Chapter Thirty: Mr. Care-and-Share
Chapter Song: True Colors- Phil Collins
It had been at least a month since Seto and Joey had went on their little day trip, to his cottage and it seemed like that was the last time Joey would get any type of physical contact from the CEO. Seto was constantly busy with work, and so was Joey. He even had the blond pull double shifts on the weekends. However, after that month of constant work, Joey finally had a day off, and of course Seto already claimed all rights over Joey for that day before he even had a chance to ask his friends if they wanted to hang out. Joey was a bit angered by this, however, knowing Kaiba, he would not have done it, unless it was something important.
Joey's head was glued to the window of the car, looking intently at the outside surroundings. "Where are we going again, Kaiba?" Joey said finally removing his head from the window and looking at Seto who was sitting next to him.
Seto didn't answer his question at first; he really didn't want to have to explain to Joey just yet. The car finally came to a stop in front of a giant building that almost resembled a school. There was an elderly man and women waiting by the gate. The women seemed very excited with a big grin on her face, while the man looked like he was nervous with sweat; using a hankie to dab at his head. Seto stepped out of the car first and the women enthusiastically came up to Seto and pulled him into a hug. Joey looked at this image in astonishment. He and Seto never hugged before but Seto seemed almost at ease with the strange women.
"It's so good to have you here Seto." The women said cheerfully. "No Mokuba again?" She said looking around for the dark haired boy.
"He still is having a hard time coming to terms with this place," Seto calmly replied.
The women looked over Seto's shouldered and noticed Joey standing there looking at his surrounding's absent mindedly. "Who is this with you, Seto?" The women stepped around Seto and walked over to Joey. "I'm Elaine, my husband and I run the orphanage here." She nodded over to her husband and held out her hand to shake Joey's.
"I'm Joey. Joey Wheeler," He said shaking her hand in return. "Orphanage…no way this cant be…I know Kaiba was adopted, and has a soft spot for orphans But could this be the same orphanage they were at as kids?." Joey eyed the surrounding area , but his eyes soon shifted back to the woman holding his hand.
The elderly woman was pink with delight. "Seto has never brought someone with him before. You two must be very good friends then." Joey was still trying to get over the shock that they were at an orphanage, but the mention that Kaiba never bringing someone with him before was an even bigger shock. "Well let's go inside shall we. The kids are excited to see you Seto. They always look forward to your visits." Joey followed closely behind Seto as they followed the elderly women into one of the many rooms. There was at least 10 other kids in the room aging from 5 to about 10 years old.
"Seto!" One of the boy said running up to him. "You still owe me a chess game." He crossed his arms with a fake anger.
Seto knelt down to look at the young boy. Joey noticed his eyes completely changed. They were similar to when he was around Mokuba, all the ice was melted away. "You go set up the board, I'll be over in a minute." The boy eagerly ran off to one of the cabinets trying to find the chess set.
"I thought you said you were going to bring your new puppy," Another boy said, much younger than the other boy. Seto softly laughed at this and Joey was a bit confused at first why.
"Puppy…wait…Kaiba you told those little kids that I'm your dog!" Joey was thinking his face red with anger.
"But you brought a blond guy instead." The little kid walked up to Joey. "Are you the puppy? I don't see a tail." The little kid circled Joey with a sheer curiosity. Joey looked around for Seto, but already saw him sitting at the table playing chess with the boy from earlier. Joey looked down at the little kid he didn't look too bad, about five. How bad could a five year old be?
"This is Seto's friend Joey," The women said to the little boy. "He came to play with you today too."
The little boy put his hand to his chin as if he was thinking, "I thought Seto said the dog's name was Joey." Joey's looked at the little kid, as if he were a miniature Kaiba taunting him easily. "Well, doggie, I wanna ride," The little boy said impatiently tapping his foot.
Joey swallowed his pride and got on his knees, letting the little boy ride on his back. "I'll get that jerk later." Joey thought sending glares in Seto's direction. "And I hope he loses against that little kid too." The rest of the day was not so bad. Seto played a few more chess games with other kids and Joey played tag with a few outside. The kids liked jumping on Joey and pilling on top of him like he was a monster. Joey played along pretending to be a monster running after the kids, and they squealed with glee.
