took the moment of bliss to inhale the puppy's hair. He smelled good, not like anything in particular, just nice, refreshing.
The moment could only last for so long though, as Kaiba didn't want to give too much away before he had the chance to gather more information on the black eye Joey had. Speaking of which.
"It is my bathroom, mutt," Kaiba said absently, looking over the wound from yesterday and noticing that it had officially turned a dark purple and had swelled so much that Joey's eye had to close. It looked painful, his poor puppy.
Joey growled, "Would you stop calling me that? If I were a dog, I wouldn't be talkin now would I?"
Kaiba smirked, folding his arms in that infuriating way he had, "Funny, I hear a lot more barking than talking."
Joey's glare, so full of heated fury, made the emotions Kaiba felt all the stronger. He needed someone strong; he needed a fighter by his side. And Joey was definitely a fighter.
"Fuck you, Kaiba," Joey snarled, pushing past the taller boy roughly and walking down the hall.
But Kaiba wasn't about to give up the only fun he had during the day.
"Aren't you going to even ask why I was waiting outside the door, Wheeler?"
Joey kept walking however, sticking his nose in the air, "I don't give a rat's ass!"
Kaiba raised an eyebrow and followed him, much to Joey's annoyance,
"Then I suppose you're more interested in getting lost, instead of learning where everything is in the house. Keep in mind, Wheeler, dinner is served at the same time every night, and I don't tolerate midnight snacking. So if you miss it because you got lost, it won't be my problem.
Joey made an irritated noise and messed up his hair, "Fine! Whatever! Just shut up already and show me!"
Kaiba smirked again and obliged. He showed Joey the easiest path to the bathrooms, the dining room, and the kitchen if need be. He also showed him his office ("Off limits , Wheeler." "Yeah, yeah, whateva.")
"How many damn rooms does one house need anyway? I mean I know Marie lives here, but still, there's enough room in here for fifty people, and it's just you three!"
"Correction, Pup," Kaiba said, stopping in front of what he knew was the last stop of the tour, "It's just the FOUR of us."
Joey glared at him, but he still had that hint of confusion at just what Kaiba was getting at. Kaiba grinned deviously, "Besides, I think a lowly mutt like you will appreciate what this next room has to offer."
Before Joey had a chance to retort, Kaiba opened the doors and dragged him inside. Joey's jaw dropped.
The room had the build of a movie theater, the seats arranged in a slant so that if someone were watching in row behind another, they could still see the screen. Which was unnecessary in a way because the friggin thing was huge! So huge, Joey wondered briefly how the hell they even got it through the door. Shelf upon shelf held every games system known to man, including an X-box Kinect. Two large glass cabinets held hours upon hours of DVDs. In addition, upon the insistence of Mokuba, an old fashioned popcorn machine buzzed in the corner. It was a teenage boy's paradise. (lil1diva: mine too. XD).
Speaking of Mokuba…
"RAAAAA! HEAR ME OUT NOW! YA BETTER LISTEN TO ME LIKE IT OR NOT!"
He and Marie were currently head-banging to Lincoln Park, as said maid screamed along into the mike. Mokuba meanwhile swinging the sticks on the rock band drums so hard Seto was nervous they'd shatter.
"Ah, Marie?" Joey started, while a quiet portion of the sound started, but he gulped when he heard the music pick up again in intensity.
"I WON'T BE IGNOOOOOOOOOORRRRREEEDDD!" Marie screamed, scoring perfectly on the meter according to the rock band programming. But even Mokuba joined his brother and Joey in covering their ears in pain.
Without a player, Mokuba's drummer failed out of the song, while Marie continued to jump up and down wildly as she finished the song. She threw the microphone onto the couch growling, letting out a noise that could only be determined as a victory screech. When she noticed the silence it greeted, she turned with a cheerful smile.
"Hello Master Kaiba, Joey! Watcha dooooin?" She chirped happily, and Joey tried not to fall over in shock.
"Marie, kindly refrain from blowing up the speakers, they're expensive," Kaiba said coolly to which Marie shrugged.
Mokuba unplugged his ears and gave his older brother a sheepish grin, "Sorry about that Seto, it was me who picked the song. Totally my fault." He jumped out to his feet, high fiving Marie, "Great job Marie! A perfect score as always."
