Atem knocked on the door of the suite that was serving as HQ for the event.
Pegasus expected him to seduce Kaiba? It sounded wonderful, but somehow terribly wrong. Pegasus had made it sound like Kaiba was practically exploding with pent up desire, but …
The door opened and a conservatively dressed man in sunglasses looked him over.
"Motou Atem."
Atem heard Kaiba's voice filter from within the suite. "Who is it, Isono?"
"He says his name is Motou."
"Let him in."
Atem walked in. Kaiba was seated at a desk that had been moved to a prominent position in the entry room of the suite. He didn't bother looking up from his work. "What is it?"
"Pegasus sent me with a proposal," Atem said, offering him the bundle of papers.
"Hn." Kaiba accepted it, his eyes still on the screen, and placed it on the top of a pile of incoming work on the desk.
So much for Pegasus' big plan, Atem thought. There was a guy to be maneuvered out of the room, and even if there wasn't, Kaiba was totally intent on work. If Kaiba had a superpower, it must be his superhuman power of concentration. Atem paused, unable to tear himself away. The sight of Kaiba so focused was somehow entrancing.
Kaiba glanced up, his focus shifting to Atem. "Are you all right?" he asked. "You look ill."
"No, I'm fine."
Kaiba frowned a little and pulled the proposal from the pile. "Is it the proposal?" He glanced over the summary page. "Isono, get me Mr Sato."
"Yes sir," he said and disappeared out the door.
"What is it? Was there something in Crawford's actions that you want to discuss?"
"I …" He couldn't talk about that. "No, I—" I'm alone with him! Atem realized. Do I really want to go through with this? "He is a very strange man," he allowed.
"I suppose I should have warned you about that. He didn't tip off any of his plans, did he? No, I don't suppose he would have."
Atem wished he knew Kaiba well enough to tell him everything, but could only bring himself to say "No."
"You do look ill," Kaiba repeated, standing and pressing his palm against Atem's forehead. "You feel warm and you look flushed. Why don't you go home?"
"I'm all right." He felt an urge to lean forward to press against the touch as his face grew even warmer. Kaiba was so close now. It would be so easy to put Pegasus' suggestion to the test, but something held him back.
He was beginning to feel delirious from fighting the urge to throw his arms around Kaiba.
"No, I don't want Crawford to get whatever you have, anyway," Kaiba said. Atem was almost certain he heard a muttered "whether he deserves it or not," under Kaiba's breath. "It's too bad, though."
"What do you mean?"
"You've actually done better than most people we send in. Go ahead home." He touched the KC communication pin on lapel. "Isono … Please drive Atem home. The others can handle things until you return." Releasing the comm-pin, he said, "You can meet Isono in the lobby. I'll take care of Crawford."
Atem started for the door, then looked back. Kaiba was again sitting behind his computer, once again in deep concentration.
I did better?
"Uh, Kaiba?"
"Aren't you out yet?"
"Doesn't Pegasus bring his own help?"
Kaiba waved a hand. "Of course he does. It's a quirk. He demands that I provide an aide as a show of hospitality and, coincidentally, an opportunity to try to dig out some inside information about KaibaCorp. Obviously, you're ideal since you don't know anything and you're observant enough to be aware of his games."
Suddenly it hit Atem. Crawford intended to manipulate him into distracting Kaiba; he'd even admitted it. "Shit," he said, sitting down on a sofa near the door.
Kaiba looked up. "You're not going to vomit, are you? Because there's a restroom right next to the exit."
"No, nothing like that, but maybe you should look over that proposal very carefully."
Kaiba picked up the phone, punched in a number, and softly murmured instructions into it. Then he turned back to Atem. "Now, what makes you say that? We always look over his contracts very carefully, but I'll take a careful look at it myself."
Atem hesitated. He didn't really want to say that Pegasus had figured out how he felt about Kaiba so easily, or what he wanted him to do.
"Come on," said Kaiba with irritation. "Nothing is beyond that snake, and you shouldn't feel any obligation to protect his modesty—he doesn't have any as it is."
"Uh, he sort of …" Atem sighed and gathered his courage. "I might as well admit it," he blurted, "he caught onto the fact that I'm attracted to you and pushed me to distract you."
