KD: Okay, so this is probably gonna be one of the fluffiest chapters in this story. We think. We're pretty sure but we both have different definitions of fluff, so I guess we'll see. ^_^
Chapter Twenty-Four: Until We Fall Asleep
Chapter song:
Gimme gimme gimme- A*Teens
"Ah, another great day," Kit exclaimed once she and Joey were finished with work. "You did great today, Joey. Peten the Dark Clown has got nothing over you." Her eyes widened and she reached into her bag. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here you go." She handed him a small package of chocolates. Thanks for making this job lots of fun."
"Right back at ya. Thanks, Kit," Joey said, happily accepting the gift. Once he got changed out of his costume, he headed to Kaiba Corp. Joey was excited, because this would be the perfect chance to give Seto his gift. He was dreading going through the arduous process of seeing Seto during office hours, but surprisingly one of the female workers was waiting for him and escorted him directly to the CEO's office.
Seto was sitting at his desk, his glasses low on his nose while he was reading over paperwork. His eyes shot up over his glasses as Joey closed the door behind him. "Hello, Wheeler," Kaiba said not getting up from his desk.
Joey was a little disappointed by that, but it was expected of Kaiba. All work and no play. Joey debated whether or not to give Kaiba his present now. He didn't know what Seto wanted, so he decided to wait it out. "Hey, Kaiba," Joey stated back with little to no enthusiasm. "So what did ya want?"
"I wanted to tell you that I'll be picking you up from your place tonight after I am finished with work." Seto then went back to his paper work, as if Joey was just supposed to agree to this statement and leave.
"Huh?" Joey was just in a state of shock at first, but then the wheels in his head started turning. Kaiba did have something planned for them to do on Valentine's Day. "No need to do that, I'll just go to your place and wait for you there. It'll be easier." Joey was not ready for Kaiba to see his apartment, let alone his father.
"Very well then, Wheeler." Seto didn't move his eyes from his paperwork. Joey sighed and left the room. Seto was too entranced with his work as usual. The mood wouldn't have been right to give him a gift then. As Joey left Kaiba Corp he called Mokuba to make sure he was there. Of course Mokuba answered, but warned Joey he was not allowed to enter the kitchen no matter what.
After the long walk to Kaiba's house Joey just sat in the living room watching TV as the hours passed by. Joey figured Mokuba was in the kitchen making something because he was locked up in there with one of the maids for a good three hours. After he came out from hiding, the two boys played videogames together well into the night. Joey looked down at his watch. It was 10:32 and still no sign nor word from Seto.
"Should I leave or stay here? That jerk. I bet he's losing track of time at work. He said he wanted to meet me tonight, the least he could do is text me telling me he was going to be late." Joey laid on the couch staring at the ceiling and then looking over at his gift for Seto.
Joey jolted up from the couch when he heard the front door slam from down the hallway. He realized that he fell asleep and frantically looked at his clock to make sure it wasn't morning. "12:45? What was he doing all this time?"
Seto walked into the living room and was a little surprised to see Joey sitting on his couch. The cocoa brown eyes which were more often than not soft and warm were hardened with undisguised annoyance bordering on rage. His shoulders were hunched over and taught, and his hands were gripping so tightly to the sofa Seto was mildly concerned the cushions would need to be replaced. He could already tell this wasn't going to be a meeting full of hugs and kisses. Then again, was it ever? Seto was feeling angry, not at Joey, but at his useless employees and partially at himself. He had been planning on getting off work early for their scheduled date. At the last minute though, one of his female technicians came in wailing about how there had been a programming error and that five of his employees who were supposed to be working on it were absent. The next time he saw them, he would make sure they would have to leave the country if they ever wanted to find work again.
"Well, look who finally came home," Joey said irritably.
"I'm surprised you didn't go home," Seto stated, voicing his thoughts.
"Oh, I wanted to," Joey said getting up from the couch.
Seto could feel a tirade coming.
"Several times I thought to myself, 'just leave, he ain't coming', but I stuck around anyways. You know why?"
Seto didn't ask why because he knew he was going to hear it anyway.
"It's cuz I thought maybe you'd finally started thinking about something other than work. Honestly I was shocked all to hell when you actually told me you had something planned for Valentine's Day, but then you turn right around and pull this!"
Seto stood calmly, waiting for the tantrum to be over.
"Don't you think I have better things to do with my life than waiting up for you? I coulda at least spent the day with my friends or something. But I thought maybe…if I kept waiting…" Joey had gotten himself so worked up that tears of frustration were forming in his eyes.
Somewhere in the depths of Seto, way deep down in that emotionless pit of his soul, a sense of guilt was festering. He wanted to tell Joey that he had tried, but at the same time he didn't want to sound like he was making excuses for himself. Seto released a deep sigh before setting his briefcase down and going over the blonde teen who was viciously trying to dry his eyes.
