Chapter Twenty: Bitter and Sweet
Chapter songs:
Across the Universe- I want you
The next day was chillier than the last, something Joey hadn't thought possible, in more ways than one. Seto was giving him the cold shoulder despite all efforts to engage him. He had even caved and was wearing one of the outfits Seto had brought for him, a white under armor shirt and khaki pants, though he'd kept his usual green jacket. Seto looked at him once and hadn't spared a glance since.
When the evening rolled around and the temperature dropped to bone numbing degrees, Joey hit every warm sake stand they came across. At one point he noticed Seto staring at him while he was about to take a drink.
Awkwardly, Joey held it out to Seto like a peace offering. "Did you want some, Kaiba?"
Seto's eyes averted down to the cup as if just now realizing it existed before turning away without a word.
"He could've at least said 'no'," Joey thought sadly. Was he still upset about last night? Well, it was Seto Kaiba. Being denied ANYTHING was a blow to his ego apparently. People were crowding everywhere to find a good place to watch the fireworks. Joey, Seto, and Mokuba were lucky enough to snag a bench seat.
"I'm gonna go get some sparklers," Mokuba said. "Be right back." It didn't take long before he disappeared amongst the masses of people.
Joey cursed Mokuba for leaving him, quite purposefully he suspected, in this awkward situation with Seto. He knew Mokuba was going to be a while because of the crowds of people. He hoped the kid would make it back in time. He was surprised Seto let him go off alone considering how often the kid seemed to get into trouble. Joey chanced a glance at Seto; unsurprisingly, Seto was sitting with his legs crossed, arms folded, and body turned away. Joey didn't need to be an expert on body language to know that clearly meant Seto would rather be chained to a stone cross than sitting with Joey right now.
Joey wanted to say something to Seto, but didn't know what or where to start. The silence was killing him, and every second felt longer now that Mokuba was gone. "Come on, Joey, you can't mess up any more than you already have." Joey noticed Seto glancing at him again out of the corner of his eye, but once again quickly looked away. "What is going through that head of his?" Joey breathed in heavily and said the first thing that came to his head. "So Kaiba are you excited about the fireworks?"
Kaiba cleared his throat before speaking. "I would rather be at work, but Mokuba is happy." The silence came once again after Seto's short response. It was blatantly obvious to Joey now that Seto truly didn't want to talk to Joey.
Mokuba finally came back, several sparklers in hand. "Joey, Seto, I bought sparklers for all of us." Mokuba handed one to Joey, who happily took it. "Come on, Seto. It will be fun." Mokuba continued to hold out the sparkler to his older brother, lightly tapping his foot. Kaiba took the sparkler from his brother's hand after a few moments of pointed staring.
The fireworks soon started, and the bright colors began to light up the sky. Mokuba lit his sparkler and excitedly waved it up and down as he watched the waves of red, blue, green, yellow and orange light up the sky.
Joey started to feel warm from the massive amounts of people watching the spectacle and all the warm fireworks and sparklers heating up the night. Joey took off his green jacket and placed it next to the bench as he joined Mokuba, running around with his sparkler bright in hand.
Mokuba and Joey had fun playing with the variety of personal fireworks Mokuba had purchased. Joey in particular enjoyed watching the spinners, which spun in a blazing ring before finishing with a pop. They also had fun throwing poppers at each other's feet. They ran around for a good half hour straight before Joey relaxed back down on the bench to catch his breath. Joey noticed that Seto was still holding his sparkler, unlit. Joey reached over with his lighter and lit the sparkler.
Seto glared at him to which Joey quickly responded with, "You know Mokuba would get after you if you didn't use it."
Seto apparently couldn't argue with that because he said nothing, opting instead to stare blankly at the sparkler, clearly unsure of what to do with it. Joey shook his head before once again reaching his hand over to gently grasp Seto's and lift the sparker up into the air. This was of course met with instant recoil.
"What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked roughly.
"Didn't you ever learn to have fun when you were a kid?" Joey replied. "You're supposed to wave it around, not hold it like a dead snake."
"Why would I want to wave something around and look like an idiot?" Kaiba asked scornfully.
Joey sighed. "Come on… just give me your arm. No one's looking."
Seto, extremely reluctantly, allowed Joey to take his hand and move it around, watching the blazing sparks go this way and that. "See? It ain't that hard."
Seto didn't reply, and when the sparkler fizzled out, Joey found he didn't want to let go of Seto's hand. Especially since after sitting for a while all the heat he'd built up while running around was gone. For the first time all day Seto looked him in the eye and Joey tried to use that opportunity to kill two birds with one stone by snuggling up to Seto, hoping perhaps that would help ease some of the frost around the CEO's heart.
"What do you think you're doing now, Wheeler?" Seto pushed Joey's body off of his.
Joey glared at the CEO. "Nothin'." Joey leaned back against the bench. "That jerk, how can he not get it?" Joey looked over to Seto, who was now watching over his little brother. Mokuba was still excitedly running around and throwing poppers like the other kids his age.