Kaiba raised an eyebrow, unaware that his brother was even familiar with this kind of music. Note to self, make sure Mokuba's CD's were censored as soon as the opportunity came.
"Quite a pair a lungs ya got there, Miss Marie," Joey commented offhandedly, while Marie patted him on the head.
"I'm honored to hear you think so Joey."
Kaiba had no worries about Marie flirting with the puppy; the way she looked at him was more sisterly than anything else. Though he supposed less intelligent or perceptive people, like Tristan, would take it the wrong way. However, since observation is what Kaiba does, he couldn't help but see Marie's carefree look dip into one of concern, as she gazed at the wound on Joey's face.
Joey winced when she touched it gently as if to asses the damage. "It's nothing," he said almost automatically, out of habit. Marie looked doubtful.
She cast a look over at Kaiba, clearly trying to read his emotions, which she had become a little too good at for his liking. Even so, she never said anything unless Kaiba approached her first, and this time was no different. She gave him a reassuring smile and then patted Joey on the shoulder.
"Be right back."
With that she trotted off, leaving Joey to stare at her bewilderedly.
"Aww," Mokuba complained, "She said she'd do one more song before she got back to work!"
Kaiba took a seat on one of the red velvet chairs; letting both of the other boys know that under no circumstances would he be caught dead playing that game. Joey shrugged, well, if he was gonna be a spoil sport…
"I'll play with you Mo, let me have a turn on da drums though." He grinned when Mokuba visibly brightened.
"Okay!"
And so Kaiba watched bemusedly while both of them played rock band for another hour and a half, taking turns on guitar and drums. Joey wailed over the drum pads worse than Mokuba did. What Kaiba didn't know was that Joey was pretending each drum pad was Kaiba's face as he whacked at them in glee. He got a new record for his efforts.
Eventually, both boys were too tired to watch the screen's notes roll by anymore, so they opted to put on a movie. Kaiba pulled out his laptop, indicating he didn't give to fucks about what they chose. That left the choice unanimous.
Star Trek, 2009.
Mokuba made popcorn, while Joey did his best to figure out the DVD player (eventually Kaiba had to step in, which frustrated Joey to no end.)
Through the first half an hour, both Mokuba and Joey shoveled popcorn into their mouth like they hadn't been fed in weeks, and watched Kirk repeatedly dangle on ledges of over a thousand feet after getting his butt whooped. (Seriously, the guy must be an adrenalin junkie or something.)
It was around when Spock started kissing Uhura however, that Kaiba looked up from his work to check on how they both were. Mokuba had moved into the back row for some reason. He figured out soon why.
Joey was snoring rather loudly, slumped in a position in his seat that would surely give him a crick in his neck.
Kaiba cast a questioning glance at Mokuba, and said boy rolled his eyes, shrugging.
The brunet closed his laptop and put it off to the side so he could gently shift the puppy from his upright position to resting his head in Kaiba's lap. The blonde must have been a heavy sleeper though, because he neither noticed nor did anything to stop it. He merely shifted a little in his sleep, until he turned facing away from him, but still snuggling into the warmth that was ironically Kaiba.
Kaiba let his lips twitch into a soft smile. Yet, he couldn't help wondering if it had been a while since the blonde had been able to sleep in such a secure place with a full stomach.
'He's so beautiful…' He thought absently, reaching up to tuck a lock of blonde hair behind his ear once again. Now that Joey wasn't awake to back away, though, he let his hand linger.
His finger lightly traced the shell of the puppy's ear and started when he heard Joey give a soft whimper.
He blinked when he noticed Joey's face had taken on a delicate flush, and he smirked.
He should have known: the mutt had sensitive ears.
Careful not to wake him, he brushed his fingers against the outer ear again and alternated between doing that and lightly scratching behind them. Joey 'mmmmed' contentedly and his body acted of its own accord, leaning into the touch that felt so pleasant. Kaiba chuckled, 'Not a puppy, my ass.'
He heard the door open and close shortly after, and then Marie was standing at his side, a large bundle in her arms.
"Sorry I took so long, Master Kaiba," she whispered, noticing the sleeping blonde, "There really are too many bathrooms in this place. I had trouble finding the right one with the right supplies."
