Up two flights of dark stairs and through two locked doors. Kaiba tried to make out his surroundings but the light from the single lamp in the stairway was insufficient and his vision was blurry from the drink. How many had he had? The conversation had been entertaining and he lost track. Suddenly he felt parched.
Finally Joey opened a door with a 7 on it and they stepped into the apartment. Joey turned to Kaiba a pressed a finger to his lips in a 'shh' gesture and indicated the third door down the corridor which was tightly closed. Téa's bedroom, Kaiba guessed.
Joey closed the apartment door carefully and pulled the chain across. He waved for Kaiba to follow him and entered a simple, incapacious kitchen. He indicated for Kaiba to close the door and flicked on the light.
"Urgh." They both stood blinking in the sudden fluorescent brightness. It seemed to help sober Joey up a little. He hoped he wasn't going to be sick.
"There's glasses in that cupboard above the kettle," Joey whispered. Kaiba gratefully poured himself a glass of chilled water from the tap, careful to avoid bumping Joey in the modest space. Joey finally emerged from the cupboard with a little bag of punctured bread rolls. "Want one?" he asked.
Kaiba shook his head, sipping his water with his eyes closed.
They took to the living room, Joey armed with a big plate of crumpets and bacon. Kaiba had watched him cook with a vague expression of surprise. Joey handled the utensils quite skilfully, as if he had been cooking for himself for a while. He wondered if Joey took care of himself often.
"Wanna watch something?" Joey asked as they settled into the sofa. He placed the crumpets on a side cupboard and dug for the remote. "Cartoons? Game channel?"
"Whatever you like," Kaiba said, holding the cold glass to his forehead. Joey watched him with concern.
"We got aspirin," he offered.
"In the morning, thank you."
"Crumpet?"
Kaiba looked down, Joey was offering the plate whilst chewing sloppily on a hot crumpet. Admittedly, now they were cooked to a warm golden-brown, dripping with butter and smothered with perfectly pink bacon, they did look good.
"You are sure?" he said, meeting Joey's eyes. He jostled the plate.
"Sure," he said, swallowing. "I made loads in case you changed your mind. They're really good. Better than bread."
Kaiba took one graciously, attempting to fold the bacon into the crumpet so as to make it easier to eat. The butter squeezed out like water from a j-cloth and dripped everywhere. Kaiba looked irritably into his lap.
"Be prepared," Joey mocked, waving a napkin swiped from the restaurant. They had piles of them around the house. Joey was not a clean eater. "Here."
Kaiba mopped himself clean and began to eat. Joey watched this process with a crumpet halfway to his mouth until Kaiba eventually looked over.
"What?" he said.
"Just checking you're not gonna short circuit or something."
"Wouldn't I have done that earlier with the drinks?" he snorted.
"True," agreed Joey. "Just don't think I've ever seen you be hungry."
"If I can find a way to cure it permanently be assured I will."
"Whoa, really?" Joey was genuinely shocked. "I love eating. It's almost better than sex." He suddenly froze, but Kaiba seemed unconcerned with the crude comparison.
"It's a chore," was all he said.
Joey examined the beautiful haunch of bacon in his greasy fingers before he decided to go deeper.
"What about sex?"
"Huh?"
"Is that a chore?"
Kaiba looked at Joey for a moment before finishing his mouthful and rubbing his hands on the napkin. "I suppose it depends how you look at it," he said finally.
"How do you look at it?"
"Me, personally?"
"For argument's sake."
Kaiba seemed to think for a moment. Then he did that curt shrug again and motioned for more food. "There's work involved," he said simply.
Joey passed the plate over, curiosity tugging at his lips. "Yeah, but isn't that kinda the fun? Like swimming, or rock-climbing?"
"You're just describing exercise," said Kaiba. "Which is basically work."
"But the outcome is fun."
"Or," continued Kaiba, settling in with his arm slung over the back of the sofa, one knee over the other. "Or you're working for a better body, or a climax, but it's all tasks with goals in mind."
"That's so fucking cynical," said Joey with a laugh, mirroring Kaiba's easy pose. "But I can see where that comes from."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Joey searched for a more refined turn-of-phrase. "If you're enjoying yourself then… then it doesn't feel like work. It's just fun. And nice. If it's good."
Kaiba raised his eyebrow again with a half-cocked smile. "You sound as if you know what you're talking about."
Joey wiggled his eyebrows cheekily, keeping the mood light. "I do alright for myself."
"I see."
Joey stopped smiling. There was something in Kaiba's tone that was too sincere and made him squirm. Kaiba remained coolly unconcerned, sipping on his water once more, his eyes soft, his lids low. His lashes were soft and feathery.
Joey coughed uncomfortably and made to stand up with the empty plate. "Well," he said. "I'll get rid of this and then we'll get the couch out." Kaiba merely nodded in agreement.
Joey placed the plate by the sink and braced himself on the counter. Through the reflection in the dark window he could see himself, slightly dishevelled, blonde mop of hair trailing into his eyes. It needed a cut. He tilted his own chin, admiring the five o'clock mess on his jaw. He wasn't unattractive, he thought. Usually he didn't even think about it and people seemed interested in him anyway. He made a lot of one-night-only friends at the restaurant.
This process tonight had been very similar, he thought.
What was Kaiba really doing there?
Back in the living area, Kaiba stood and stretched, glancing over the dimly-lit furniture. There was a good-sized TV in the far corner, and several shelves filled with films, games and Duellist companionships. One, Kaiba noticed, he himself had co-written and his likeness was featured on the cover. He ran a finger down its spine. There was no dust on these books, either they were well kept or read often. The spine on this particular one was heavily creased.