"I knew Joey would look good in that clothing but I didn't think he would look that good," Seto thought looking over to the blond next to him. The white under armor showed off Joey's every curve and toned muscle, making it hard for Seto to stay mad at the blond for the rejected kiss the other night. "The mutt is making it hard for me to control myself right now." When Joey tried snuggling up to the CEO it didn't help much either. "I'll just focus on Mokuba for now." Seto stared intently at his little brother, knowing that if he looked at the blond sitting next to him anymore he really wouldn't want to control his urges. "Well, at least Mokuba is having a good time. I have not seen him smile like this in a long time." Seto looked down at his clock to check the time. People were slowly starting to leave, and the fireworks were beginning to die down.
"Seto, this is so much fun. Can we come back again next winter?" Mokuba said, coming back to the two teenagers when all his sparklers and poppers were gone. Seto nodded, but Mokuba knew that the nod was more of a 'we'll see' than a definite 'yes'.
"Are you ready to head back home?" Seto asked, getting up from the bench as the fireworks started to die down.
"Yep, let's go back. I'm getting tired," Mokuba said as Seto pulled out his phone to summon a ride back to the Blue Eyes jet.
After the car ride, followed by the jet ride, Mokuba was out like a light by the time they got back to the mansion. Kaiba gently lifted his brother up in his arms and carried him off the jet with Joey following behind.
"Did you need a ride home, Wheeler?" Seto asked Joey when they reached the front door.
"Nah, I'll walk," Joey said. Even though it was chilly and his feet hurt, he just didn't feel like accepting one of Seto's charity rides. "Oh, I promise I'll get your clothes back to ya soon as I can."
"Those are for you, Wheeler," Seto told him. "No arguments. If you don't want to wear them, then don't. But they're yours."
"Right, okay. Thanks for having me along," Joey said awkwardly. Seto nodded and closed the door behind him. Joey began walking home, the night was colder than usual, although the clothing Seto gave him was warm, he could still feel the chill.
The walk was silent, and no one else was around. Joey noticed a Lamborghini Diablo pull up next to him. It was hard to tell the color of the car in the night, but it look almost like a dark red or blue. The passenger door opened and Seto was sitting in the driver's seat. "Get in the car, Wheeler," he said.
"You can drive?" Joey said, confused, hesitant to do as told. Seto didn't answer, simply staring at him with impatience. Finally, Joey sighed and got into the car, knowing protesting would be pointless. As soon as he was seated, he shut the door and Seto began to drive off.
"Yes, Wheeler, I can drive." Seto finally said, to Joey's surprise, turning down the classical music he had playing when Joey had climbed in.
"But then why do you always have someone driving you around?" Joey asked, since this was the first time he ever saw the CEO drive on his own.
"It's easier to be driven around," Seto said, gaze fixed on the road ahead. The car soon became silent, except for Joey's direction to his home.
"I really don't want Kaiba knowing where I live. Maybe I'll have him drop me off a few blocks before my apartment complex," Joey thought as he noticed they were soon approaching his complex. "You can let me off here," Joey said, seeing his complex was two blocks away. Seto stopped the car, and allowed Joey to get out of the car. "Thanks for the ride." Joey closed the door, but Seto pulled down the window as if he wanted to say something, but held it back. Instead, he turned around and drove off the other way, leaving Joey alone in the dark night.
It was another quiet day in the Kaiba mansion. Seto was sitting in his chair with his newspaper in hand and a cup of black coffee next to him. Mokuba and Joey had their eyes glued to the TV, hot chocolate clasped in their own hands. Waiting for the commercials to finish, Joey's eyes moved to the window where he saw white flakes sticking to the outside of the glass. Joey tapped Mokuba on the shoulder and pointed towards the window; their evil ploy was in action.
"Seto!" Mokuba slyly said, getting beside the armrest of the chair. "It's snowing! Let's go outside."
"NO, Mokuba" Seto replied flatly, turning the page of his paper, ending the topic at that.
"Come on, Kaiba, even you need fun once in a while," Joey chimed in while smashing the paper into Seto's lap. Seto sent a death glare at Joey.
"I was having fun reading about my stocks dominating everyone else," Seto said almost matter-of-factly.
"Please, Seto," Mokuba said with big puppy eyes.
"I already said 'no', Mokuba." But as soon as Seto turned his head to look back at Joey, he saw another pair of puppy eyes coming from Joey. Seto angrily put his newspaper aside, hating himself for falling into Joey's puppy eyes. "Fine, we'll go outside." There was ice colder than the snow outside in Seto's voice.
The three of them stepped outside of the mansion and just like new born puppies, Mokuba and Joey were romping around in the snow. They threw their heads back and tongues out, trying to catch snowflakes in their mouths. At one point, they both fell backwards into the snow and started to make snow angles. Seto didn't mind Mokuba doing that, but seeing Joey act immaturely was a tad aggravating. He even got more aggravated with Joey when a freshly packed snowball hit him square in that back. Seto went to shoot a death glare at Joey, but he innocently smiled, pointing to Mokuba, who mirrored him down to the innocent sparkle in his eye.