"Oh, please!" retorted Kaiba. "As if that were possible!"
"I know!" Atem replied, relieved. He got up and approached the desk again. "I feel a lot better letting you know about it. It was really stupid. I told him it was one-sided, but he didn't think that mattered. Anyway, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I'll let you get back to work now. I know you're busy."
Atem started to turn, but Kaiba said, "Wait … just a second."
Surprised, Atem turned and paused. What could Kaiba want?
Kaiba looked oddly indecisive, then asked, "And why did Crawford think that it didn't matter that your feelings are one-sided?"
Atem was left with the strange feeling that it should have been obvious that saying that would bother Kaiba. He almost kicked himself for saying it, then wondered if he'd subconsciously wanted to sow a seed of curiosity. "Well," he said, "Pegasus thought if I just kissed you again—privately, you know? If I pushed just a little, you'd, well, sort of, eh, forget yourself."
Kaiba stood so quickly that it almost looked like he'd been launched from his chair. For a moment Kaiba looked so extremely angry that Atem half expected him to take a swing at him. Instead, he nodded. "So he thinks I'm wrapped so tight I'll hit anything, does he? Go ahead, then."
"Huh?" Atem gaped at Kaiba.
"I said, go ahead then. Take your best shot. You want to kiss me, right? Crawford obviously thinks I'll melt like a popsicle on summer asphalt. So go ahead, try it. You're not going to get a better chance."
Atem frowned. "I'm not sure I like it this way. You're making it a challenge."
"And how do you want it?"
He rolled his eyes. "Well, I was kind of hoping … you know, most people kiss as a mutually-desired activity, not a way of proving a point."
"I'm not 'most people.'"
"That's for damn sure."
Kaiba stared at him expectantly. "Well?"
"Fine, fine!" Atem replied irritably. "I'll admit that I wanted another chance, but I'm going on record that this is not how I wanted to do it." He looked at Kaiba, who was still standing motionless on the other side of the desk. "At least let's move to the sofa," he said.
"Whatever." Kaiba walked over to the sofa and seated himself. Atem sat next to him.
Whatever. Whatever, indeed, Atem thought. I don't care what attitude you're taking, this is my chance. Even if you're pissed off and determined not to like it, at least I get to touch you again.
It was hard for Atem not to feel at least a little bit excited, and he didn't have to feel guilty because he'd laid it all out for Seto and Seto had even challenged him to go ahead. He could hardly suppress a smile. In fact, didn't he have to do it? Seto wouldn't be satisfied unless he validated his response, right?
"What are you waiting—" Seto began, but he was cut off when Atem suddenly slipped his arms around him and kissed him again. Once again, Seto was caught with his lips slightly parted and Atem took full advantage of it, kissing him deeply.
To Atem's surprise, Seto didn't suddenly end the kiss, pushing him back, but instead pulled him in, wrapping his arms around him and taking over the lead in the kiss, pressing Atem's lips further apart and deepening the kiss even further.
The desire to say "I love you" was boiling up within Atem like an unbearable itch, when suddenly Seto pushed him back violently with one hand against his right shoulder, his other hand balled into a fist pulled back to strike. An expression of horror registered on Seto's reddened face. "Seto?" Atem asked.
Seto's face worked for a second or two, then he spat, "This is your fault!"
"What? How?"
"You've … you've made me … weird," Seto managed to utter, standing. "I've never felt at all like this. Not until … not …"
"Not until I kissed you?" Atem offered.
Seto stared at him, appalled.
"I thought so," Atem said, as though that confirmed it.
"Go home." Seto walked back to the desk and seated himself, locking his eyes back on the screen and resuming his typing.
"But don't you think we should talk about it?"
"No. Things were better before I started talking about it. Talking about this with you is a bad idea. Besides, I've wasted enough time. I have a proposal to look over on top of everything else I have to do, and—"
"Isn't there anything—?"
The long fingers paused on the keyboard for a moment. "You've done more than enough already!" Blue eyes closed, just for an instant, then, "Go home."
"All right," Atem said sadly as the typing resumed.
As he turned toward the door, Seto spared a glance upward and said, "Isono will take you home. Meet him in the lobby."
"Right. I remember."
