Kaiba's POV

Kaiba couldn't believe his luck. There he was, expecting another dull business meeting at another dull venue and he had been proved completely wrong! A rarity in itself! The fact that Joey wasn't responding as usual was slightly exasperating but, then again, he always loved a challenge. The fact that Joey's hands had started trembling during the drink-list scenario hadn't escaped Kaiba's super sharp eyes and the stammer in Joey's voice before he had retreated to the kitchen had left Kaiba struggling not to laugh out loud.

Scanning the menu, he searched for something he could use to cause the puppy as much trouble as possible. Excellent. He had found the perfect dish.

Half an hour later Joey, laden with a host of extremely expensive dishes, was making his way back to the table. From the look on his face, it was more than apparent that his nerves had been strained to breaking point. The reason for Joey's case of nerves was more than apparent to Kaiba, and would have remained so even if he had decided to halve his IQ.

The food he was carrying was clearly worth more money then he made in a month. Also, he had to concentrate on not letting his anger towards Kaiba show. "I wonder if the mutt will manage to do so after my little trick." Thought Kaiba, grinning to himself.

The relief seemed to grow on Joey's face as he successfully relieved himself of dish after dish. Finally, just Kaiba was left.

"Enjoy your meal, Sir."

It was then Kaiba made his move, just as the plate was going down, he moved his arm very slightly to the side. Not enough to be noticeable, just enough to tilt the bowel, spilling a little soup onto his lap.

"Naughty dog! Just look what you've done. Time to lick it all up, puppy."

Damn. That sounded wrong. Please, please don't let anyone else have heard it that way. Scanning the table, Kaiba felt himself relax. They all were looking perfectly calm. Thank goodness he was rich enough to pull it off without sounding perverted. He just sounded rather snobby. And that was only to be expected from someone in his position.

It was then he chanced to glance at Joey. A glance that had to be prematurely averted, lest he implode from the increasing volume of restricted laughter that was bubbling up inside him.

Joey's eyes had become giant, honey orbs and his mouth had dropped open. His face had gone dead white and the look of terror on his face was really very comical. It was only when the other guests began to stare at him that he sprang, puppet-like, into motion.

"Sorry, Mister Kaiba, Sir, very sorry 'bout that. I'll have you cleaned up in jus' a jiffy." And with that he began frantically patting Kaiba's lap with a serviette.

"Ahhhhhh!" With a great yell, Kaiba pushed Joey as far away from his crotch as possible and began to stride towards the bathroom.

Joey's POV

OK. In. Out. In. Out. That's right, keep breathing. And whatever you do. Don't think about it. Do. Not. Think. About. It. Arrrrg! Why can't I stop thinking about it?

"What's wrong with you, Wheeler?"

Great, Alessandria was on his case again, like he didn't have other matters to worry about.

"Why are you looking so…flushed?"

No, no he wasn't flushed, he was confused, irritated, angry…not flushed!

"Er….I…." Joey broke off, looking embarrassed.

"Look, I don't care if you're getting sick or having some kind of meltdown, just do your job for another hour and then we can close and you can crawl home to bed."

"Sure, like I'll be able to sleep tonight" thought Joey sarcastically.

Kaiba's POV

"Ok. I'm not having a breakdown. No way. Not now, not ever. I've worked way too hard for this to happen. Besides, it can't have possible meant what I think it meant. After all, I like women. True, I've never had a girlfriend but, come on, that doesn't mean anything as its not like I have a crowd of friends." Kaiba frowned. There was no logical explanation for what had just happened and that scared him in a way that neither large monsters nor life threatening situations ever had.

"This is ridiculous. I can't believe Wheeler is making a fool out of me in front of my most important business associates." Yes. What had started out as a bunch of middle-aged fools had now been transformed by an enraged Kaiba into the country's most important entrepreneurs. He was going to make that clumsy canine pay for his mistake if it was the last thing he did.

Storming back into the room, he took his seat once more at the table. He had let his guard down with Wheeler and this was what he had ended up with...a group of nervous and rather awkward looking businessmen. Wait. Who was that?

Seated at the end of the table was a tall and rather imposing looking woman. Her dead straight blonde hair fell smoothly past her waist and her eyes were shockingly green. How long had she been sitting there? Had he really been so obsessed with the mutt that he hadn't even asked her name? Was it too late now? Of course it was. Most of the people at the table had already finished their meals and were picking up their menus once more to choose their deserts.

Suddenly Kaiba perked up once more. True, it might be too late to ask her name, but it certainly wasn't too late for….other things. Taking a deep breath, Kaiba tried to collect himself. Tonight he was going to try something he had never done before. Something he had never even thought about doing before the events of this evening had made it necessary…

…He was going to flirt.

Joey's POV

"I am calm. I am strong. I am completely unafraid…Ha! This positive thinking mumbo-jumbo Yuug always goes on about it a joke. How my meant to calm down by simply thinking 'bout it?" By this point Joey was panicking. The rich snobs were bound to have finished their meals by now. He had to get back out there. But…he was scared.

He didn't know why Kaiba had reacted as he had and he was pretty sure that Kaiba was just as confused as him. And, if he knew moneybags at all, being confused would not sit well with him. Especially since his ego seemed to have grown ever bigger since last time they had met – if that was even possible.

