THREE

Kaiba Corps Vancouver headquarters wasn't nearly as daunting as the previous Domino City one. The building wasn't the tallest, the coolest, or even the most extravagant. Instead, it was three stories tall and had little foot traffic. No one was admitted unless they had an authorization card. The KC Headquarters was strictly for research and development of products.

There were other various buildings in the city that actually sold the products, but Headquarters was not one of them. Including Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto, there were exactly twenty-three people who were granted access cards. Among those granted access, only about ten of them were regulars.

Much to Seto's annoyance, Yugi had given the majority of his friends access cards. And though the cards were used rarely, he hated the unannounced visits Téa made. It wasn't because he was jealous of the relationship Yugi and Téa had almost had—though that played a part in it—but because Téa impeded progress. Yugi was usually very focused on his work and would spend the whole day doing whatever he was asked to do—because that's what vice presidents did—but when his friends showed up, nothing got done.

And unfortunately for Kaiba Corps, Téa showed up.

She was there when Seto and Yugi walked in together, and after rolling his eyes and shrugging when Yugi looked up at him. Seto walked straight past Téa with just a grunt to acknowledge that she was there before taking the elevator up to the top floor.

He was greeted by the secretary before he slid his key card into the door and heard it unlock.

"I don't wish to be bothered," he said simply before closing the door behind himself.

He removed his jacket and dropped down into his chair before turning on the security monitors and watching Yugi's smile brighten as he and Téa talked. Seto's hand clenched against the desk.

It wasn't that he didn't like Téa—and while being completely honest, he didn't like Téa—it was that she could make Yugi smile in ways he couldn't. She had known him since childhood, while Seto had only known him for a little more than ten years. She knew things about Yugi that he didn't, and she had a strange ability to make him happy when there was nothing to be happy about.

Téa wore her emotions on her sleeves and had enough to share, while Seto was reserved and if anyone knew that he was a little less than unhappy, it was a miracle. He'd tried hard to smile more, to force himself to show that he was, in fact, happy with Yugi…but it wasn't easy for him. He had been taught to hide his feelings, to keep them to himself, and un-training that behavior was nearly impossible.

Seto had to tear his eyes away from the monitor when his phone began ringing. He let it ring a couple times before picking it up.

"What?" he demanded coldly into the receiver.

"Mr. Kaiba," his secretary said, unphased by his rude tone, "you have a call from an Emmaline Vale. She said it was urgent."
"Put her through," Seto said without a second thought. Miss Vale was Aemi's teacher. He was already standing, expecting that something had happened.

"Mr. Kaiba!" Miss Vale said. "It's so good I got through."
"Is Aemi okay?" he demanded, his voice full of concern.

"Oh, yes. She is well."

His hand tightened on the desk again. "Then what do you want?"

"I had an idea," Miss Vale said, her voice slightly taken aback. "I would like to take the kids on a tour of your facility."
Seto's eyes furrowed. "Why?"

"To show them about animation and holograms. It would be a great field trip!"
"Aemi is terrified of this place," Seto said.

"It would be great to introduce to them to the greatest conglomerate in history."

Trying to decide if that was compliment, Seto grunted. He heard his door unlock and Yugi and Téa walked in, making him furrow his eyebrows even more.

"Yes, fine. Set it up with my secretary."

He hung up the phone and dropped back into his chair.

"Long day?" Yugi laughed jokingly. "Téa's got some great news!"

Biting his tongue against the need to be rude, Seto managed to make eye-contact and hold it with the girl. "News?" he said, and even he was surprised how civil his voice was.

"She's getting married!" Yugi smiled. "And she wants us to design her wedding!"

Seto grimaced, but he hid it well. "We make toys, not weddings," he said.

"I know," Téa said, "but I thought I'd give Yugi something to do since your new game is going to be out…He said you didn't have any plans for the next couple months."

"I can't tell Yugi what to do," Seto shrugged. "He can plan whatever wedding he wants."

Téa nodded. "I know…but I wanted your help, too."

"Why?" His eyes met Yugi's and he could tell that the idea had not been Téa's. He wasn't sure why Yugi wanted him to work on a project he had no desire to do, but the pleading in the younger man's eyes told him he couldn't refuse.

"Well…" Téa said, "you're the best designer there is."

"I'll do it," he responded. "When does it need to be done by?"
Téa's eyes were full of relief and she didn't seem to have heard the question, so Yugi answered, "The wedding is being planned for mid-December."

"Fine."

There was an awkward silence that followed and Téa tapped her foot for a moment before deciding it was time to go. Just before she left, Seto internally groaned and forced himself to ask, "So who's the lucky guy?"

Téa grinned. "It's a secret."

With that being said, she left and the door closed behind her. Yugi looked from Seto to the window behind him and finally sighed, sitting down beside him in a rolling chair and then glided away. He rolled back to Seto's side and sighed again.

"We've been here a half-hour and you're already bored?" Seto asked, smirking.

Yugi rolled closer. "Work is always boring."

Their eyes locked. "Always?" Seto said.