It felt weird to sit in the huge limo by himself, driven by this stranger. Isono wouldn't hear of letting him sit up front, and he couldn't get him to chat. No wonder Kaiba has him in such a trusted position, Atem thought. He won't even risk saying something that he might regret about his employer.
Atem tried looking out the window and reading the signs. Look, a MacDonald's …
Try as he might to put his mind on superficial things, he couldn't stop thinking about how Kaiba turned the kiss around on him, fiercely pulling him in.
You've made me weird.
He knocked on the glass that separated him from the driver. "Hi. Do you mind letting me out here? I want to walk the rest of the way."
"But Master Seto said you were ill."
"I want to get some fresh air."
"If you say so," Isono said uncertainly, but he pulled over anyway.
He stepped onto the sidewalk feeling that it wasn't a lie at all; he did feel ill. All this emotional turmoil was giving him an upset stomach for sure. And he did need the walk and the fresh air. He needed room to think.
You've made me weird.
Had he? He had a seriously bad feeling. Was it guilt? He really screwed up by taking that dare, but he'd admitted it and apologized—over and over—and he'd tried his best to make up for it. Hadn't he?
Then, again, he'd continued to hope that Kaiba would come around and maybe at least give him a chance. At least try to see his point of view, right?
On the other hand, he was totally honest about what Pegasus was planning, so that wasn't on him, was it? The second kiss was Kaiba's idea. He'd given Kaiba every chance to get out of it.
So why did he feel so lousy about it?
He'd like to think it was because Kaiba reacted so badly to the situation, but he knew in his heart that that wasn't it.
"Hey, Atem! Hey!"
Startled, Atem looked to the street. There on his motorbike was Honda. "You're sure buried in thought," he said. "I've been following you for a block!"
Atem felt a flush rise all the way from his neckline. "Sorry about that."
"Hey, if you don't need to go home right away, do you want to grab something to eat? I think there's an American hot dog joint near here somewhere. I know how you like the American food."
After Atem was safely out of the hotel room, Seto sighed with relief and ran a hand through his hair. Surprised, he held his hands out in front of him. Were they trembling?
He was greatly annoyed. All these sleepless nights, all this tension—could it be that it was all simple sexual frustration? I could have solved all this simply by masturbating?! he thought, annoyed. Typically he had no trouble channeling that sort of excess energy into his work, so he hadn't even considered it as a possibility. Human foibles were so damned inconvenient!
He rested his hands on the keyboard for a minute, considering. He really didn't want to interrupt his day in concession to his body's demands, but the tension within him was a huge distraction, and it was only getting worse. If he wanted to do something about it, he would have to act quickly, before Isono returned, but he figured it wouldn't take long given how long it had been since he'd done anything of that sort. Of course, once he was more relaxed, no doubt he'd be tempted to take a nap to catch up on his sleep, which might pose a problem. On the other hand, now that he knew exactly what the problem was, it was only getting worse, like an itch you couldn't reach. Only now he knew he could reach it.
And there was one other thing. He was trying to put Atem out of his mind, but he couldn't quite seem to do it. The fact that he'd actually kissed Atem back—he wanted to chalk it up to his sexual frustration, but was that all there was to it? Remembering the kiss, he considered how it made him feel. He'd wanted to push Atem down and—and … he wasn't quite sure what. He wanted to think about it, but, then again, he didn't. That was all part of the weirdness that Atem had brought into his life.
It was just like his other little problem, which seemed to be getting bigger and bigger the longer he sat thinking about it. He either had to start working and put it out of his mind until tonight or do something right away before Isono got back.
Just as he was reaching a decision, he heard a sharp rap at the door. "Yes?" he called irritably. Looking down, he discovered that his hands had slipped off the keyboard and onto his thighs; he quickly adjusted his clothing and placed his hands in typing position again. Glancing toward one of the many mirrors in the room, he quickly checked his hair and appearance, trying to pull himself together.
"It's Sato, sir. You wanted me?"
"Yes, yes, come in" Seto called. He was somewhat relieved to have the chubby, distinctly unattractive, little man to distract him. "We have a proposal to go over."
Nothing like a nice, intricate proposal to calm one down, he thought drily. I'll just have to think about ridiculous health requirements later.