"This is who I am," Seto told him straightforwardly, unable to summon any words of true comfort. "You knew this from the beginning. Things like this aren't going to stop happening. Work is always my first priority. Besides, I abhor this holiday with every fiber of my being, so you should be grateful I'm even making the attempt. If you want to though, we can still do something."
"Like what?" Joey asked in disbelief. He was in fact hurt that Seto so simply stated work was his first priority. However, Seto was trying, which was more from the CEO than usual. So he thought it would be best to leave that comment be…for now. "There's no restaurant in town that'll be open at this hour."
"I have a kitchen," said Seto releasing Joey and walking past him. "We'll make our own dinner."
This surprised Joey; he never took Seto for being a person who knew how to cook. Why would he when he could just have someone do it for him? Joey followed Seto into the kitchen where the Kaiba Corp. president opened the large pantry and began to search through it. "So, I guess this means you weren't joking," Joey said feeling his anger beginning to ebb away.
"I don't joke," said Seto. "Now what do you want to make for dinner?"
"Hamburgers and pizza are always good," suggested Joey.
"Pasta it is then," Seto decided grabbing a box of pasta shells.
"Why'd ya even ask for my opinion?" Joey demanded enraged before getting hit in the face with a checkered apron thrown by Seto.
"Put that on, Wheeler. You're going to help me," Seto said whilst slipping on a plain white apron of his own.
Joey grumbled a little but put on the apron. He spotted two packages on the counter, one with his name and one with Seto's. Both read: From Mokuba.
"Hey, check it out, gifts from Mokuba," Joey said opening his chocolates and popping one into his mouth. A burst of liquid caramel spread over his tongue and he almost jumped for joy.
Seto snatched the bag from him. "You're supposed to eat sweets after you eat dinner."
"Since when are you Mr. Mom?" Joey asked.
"If I am going through the trouble of making you dinner, I expect you to eat it," Seto said pulling out a cutting knife to start making the tomato sauce. Joey's puppy ears fell as he filled up a pot with water to start boiling it for the shells.
"Can I help you cut the tomatoes?" Joey questioned hoping to do more than watching water boil.
"No," Seto simply stated continuing to chop with a professional elegance. Joey sighed and continued to stare at the water that was still not boiling. Seto put a package of sweet Italian sausage in front of Joey, "You can make meatballs instead. No sharp cutlery needed."
Seto went back to his work and Joey perked up a little bit, as he rolled the sausage into tiny balls and placing them in an oiled pan on the stove top. Joey soon saw the water start to boil. "Maybe cooking isn't so hard after all" Joey added the shells into the boiling water, occasionally stirring. "Kaiba I finished the meatballs. Should I start cooking them?" Joey inquired as his hand reached for the heat notches.
"I'll do that, Wheeler," Seto commented as he added spices that Joey had never seen before in his tomato sauce. "You can stir that sauce while it heats up."
Joey knew that was code for I don't trust you cooking meat thoroughly, and frankly Seto was right in that thought. Joey's idea for dinner was buying frozen meals from the local convenience store and nuking them in the microwave, not actually making something in the kitchen.
Seto brought over the steel pot to the stove that was full of sauce and then switched his entire focus on the meatballs. Joey did his best to stir both the sauce and the noodles, but as soon as he stopped stirring one, the other started to bubble. As Joey was trying to transition from pasta to sauce, a little bit of the warm sauce splashed on his face from the heat, and Joey took this opportunity to try something new with Seto.
"Look Kaiba, sauce." Joey said pointing to the red splashes on his skin.
Seto just tossed a towel at him. "Pay attention to the pasta, Wheeler."
Joey looked down at the stove again and saw the white foam boiling over the pot, instinctively Joey lifted the pot off the stove and the white foam slowly began to disappear.
Dinner was finally complete and Seto went into a tall cabinet and started to pull out different glass bottles and placing them back in their proper place. Joey pulled from bread out of the oven and kept glancing over his shoulder to see what Seto was doing. Eventually, he picked a bottle and Joey soon realized that it was a wine bottle. Seto popped it open and began pouring the pearly clear beverage into two glasses, placing them on the table behind the two plates.
"This looks amazing, Kaiba!" Joey's mouth was almost watering with hunger, not having realized how starving he actually was.
Seto calmly sat down, not acknowledging Joey's words of praise. He picked up a napkin and unfolded it, then placed it on his lap. Joey took this as his cue to sit down and for the sake of politeness imitated Seto, placing his napkin across his legs.
Joey clapped his hands together. "I gratefully accept this meal."