"So I've heard," Kaiba commented dryly, while Marie set the bundle down at his side and then took his laptop into her arms instead to return to his office. He noticed that there was a large bottle of liquid along with some gauze and some cotton pads.
"Witch hazel," Marie said, indicating the bottle, "My mom's cure all. It should at least sooth the area if anything. Just don't let it get in his eyes," she warned quietly, before pointing to the gauze and bandages.
"Just to be on the safe side." He nodded. She smiled at him.
"I'm rooting for you Master Kaiba," she murmured gently before she skipped back up the alleyway of the movie theater to return to her maidly duties.
Kaiba rolled his eyes, as if he couldn't have figured that out by all of her endless innuendos. He appreciated her support all the same, though. He reached over and unscrewed the top of the Witch Hazel, and tried not to chuckle when Joey's nose screwed up in confusion at the strong and unfamiliar smell.
While the blonde started to stir, Kaiba acted quickly and blotted some of the liquid onto a cotton pad, and placed a hand gently on Joey's shoulder to make sure he wouldn't move too much.
Joey groaned, obviously close to consciousness, when he felt something cold touch his face. He gasped and jumped, making his eye fly open.
Seto Kaiba's face hovered over his a short distance away, holding a cotton pad with a strange smell and slowly lowering it to his face again.
"W-what are you doing?" he shouted in surprise, struggling to gain leverage and sit up. However, that infuriating bastard kept a steady hand on his shoulder, forcing him back into his lap, adding to Joey's already immense discomfort.
"Sit still and keep your eyes closed, Mutt."
"Tell me what you're doing!" Joey shot back looking, to Kaiba's surprise, a little bit panicked.
Without another word, the stoic teen held up the bandages, "Marie insists that you put these on your eye, says it will help."
Joey was still rigid, and trying to lean as far away from the older boy as he could, but upon seeing it was only medical supplies, the panicked died away.
"Well why are you doin this, you coulda just woken me up and I'd do it myself."
"Why skip out on all the welcomed silence pup? And you're half blind, I doubt seriously you could do this competently," Kaiba replied simply, before pushing Joey down once again so he could continued to treat the eye without difficulty, "Now stay still."
Joe huffed, but he did as he was told. At first, his face screwed up in complaint when the cold pad met his face, but eventually, when his skin began to tingle and the hot sensation he had in the wound started to ebb a little, he relaxed and let Kaiba dab the medicine on the affected area. Marie was right; it did help.
Joey felt a little disappointed when Kaiba tossed the pad into a nearby trashcan and groaned in complaint when he saw him pull out the gauze. The blonde boy sat up and Kaiba grabbed his arm so he couldn't get too far away.
"C'mon Kaiba, I don't need that stuff," He shifted away a little when Kaiba tried to press the gauze to his affected eye.
"If Marie says you do, then you do. I thought I told you to sit!" he snapped, pushing Joey back into his seat and wrapping bandages around his head firmly. Well, aside from his puppy looking like a pirate, he had to say it was better to see that than the angry looking wound that was there.
"But it itches..." Joey whined, lifting his hands up to try and rub at his eye through the thick material.
Kaiba slapped his hand away though, "I'd better not see you do that again mutt, or I'll staple them to your head. Those are to stay on until Marie deems them ready to either be swapped or taken off completely, do I make myself clear?" The older Kaiba said severely and Joey pouted despite himself.
"Yeah fine, whatever. Damn prick," He muttered the last part under his breath, and Kaiba felt his lip twitch upwards.
It was a difficult process, but the puppy was beginning to respond to the training. He even followed a few of his master's orders. All that was left to deal with was that issue with trust, and of course that pesky bet of theirs.
WOOT! I finished!
Kisa: (pouts) there was hardly anything juicy in there!
Me: But-but it was so cute and fluffy!
Kisa: fine, I'll give you that, but I'd better see some goddamn smut soon, I'm going into deprivation.
Me : (face palm) Oy
Joey: (groans) please read and review so I can get these stupid bandages off! They itch like crazy!
Kaiba: (holds stapler threateningly) remember what I said pup. No scratching.
Joey: (whimpers )
Lil1diva: if there are any more mistakes, don't shoot me