"So, Honda, are you going to tell me what this is all about, or are you going to make me guess?" asked Atem.
The two sat with a tray of hot dogs and Cokes between them.
"I think you know what I want to talk about," said Honda. "I don't have to tell you that I thought what you did the other day was pretty low, do I?"
"You're talking about the dare, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you don't have to lecture me because I know that I screwed up."
"Good. So you're not going to push yourself onto Kaiba anymore?"
"Wait," he said, his mind going into overdrive. Push myself onto—? Honda wasn't just talking about a cruel joke, he was talking about forcing things, and … wasn't that what Pegasus was …?
"Shit."
"Atem?"
"I was working the product announcement for Kaiba just now and he had me running errands for Pegasus—"
"Pegasus J Crawford?!"
"Yes, but—"
"You met Pegasus J Crawford?"
"It's not such a big deal! We all know Kaiba, don't we?"
"It's not the same! He goes to school with us!"
"He's still a celebrity!" Atem said irritably. He was still raw from realizing that the man he was obsessing over could probably have just about anyone he wanted. "It's just that we see him every day. We forget who he is and what he represents."
"But we can't forget how annoying he is. Sorry. Go on, Atem."
"Anyway, you remember how Pegasus comes off on the shows."
"Yeah, kind of … creepy?"
"Well, he's exactly like that in person. Only more so."
"Yee …"
"You said it. Anyway, he advised me to … eh, kind of, eh, press Kaiba. Only, find a private moment this time."
"Atem! That's the exact opposite of what you should do! What Kaiba hated most about what you did is that you didn't show him an ounce of respect! If you do this—How would this be any different? So what if no one would be looking! Even so, if you don't have his go ahead, you're not showing any respect for him, are you? So even if something happened, it would be forced, so he'll feel … well …"
Atem felt horrible. "He'd feel violated. Manipulated. Forced. And if he kissed back—" Atem tried not to think any further than that, but his mind raced recklessly on. He put his head in his hands helplessly, trying to rein in his thoughts somehow. "If he kissed back, he'd never forgive me."
Atem felt some relief that he didn't play it as Pegasus suggested, but how much better had it turned out?
"That's right. … And, ew, could you not paint me a picture? Bad enough I was there for the dare."
Atem felt like banging his head on the table. "Thank god that Isono guy was in his room! At least, he was at first."
"You're saying you were left alone?"
"Yeah, he had to send Isono out to get some contract guy."
Honda looked at him expectantly, the straw of his Coke hanging from his lips, forgotten. After a long moment of waiting, the straw slid back into his drink, abandoned. "So?" he demanded. "Did you or didn't you?"
"I thought you didn't want a picture," Atem said, annoyed.
"No, but, you know," he complained, "I'm just trying to help."
Atem sighed. "I told him all about Pegasus' plan and why he suggested it. I said it was stupid, but …" Atem frowned and looked at Honda. "He made it into a thing. Like Pegasus said he couldn't handle himself."
"Like a dare," Honda said flatly, his mouth setting into a grim line.
Dare, Atem thought. That's right, I said he was making it a challenge. He sighed again, more deeply this time. "You're right. I knew it, but I went through with it anyway. I kissed him."
"And you thought it was a good idea?"
Atem took a moment. "Actually, no. I didn't like it that he was, kind of, making it about proving something. But it was kissing him. Kissing him with his permission. Honestly, Honda, am I supposed to turn that down?"
It was Honda's turn to sigh now. "I suppose that's a lot to ask," he conceded, "but you had to know that no matter what happened, it wasn't going to be good for you. If he didn't kiss back, well, that's not good. And if he did, then … whatever he planned to prove, he, well, he didn't."
"Yeah, would have been helpful to have that advice at the time."
"Someone as smart as you? Shouldn't need it."
"You try resisting a chance to kiss someone you—Hey, you ever get the chance to kiss Shizuka?"
"Jounouchi's sister? Are you kidding? He guards her like a bulldog." He paused to wolf down the last of his fries. "Besides," he shrugged, "she's just a kid."
Atem smothered an impulse to laugh. "Keep telling yourself that," he said.