Then he dug in without any further pretense. There wasn't much dinner conversation to be had, since Seto wasn't much of a conversationalist and Joey was too busy trying to see how much food he could stuff into his mouth at once. He went back for seconds, and even thirds. Needless to say, Seto didn't have to worry about leftovers. Joey did try the wine and thought it tasted weird, but in a not so bad way. After washing his meal down with it he released a happy sigh.
"That's gotta be one of the best meals I ever ate," he told Seto who was still working on his first plate. "If you don't mind me asking, where'd you learn? I mean, you just didn't strike me as the cooking type."
"I don't trust anyone else to prepare my meals," Seto stated simply, taking a drink from his glass. "Unless it's cooked by Roland or one of my staff. Employees I know I can trust."
Joey was a little confused by this, but decided not to press it. "Oh, ya, I got a little something for you." He rose from the table and ran off to where he left his bag. He came back with a white bag and held it out for Seto to take. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Can't you at least wait for me to finish?" Seto sighed. "Besides, it's not Valentine's day anymore, Wheeler."
"It is until we fall asleep," Joey said in denial.
Seto stared at the bag with misgiving before finally taking it from Joey. He pushed his plate away from himself and set the bag in its place. Under Joey's expectant gaze -Seto could practically see the tail wagging like crazy and ears perked up with anticipation- he opened the bag and reached inside. He first pulled out the chocolate.
"I know you don't like sweets," said Joey. "But I figured you would like this since it's really not sweet."
Seto merely nodded in acknowledgement and set it aside before reaching into the bag again. This time he pulled out the coffee. "I'm surprised, Wheeler. This is actually a somewhat decent selection."
Joey grinned, feeling happy he did something right. Then came the final gift; he watched as Seto pulled out the tie. "I saw it and thought of you. Check it out." He reached over and pushed a spot on the tie causing the eyes of the dragon to light up and emit a roaring noise.
"What are you, four?" Seto said staring at the tie in dislike.
"Does that mean you're not gonna wear it to work?" Joey asked.
"I'd sooner sell my own brother," said Seto as he repacked all of his gifts in the bag. "But it's certainly not the worst thing I received."
"I guess that's his way of saying thank you," thought Joey.
He waited until Seto was done with his meal, then helped Seto clean up. Once that was done, Seto sat down on the couch looking tired. Joey plopped down next to him. Seto's arm moved so it was resting on the top of the couch and he laid his head back for a brief moment his eyes closed. Joey took this rare chance and snuggled up to Seto a bit. He didn't know if Kaiba was too worn-out to care but he was not resisting to Joey's tiny act of affection. Seto let his hand slightly drop so it was barely touching Joey's shoulder. Joey felt a light weight on his head, only to realize that the work-a-holic CEO had passed out.
"I should've known he would fall asleep." Seto's eye snapped open as if he didn't realize that he had fallen asleep for a few brief minutes. He looked down at the blond under his arm and decided to let him stay there for a few minutes longer.
Seto briefly kissed Joey's temple. "It's late. You should be getting home. After all, you do have school tomorrow."
Joey looked up at Seto. "So do you."
"No I don't. I have work tomorrow that is more important than school." Seto stood up, causing Joey to fall completely sideways on the couch. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "I'll have someone drive you back, since it's so late."
Joey sat up feeling somewhat disappointed. As corny as it sounded, he hadn't wanted the night to end. He got up from the and approached Seto from behind, his heart thumping a little in nervousness but decided to take the plunge and hug Seto from behind. "Thanks for dinner. It really was great." It had been the first time anyone had ever cooked for him since his parents got divorced.
For a few moments, Seto didn't answer, preoccupied with ordering one of his men to bring the car around front. When he closed the cell phone he turned around to face Joey. With one hand he pulled Joey against him. "If you want something, mutt, it usually helps if you just say so."
As Joey's head was pressed against Seto's warm chest, he could faintly hear the taller man's heartbeat. Much to his surprise, its pace was quickly, not regular as he would have expected. He tilted his head up to look at Seto. He blushed. He felt weird, asking Seto for anything. He couldn't even bring himself to ask money from his friends, let alone intimate favors from his boyfriend. His pride just wouldn't allow it. Stronger than his pride, though, was the memory of Seto's lips on his. He wanted to feel that again, to see if it was a good as he remembered it.
Kaiba's mouth suddenly turned into a smirk and Joey was startled as Seto began steadily backing him up towards the front door. Joey felt his shoulders touch the wooden surface and he looked at Kaiba questioningly. Before he could ask, Seto's mouth descended onto Joey's. It was brief, and Seto signaled his finish by grazing Joey's lips with his tongue.
"But… I didn't…" stuttered Joey.
"Your eyes said it all, Wheeler," Seto said before pushing open the door causing Joey to stumble out backwards. "Now go home," and he shut the door.
KD: Yay, after three chapters... well two and a half, Valentine's day is over! I hope you enjoyed this, because we won't have anymore holidays for a while. So until next time!