"Come on, pups," Seto grumbled continuing to walk towards the park. He sat down on one of the many benches and watched as Mokuba started to make a snowman. Joey plopped down next to Seto, smiling wide between chattering teeth. Seto noticed the teeth chattering. "It's your own fault for running around in the snow dressed like that," Seto reproached, noting the fact that Joey was just wearing his usual street clothing.
"Come on, Kaiba, I might be dying of hypothermia," Joey said as his teeth chattered even louder. The snow began to fall harder.
"Do you even know what hypothermia is, Wheeler?" Seto asked mockingly.
Joey paused for a minute. "It has something ta do with the cold," Joey finally proclaimed confidently.
As Seto went to cross his arms in disapproval, he felt a bulge in his jacket pocket. He remembered it was the iPod he had been planning to give Joey on Christmas. After some contemplation, he decided that now was as good of time as any to give him the present. Seto pulled the iPod out and handed it to the teeth-chattering Joey. "Merry belated Christmas," Seto grumbled.
"Christmas was over a week ago!" Joey exclaimed without even looking at that gift. When he finally looked down he noticed an iPod. It was the same shade of pink as the cell phone he received many months ago. Joey started to look down the playlist and didn't recognize any of the names of the 'bands'. "Bach, Beethoven? Who are they?" Joey wondered in confusion continuing to scroll down the list.
He noticed one song that didn't look like the rest and decided to click on it. A peppy love song started to play loudly for both Seto and Joey to hear. Even Mokuba heard the music, and began to laugh quietly so Seto and Joey could not hear him. He was the one that put the peppy love song in the iPod as a joke. The end result, the look of Joey's and Seto's faces, was priceless.
After Joey ended the bizarre song that he knew Seto didn't put in there, he waited to hear some words of thanks for the iPod from Joey. "Why pink?" was what Joey said instead.
"I thought it would match your phone," was all Seto said, dead serious. This irritated Joey quite a bit. His friends already made fun of the fact he had a pink cell phone, but now they had something new to tease him about too. Despite the fact of it being pink, Joey did like the iPod. He had been wanting one, but never had the money to afford one on his own.
"Thanks, Kaiba," Joey finally said, pocketing away the Ipod, planning in his mind what bands to put in it later.
The two looked back over to Mokuba and noticed that the snowman was complete and the boy was already starting an igloo. The snow slowed down again, and Seto shook the flakes off of his hair lightly with his hand. He looked down at Joey again, noticing that he was still shivering. Seto pulled Joey in close to his body and wrapped his arms gently around.
Joey felt the warmth from Seto instantly seep into his body. His cheeks were turning an even brighter red, not from the snow, but from the fact that Seto was showing affection in a public place. No one was around to see this display in public, so Joey knew that's why Seto was doing it, but it still made him happy. Joey cocked his head up to look at Seto.
Seto gazed coolly back at him. "You're lips are turning blue, Wheeler," Seto said, leaning close. This time Joey knew what to expect. Before Joey knew it Seto's lips were on top of his The first touch of Seto's lips against his own seemed strangely tentative, as though Seto was afraid Joey would pull away again. The first instigation was quickly followed by a warmer press, however, and the fleeting hesitance was swept from Joey's mind as the kiss deepened. This one kiss almost made Seto seem loving; that all those months of torture were because he couldn't get his feelings out, which scared Joey.
Joey withdrew from the kiss, confusion evident in his features. "What are you doing, Kaiba? We're in plain sight." he asked wide-eyed.
"Be quiet, Joseph," Seto said, his hand cupping Joey's cheek and pulling him in for another kiss.
"Se… Kaiba…" Joey quietly whispered as their lips were once again locked. Mokuba looked over towards his brother and Joey only to see them in the middle of the moment. His face went red with embarrassment and he decided to hide inside his igloo until it was over.
This time, when the kiss ended, Seto pulled away from Joey. Joey licked his lips a little and he detected a faint bitterness. At the same time Seto was noting that Joey had tasted rather…sweet.
"We better get going before you freeze to death and then I am forced to find another employee. Come on, Mokuba." Seto stood up from the bench whereas Joey was still sitting there dazed over what just happened.
As Mokuba crawled out of his igloo and ran towards him, Joey was still playing the kiss over in his mind. It had felt... really nice. It had been soft and warm, totally NOT like the Kaiba he was used to.
"What are you grinning about, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked in annoyance, seeing that Joey was still sitting down. "Didn't you hear me? I said it's time to go."
Joey hadn't realized he had been smiling and quickly tried to sober himself, but he couldn't help it. He almost felt like he won the lottery. He rose from the bench to join the two brothers.
"This was fun, Seto. We should do this again," said Mokuba.
"Hn... maybe," Seto said noncommittally.
Mokuba laughed before taking Seto's left hand in his right and then grabbing Joey's right hand with his left. "Let's be together, always."
KD: Yay! First kiss! Though my co-write says it was too lovey dovey, but I think pushing the envelope now and again is okay (wink wink). So what's to come next? Where will the relationship go? Stay tuned! And please review, even if its to complain or give (constructive) critism.