"Gee, thanks a lot," Honda growled. "But back to your situation. So you kissed him. How did he react? From your mood, I'd say not really well."
"Yeah, to say the least." Atem frowned a little, then added, "Except, at first, I thought it was going to be really good, because he kissed me back."
"What? He kissed you back and you're upset?"
Atem shook his head. "The thing is he stopped and got all bent out of shape about it, saying he was all weird or something like that."
"Well, then! Hold the phone! This isn't all bad. There's definitely some heat between you two, then, but … 'weird,' eh? That's not as good. Obviously it bothers him that he liked it. Still …" Honda looked thoughtful. "We need to figure out a way to turn it around for you."
"But he seemed pretty mad at me when I left," Atem said glumly. "And I'm out of excuses to talk to him, too. What'm I going to do?"
"You really do have it bad, don't you?" Honda said sympathetically. "Aren't you even going to eat that dog?"
"No. I'm not hungry."
"Great! I'll take it, then." Honda dug in. Between bites, he said, "We need to find some strategy for you that's actually going to work. The problem is that Kaiba didn't really trust you to start with and whatever trust he had you pretty much shot to hell."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"It is what it is." Honda stuffed a few of Atem's fries into his mouth and said, "Your idea of helping him out was a good one, though. Did you do a good job?"
"Well, he sent me home early sick—"
"That's too bad."
"That's why I was wandering around when you found me, but he did say I did a pretty good job."
"He did? That's a good sign. From what I understand, he's a demanding boss."
"How do you know?"
"My cousin works at KaibaCorp. It's a large employer, you know. Just because I want to be a sports star doesn't mean I come from a family of idiots."
"Like Jounouchi."
"Like Jounouchi." They stared at each other, then Honda added, "Well, not Shizuka—"
The two laughed together. Atem was already beginning to feel a little better. "So what do you think I should do?" asked Atem.
"You need to take it easy and build his trust. Show him you care about him."
"But … he's not a girl."
"Can't guys be discriminating?" Honda shrugged. "He's an intellectual. I figure, intellectual guys tend to act more like girls than regular guys do, anyway. You know, thinking things over more? And regular guys could stand to think less with their lower halves sometimes. It would get them into less trouble."
"Present company included?"
"Did I say anything?" The two laughed again, then Honda said, "You're awfully bright, but when it comes to him, not so much. You're no Don Juan and when he's the other party involved—with his head in his inventions and business all the time—no wonder things are awkward. One good thing, though: looks like he's probably gay—or at least bi. And there has to be some attraction, or something, if he kissed back. So there's that."
"So what do you think I should do?"
"Well, the main thing is you and everyone else have been making all the decisions, and Kaiba's obviously a control freak." Honda pointed a French fry at Atem and said, "Y'know what you gotta do? You have to step back and let him make the next move."
Atem couldn't help thinking that letting Kaiba make the next move was hardly "treating him like a girl," but he let it slide. Forcing things on Kaiba really wasn't working. Nevertheless, Atem pointed out, "It was Kaiba who made the decision this time, you know."
"But it was a dare, Atem. Call it what you like, it was still a dare. Whether it was by you or Pegasus, he was pretty much called out, Atem."
"You're right. There's not much else I can do," Atem sighed, relenting. "But I don't know how I'm going to stand it."
Honda smiled, leaning back and draining the last of his Coke. "Think of it as your penance," he said.
Chapter notes ...
Well, this chapter is extra-long for me, and brings me to the the awkward juncture where I have a lot of work to do to finish this. Yikes, I'd hoped to be further along. However, various issues have slowed me down, primarily the inability to post new stories here. I have decided to add this story to my other site, as I have been forced to look for an alternative for posting new stories. (The other alternative? Search for a computer on which I can start a new story and open several? Um ... not very feasible.) I apologize for the inconvenience and invite anyone who is interested in my work to look at my profile and check out the new site. For this story, which will continue on both sites (sigh), see archiveofourown dot org/works/2318420?view_full_work=true.
Meanwhile, thanks ever so much to those who took the time to review! I gotta admit, I was hoping to see a few more for this extension, but, hey, que sera sera. It could have been zero, so I should look at the bright side, huh? I shamelessly beg for your support. ;) Plus, it's nice to know how I'm doing.