Joey noticed Seto talking with the women again. "Here is your monthly check." Seto pulled a check out of his check book and handed it over to the women.
"Really, Seto, we don't need this." She tried handing it back to him. "We still have yet to use up the one you gave us last month."
"Take it," Seto said refusing to take it back. "The kids need the money." The women nodded at Seto and took the check knowing no matter what she said, Seto would refuse to take it back. "Are you still planning to bring the kids to Kaiba Land in two weeks?"
"Yes, the kids are really looking forward to it. You do so much for them, Seto. They look up to you." The two were watching Joey play with the kids. "And I think they like Joey too. He's a good boy. I'm glad that you finally have a friend." Seto just nodded at her. "And Seto, please do try to bring Mokuba. I know he still thinks poorly of this place, but I would like to see him again."
"I'll try as always. I will see you in two weeks then." The women hugged Seto one last time before he headed over to Joey. "Come on, Wheeler, time to go." Joey looked up at Seto with two kids latched to his legs making it hard for him to move. Eventually the kids got off of Joey and they all said their good-byes to the two teens.
The two got into the car and it was quiet at first, Joey wanted to ask Seto about the orphanage and why they went there, but didn't want to press. "Kaiba…" Joey started, but was interrupted.
"Mokuba and I lived there many years ago." Seto started. "When we were little our parents passed away. Our other relatives took everything away from us that our parents left. They dropped us off at the orphanage. It was there that I decided to take hold of my own future. I looked after Mokuba like a parent while I was there, doing what I could for him. Many people wanted to adopt me, but when I asked if they would adopt Mokuba too they would always say no. So I told them I did not want to get adopted unless Mokuba could come with me. It was at that very place, Gozaburo Kaiba came to donating money to boost his image. I knew he was my ticket out for both me and Mokuba. I challenged him to a game of chess, If I won he would adopt both of us. He accepted my challenge and of course I won." Joey listened intently to Seto, he had never seen him open up so much like he was right now. "Once a month I come back to play with the kids and donate money to them. I know life is hard as an orphan, and I want them to be able to have every opportunity possible." Joey just nodded and listened. He really didn't know what to say to Seto at this point. He was still a little upset by being called a dog by a little kid, but he didn't want to ruin the moment with it. "What Wheeler? Got nothing to say?" He said noticing Joey's face in a state of contemplation.
"I just don't understand why you are telling me all of this," was all Joey could think of saying to him.
"So you were lying when you said you wanted to know more about me?" Seto asked in reminder.
"Of course not," Joey said quickly. "It's just… no offense but you're not exactly Mr. Care and Share."
"If we're going to be together, Wheeler, then it's only natural that we know more about each other," Seto replied matter-of-factly.
'That's Kaiba talk for, I just gave you something so I expect something in return,' Joey thought. 'But he pretty much knows about my past, at least where my family is concerned. I'd rather not have him know about the rest of the story though.' Out loud he said, "Thanks for trusting me."
"If you tell anyone, I'll punish you, very thoroughly," Seto warned.
Joey didn't take that threat lightly, but he had no intentions of blabbing Seto's secret…. But, a little leeway wouldn't hurt after that doggie ordeal. "No worries there, but do I get anything in exchange for my silence?"
"Really, Wheeler? You think you can blackmail me?" Seto leaned in close to Joey's face. "If so you really have reached a new level of stupidity."
Joey clenched his teeth. "Well at least if I wanted to I would have something on you. Or better yet…" Without warning, Joey moved across the seat over to Seto's side before grabbing the CEO by the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him around with such force that it threw him onto his back allowing Joey to pin him down. He grinned down at the surprised rich kid. "Better yet, I just might have something over you."
Seto's momentary bafflement vanished as his eyes narrowed. With surprising speed and strength, Seto rolled Joey off of him and onto the ridiculous amount of floorboard space in front of the backseats. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber," Seto spoke holding Joey down with one hand while using the other to push a button, rolling up a window that blocked off the driver's view giving them all the privacy Seto would need. "Looks like I need to teach the puppy how to behave."