Moving on, Kaiba swept an eye over the shelf and came to rest on a collection of photo frames. Joey and Téa's friends and family. Kaiba himself was in a few of them, looking sullen. There were no pictures of Joey's parents, only his sister. These were dusty and half-hidden behind an armchair.
Also tucked behind the chair, Kaiba spotted a stack of newspaper pages. He glanced back to the kitchen before carefully tugging them free, so as not to tear them. They were disconnected and separately folded, not neatly like a complete newspaper would be. These were pages taken individually from different papers, on different days. Kaiba took them to the lamp to read them.
The most recent page was from Kaiba's latest tournament: his winner's ceremony. There was an article about the tournament and Kaiba's speech but that was it. At a glance, in the photo he looked indifferent, and when he looked closely, tired. With a mordant sniff, Kaiba moved to the next one.
GAME KING MOVES ABROAD FOR DUELLIST ACADEMY TRAINING
YUGI MUTO DOES IT AGAIN: CAN THE KING OF GAMES BE BEATEN?
"WE LOVE YOU YUGI!" GIRLS GROUP PAYS TRIBUTE TO GAME KING
There were so many. A large chunk of the pages were dedicated to the exploits of Yugi as he travelled around and attended events. In every photo he was smiling or looking excited. He seemed genuinely happy. Kaiba caught himself thinking this was nice.
The rest of the pages surprised Kaiba. They were excerpts from magazines about gaming, all articles featuring Kaiba Corp. Some had images of Kaiba himself, others just graphics of his latest equipment. He wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or a little stalked.
The final piece of paper was another newspaper page, this time with Joey on it. A photo taken when he was in Domino, walking towards the camera but looking over his shoulder, an easy smile on his face. Yugi and his friends were waving, catching up but still at a distance. The caption read:
JOEY WHEELER: WHERE IS HE NOW?
Kaiba skim-read the article. A small segment jumped out at him:
'It seems a shame that hard-working, full-of-life Wheeler has left Domino without saying his goodbyes but we assume he has his reasons. Perhaps when he returns he will recapture the Duelling scene with his familiar charm and pizazz. If you read this, Joey, we wish you luck and Domino misses you!'
"Téa likes to keep those."
Kaiba jumped. Joey stood leaning against the doorframe with a small smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes. He made his way over and peered at the article Kaiba was reading over his shoulder.
"Yup," he said. "Didn't know I was so incredibly popular. They stopped caring after a while though. Left me to it."
"Media buzz," said Kaiba, carefully refolding the papers and returning them to the back of the chair. "When you first left it would have been big news, would have sold papers."
"Oh, I don't mind," Joey said. "I was just surprised I guess."
"I'm surprised you didn't make a big show of it," Kaiba teased. "All that press. The admirers. Isn't that just you?"
He expected a heated remark but Joey only shrugged. "Didn't see the point, since I was leaving and all."
Kaiba pursed his lips as Joey starting lifting the sofa cushions off the frame, ready to pull out the bed. Joey looked back, realising Kaiba was just staring at him. "You gonna help me or stand there, moneybags?"
Kaiba came forward but made no move to help.
"Didn't you tell anyone you were leaving?"
Joey looked up. "Sure, I told Yugi and his gramps, and Tris and Serenity. Duke and Mai found out though I didn't tell them myself. Some people knew." He shoved a cushion into Kaiba's arms in an attempt to make him help. "Why?"
"So you just left?"
"What was there left for me in that slagheap?"
Kaiba's eyes roamed the room. "A future? In duelling?"
Joey snorted. He gripped the metal bedframe and heaved. Kaiba bent down to help and together they spread it across the living room floor.
"Tristan and Yugi used to stay sometimes," Joey said, explaining the sofa bed and effectively changing the subject at the same time. "It seemed like a good investment. Not been used much recently, though."
He produced some sheets and began to shake them out. Kaiba grabbed them and pulled them from his hands.
"Joey," he said. "What the fuck happened?"
"What?" Joey tried to grab the sheets but Kaiba slipped them behind his back. "I don't know, okay? I just… after the Pharaoh left and everyone finished school it just kinda felt pointless. I didn't feel the same about duelling anymore… about anything. So when Téa said she was leaving for dance school I was like 'hey, that's not a bad idea'. I didn't plan it, I didn't think it through. I just did it. I felt like shit, suffocating in that city. I wasn't moving, I wasn't doing anything. I was just… there. Listening to Yugi telling me about all his adventures and shit and I just… wanted something. Something more than what I had. Is that so fucking hard to understand?"
Stunned, Kaiba allowed the sheets to be ripped from his hand and watched as Joey flung them angrily across the mattress. Then he sighed.
"I'm sorry," he said, scratching the back of his head. "But it's different for you. You have your company, your life. You know where it is and what it means. You know what you have to do. It's clear for you. I'm not like that, I never have been. Maybe I don't have a future." He sank onto the bed. Kaiba looked away, twisting the hems of his sleeves until they sat just right. Joey looked down at the spread out sofa bed taking up the majority of his living room floor.
"You still didn't tell me why you were really here, you know," he said.
Kaiba sat down beside him. He steepled his fingers, tapping them together pensively.
"Do you smoke?" he asked.
A/N: I'm not projecting you're projecting.
Also I miss crumpets. Fuck allergies man