"Wheeler, I don't know why you're so loath to leave my kitchen, but if you don't get your lazy butt out there by the count of three, then I'll be taking all the tips you receive tonight. One, two…."

"I'm goin' I'm goin'" And with that Joey fled from the kitchen, whimpering like a puppy. How could such a little person be so scary? And so loud! Why did Alice hate him so much? He was a good kid…except from the occasional bout of clumsiness, perhaps. Then again, that totally wasn't his fault. It was hereditary!

Reaching the table, he began to spout the next set of lines he had been forced to memorise, something about the wonderful variety of mouth-watering deserts they had on offer. As he started taking orders, he felt his heart beginning to stammer curiously. Was he really that afraid of Kaiba?

Reaching Kaiba, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever bout of humiliation Kaiba had decided would be appropriate punishment for the happenings of before. He waited for a few moments but no order was given, no command, comment or insult was directed at him. Stealing a cursory at Kaiba, he was shocked to see the brunette deep in conversation with a striking looking blonde.

Joey felt a rather disconcerting pang of anger and resentment. Though he tried to reason it was simply irritation at being ignored, he couldn't help but feel it was something else. Something he didn't even want to contemplate at that precise moment – or at any point during his rather wretched life.

Clearing his throat, he put on his most waiter-like voice, "Your order, Sir?"

"I'll have the Fillet Steak.. and bring one for the beautiful woman on my right also."

Joey jumped as he watched Kaiba smiled seductively at the women seated next to him, a woman Joey could have sworn had not been seated there when he was delivering the previous course of dishes. Then again, that wasn't what had shocked him. What had shocked him was the behaviour of Kaiba.

He had known Kaiba since Duelist's Kingdom and he had not once seen him deep in conversation with anyone. He made demands and sneered rude remarks. In fact, the closest he got to a real conversation was his arguments with Joey. Well, they weren't really arguments, more like brief exchanges of insults;

Idiot

Snob

Dumbass

Freak

Mutt

Moneybags

And so on…

Nevertheless, Joey never saw Kaiba more animated than he was during those little exchanges of theirs. Subsequently, the conversation thing that was going on completely shocked him. As for the flirting thing… well, that positively bewildered him.

Joey had basically labelled Kaiba as an asexual being after he had seen the way Mai had tried and failed to capture moneybags on their first meeting. True, Kaiba had probably seen through her thin guise to marry money but still, Joey had thought it was impossible for any warm blooded male to ignore Mai the way rich boy had.

Then again, perhaps Mai just wasn't his type. The woman next to him looked just as wealthy as he was, not to mention just as smart and sophisticated. Rich jerk, Joey thought to himself.

Walking away from the table, he couldn't help but feel his heart sink. And that was when he started to feel seriously worried.

Kaiba's POV

Contrary to Joey's belief, Kaiba's thoughts were far from the women beside him. "Why did Joey look so concerned? Does he enjoy me taunting him? I suppose it's the only thing in his life which makes him feel special." Follow this cruel thought, Kaiba promptly felt sickened with himself.

It didn't make sense. When speaking out loud he could say whatever he wanted about the mutt and not suffer a moment's remorse. However, whenever he thought cruel things about the pup, he always felt like he was…betraying him, almost, by depriving Wheeler of the chance to fight back. No matter who inane his retorts might be. However, this absurdity was going to end tonight. He was going to fall in love with the blonde beauty beside him, thereby terminating all feelings for Wheeler.

Wait. Did he just admit he had feelings for Wheeler? What was wrong with him? Then again, one of the strongest emotions he had ever experienced was related to that pathetic, third-rate duelist Wheeler…

…It was two years ago now but he still could envision the situation clearly. Joey had just dropped his life points to zero to free Yugi and was so eager to unlock his friend's chains that he had forgotten to grab the key to his own before being plunged into the sea. The feelings of guilt, pain and self-loathing were unlike anything he had previously experienced. He knew he should dive after him with the key but his pride wouldn't allow him too. He had been imprisoned by his own egotism. He had been wrecked with horror at the strength of his feelings and, right until the moment Joey had emerged to the surface with his sister, this sickening knot had been growing at the base of his stomach. He never again wanted to experience that feeling.

Or…true, he never wanted to feel that exact combination of feelings but the depth of his emotions… That was a really profound experience. When reporters asked him about the profound moments of his life he naturally gave the most significant events of his career: outwitting his father and taking control of Kaiba Corp, bringing a whole new dimension to the game of duel monsters…and so on…. However, if he was being honest with himself, he couldn't envision any of those moments.

Actually, that was a lie. His astoundingly accurate memory enabled him to perfectly recall all those moments. However, only the actual events. Events were momentous but not profound. There was no emotion, just action. However, his "Joey-moments" were recalled with perfect clarity, not because of their action (excluding the whole drowning incident, they were actually pretty trivial) but because of the strong emotions he had experienced during them.

Damn. He really needed help.

Ok, I admit, not too much action towards the end….but come on… action always picks up after a bit of deep thinking – right? Besides, we can't have the emotionless CEO becoming googly-eyed over night, can we?

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