"Well…not always." Yugi put his feet up on the desk, succeeding in crinkling a few contracts in the process. Seto's eyes barely glanced in the direction of the contracts as he felt suddenly hotter.

His eyes locked with Yugi's and he wanted nothing more than to shove everything off his desk and take him right there, right then…but doubt filled his mind. It had been weeks since they'd been intimate. With the baby keeping them up all hours and work consuming every ounce of energy either had to spare, there was just no…time.

But Yugi's eyes were still on him. And they wanted nothing more than for Seto to shove everything off his desk and take him right there, right then.

"Yugi…" Seto said quietly, breaking eye-contact. "We can't."

Yugi sighed. "I know. But I'm so bored."

Smiling, Seto shoved Yugi's feet off his desk and straightened out his contracts before dropping a stack into Yugi's lap. "Maybe you should go through these."

Yugi looked through the first few cover pages and his eyes widened. "Disney wants to partner with Kaiba Corps?" he said.

"I denied them the first time," Seto said. "They want us to design a theme park in New York."

"Why'd you say no?"

"Something about dueling princesses…" Seto muttered.

Yugi smiled and then stood up. He walked around to the other side of the desk and then began looking through the contracts. Seto eyed him before doing the same. The office was filled with an unbearable silence.

It was only when Seto realized that he had read the same page eleven times that he said "Fuck it" to himself, threw the contact in his hand aside, and moved around the desk to where Yugi had already stood up. Their lips clashed together before another thought crossed either mind.

Hands roamed and bodies touched flush against one another. Yugi stifled a moan, but Seto caught it anyway.

"I want you so bad," Yugi said, and he flushed red.

"Too long…" Seto panted into a deep kiss. His hands were on the verge of removing Yugi's shirt when a knock came at the door and Yugi pulled away. "Damn it, Sarah. I said I didn't want to be disturbed!" Seto yelled.

"Sorry sir…" came her petite reply, "but he insisted…"

Seto strode over to the door and, after making sure Yugi was finished buttoning his shirt again, threw it open.

"Mokuba…" he said, the anger draining from his face.

"Hey, big brother," Mokuba said, smiling brightly. He peered around his brother and saw Yugi sitting against the desk. "Yugi," he nodded to him.

Yugi stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked past the brothers, stopping to smile once, and then leaving. When he was finally out of the room, he took a deep breath and tried to keep the giddy smile off his face.

"Is everything okay?" the secretary asked, and Yugi just nodded.

"I'll be in my office," Yugi finally said. "If you could have the forms Kaiba has already signed sent to me so I can look over them…"

"Of course, sir."

Yugi headed down the hall and entered his office. It was boringly decorated—just a desk facing the window, a few personal photos, and his mass of files he needed to go through. He rarely worked in the office, though, so the plainness of it didn't bother him. He'd usually take his work home or go into the courtyard and sit in the sun.

But he was still trying to get over nearly being caught in the act by none other than Seto's brother. His face flushed red just thinking about it.

He sat at his desk for close to an hour, just tapping his pen and avoiding the glare of the sun on its morning rise. He wanted to badly to run into Seto's office and finish what had been started—it was their only alone time together, ever—but he couldn't. He was too…afraid. Desk sex did not appeal to him as much as it should have.

Yugi almost missed when things were more simple between them. Their first night together had been the most awkward night of their lives. There was no romance involved, just pure sexual frustration after Yugi had beaten Seto in a duel. Again. For the seventh time.

It happened so fast Yugi didn't have a chance to react. "I'm so sick of you always beating me!" Seto had said, falling to his knees. "What am I doing wrong?"

"You're putting your heart in the wrong thing," Yugi had replied, and Seto looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Where does it need to be?" Seto demanded, exasperated.

"Right here," Yugi said, dropping down beside Seto. He took the older man's hand in his own and then pressed it against Seto's own chest. "Right here is where you need to start."

And then Seto had leaned forward enough for their foreheads to rest against one another, and Yugi's breath had become ragged. His hand felt hot on top of Seto's and it was hard for him to concentrate.

"There's nothing in there," Seto finally said.

"Then put your heart here," Yugi insisted, grabbing Seto's hand again and putting it on his own chest. "Right here."

And then their lips had crashed together, right there in the dueling ring.

Yugi sighed and had to shake his head when he realized he was smiling. When he'd awakened the next morning, he desperately looked for his clothes while Seto slept and then he'd left with no intention of ever seeing Seto Kaiba again. And for several months, he had been successful. But the temptation of seeing the man again became too much for him, and he'd gone back and didn't leave Kaiba's side again until Aemi was born.

Seto kept his emotions to himself, but Yugi saw through his façade. He could tell when Seto was secretly happy, content to just…be. He could tell when the man was upset and trying to hide it. He had grown to know Seto in ways Mokuba had never understood. Yugi knew that Seto Kaiba wanted the same thing most men secretly wanted: to be loved.

Yugi smiled again and tapped his pen slower. His eyes slowly traveled to the work on his desk and he sighed in defeat. There just wasn't enough time in his day to think about Seto.