Joey struggled a bit at first, but Seto's grip on him was tight. Seto noticed Joey's face red with anger, and moved his head down lightly kissing his flushed cheek. The kisses soon moved from Joey's cheek to his neck, a small trail of kisses leading to Joey's collarbone. Seto sucked on Joey's neck, his tongue encompassing the light pink marks that were being made.
The car slowly came to a stop at the Kaiba manor; Seto got off of Joey, out of the car, and began to head in the house. Joey was still on the floor of the car for a few minutes; upset that Seto got him all worked up and left as if it was nothing. Then again, that's how Seto worked; he would always get the last say in everything.
After a nicely prepared dinner from the Kaiba staff and Mokuba forcing Seto and Joey to have a Heroes marathon with him, it was time for the blond to go home. As usual, Seto offered a ride, but Joey declined, opting to walk home instead. There was no mention nor though of the brief limo make out scene for either teen. A sporadic moment of temptation seems more normal than most would think.
"How was visiting the orphanage, Seto?" Mokuba asked with some interest, but there was a bit of spite in his voice. "Did you and Joey have a good time?"
"Yes, it went well," Seto simply stated. He wanted to say something along the lines of, 'you should come too. Without that place, we wouldn't be where we are today'. However, Seto knew better than that. Mokuba was old enough to make his own decisions. So he would never force the younger boy into doing what he didn't want. However, if this was Joey we were talking about, it would be a different story.
"Were you able to explain our past to Joey like you planned?" Mokuba asked seeming to care more about that than anything else at the moment.
"Yes, I did," Seto once again simply stated.
"Come on, Seto, This has to be a bigger deal to you than you are making it." Mokuba started to fidget a bit in the couch. "You just showed Joey a big part of a past, that most people don't know much about. Were you nervous or calmed by finally telling Joey the truth?"
"Mokuba, it was not a big deal. No different than anything else." Seto seemed to want to end the conversation. Their past was always an iffy subject, and Seto much preferred looking towards the future more than anything else.
"Did you ask Joey about his dad after you told him our past? I know he has been avoiding that topic with you."
"No, I didn't ask," Seto sighed and leaned back a bit in the chair.
"Brother, why are you being so hesitant to Joey about his relationship with his father?"
"Me? Hesitant?" Seto asked his voice rising a bit.
"I know Joey will open up more to you about his past, but it won't happen unless you actually show that you care and ask him." Mokuba was trying his best to remain calm with his elder brother. This was not a time for a sibling spat, but Mokuba really needed to get his point across, and the only way to get a point across to Seto was to be as direct as possible. "Stop beating around the bush, and show that you are truly interested in Joey's life, like I know you are. You are so direct in your dueling, work, with me. But when it comes to Joey, you become almost…hesitant. You two share a connection, with bad father's and a hard past. So because of that, you have become hesitant with asking Joey, because you can relate to the pains of those memories."
"Mokuba…" Seto started, wonder where all this was coming from. His brother never seemed to invest this much care as he now was in his relationships with other people. However, the way he was talking, being direct, cautious with his words, Seto knew that Mokuba wouldn't be saying any of this without reason.
"Seto, I know you don't realize how tentative you are being with this topic, but you are. Just be yourself. As direct and take charge as always. I'm sure that you will learn more about Joey's past and father, if you do that. Just think about it. For me." Mokuba stood up from the couch and made his way up to his bedroom, leaving the elder Kaiba alone to his thoughts.
"Mokuba…" Seto sat in silence for a few moments. Pondering over different meaning to what his brother meant, and how to be direct with this situation as always.
"Mr. Kaiba, is Mr. Mokuba ok?" Roland asked coming from the kitchen. "He seemed a tad melancholy heading up to his room."
"Roland clear my afternoon for this weekend, I have some new business to attend to."
KD: Uh oh, sounds like Seto has something planned. What could it be? Stay tuned to find out. Thank you for the reviews. Please keep them up. ^_^