For the rest of the day, Jou immersed himself fully into the commission. Jared had predictably gone to spend the day with Mokuba, something which Jou did not mind at all, he found it difficult to work whilst being watched anyway. It was the first time in a while he'd really found himself truly enjoying a commission, most of the time he was making run-of-the-mill dresses for vain American movie stars, nothing that took a lot of talent or imagination. This, however, was much more of a creative experience. Taking inspiration from the card, he'd taken the sharp points and metallic sheen of the Blue Eyes, and sketched out a rough design. The shoulders flared out in sharp points, and he'd tried to incorporate the sharp curves of the wigs into both the tail and the collar of the coat. He'd played with the idea of making a headpiece, but decided that would be a bit too flamboyant for Kaiba, and decided to compensate by adding more detail onto the coat.

Happy with the sketch, he'd picked out almost 20 different colours and textures of material to choose from. Picking up his previous drawing of Kaiba, he began to pick out the colours, metallic silvers, whites, and most importantly, a deep cerulean blue for the details of the coat. Standing back from the sketch, he regarded his work. Yes, this was going to work.

Suddenly, he became aware of a small whirring noise. Frowning, he turned around, trying to find where it was coming from. Peering around the gigantic studio, he turned in a full circle, and finally found the source of the noise on the wall directly behind where he'd been standing. A tiny, almost unnoticeable camera was sitting there suspiciously, and the whirring, he presumed, had been it focussing and refocusing. As if to confirm, it began to whirr, seemingly zooming back out again.

Had Kaiba been watching him this entire time? He wondered if there was a microphone.

"What happened to surprises, Kaiba?"

There was, predictably, no response from the camera, but it didn't whirr again. Smirking, Jou grabbed one of the scrap pieces of material and threw it over the camera lens. Turning back to his work, he began to assemble some of the material on the nearest manikins, trying to work out whether the colours would work together. Why would Kaiba spy on him? Surely what he was doing was trivial in comparison to running the intricate processes behind Kaiba Corps? And would Kaiba even WANT to watch him at work? Security? He frowned. He probably thought he'd steal things, or something stupid like that.

And yet, Jou remembered, it had been zooming in. On what? The material? Or him?

Suddenly, the door swung open and Kaiba strode in, looking irritable.

"Jounouchi, it is security procedure to have an operating camera in every room."

So it HAD been Kaiba.

"Well, no offence, Kaiba, but isn't there supposed to be an element of surprise about this?"

"I need to be able to keep constant surveillance on every room. And don't think that I've just been watching your work for the entire afternoon. I need eyes open so I can check the cameras occasionally."

Rolling his eyes, Jou moved over to the lens and removed the material.

"Christ, Kaiba, calm down. I was just fucking about."

Expecting him to leave, Jounouchi continued pinning material to the manikin, standing back to compare the colours. Yes, the white and the cerulean worked together particularly well. He just needed to pin the silver up, then he could get started on a patte-

"Looks good."

Jounouchi jumped a mile in the air as Kaiba's voice sounded from directly behind him.

"Jesus, could you not do that? I'm holding pins!"

He turned around to face the other man, Kaiba didn't seem to have any intention of leaving. In fact, he was actually moving slowly around the table, peering at the material choices and pages of sketches. He seemed fascinated.

"Uh, don't you have things to do? Like a company to run?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Jounouchi, it's a Sunday, I have a headache, and I have no intention of staring at a screen today."

Odd, Jounouchi thought, since he'd clearly been staring at the surveillance screen.

"So, what, you're just going to sit and watch me?"

"I-well. No."

Suddenly, that same, miserable expression appeared on his face, when Jou had left before. Was Kaiba bored? The brunette began to move towards the door.

"You can if you really want to." Jou offered, and Kaiba's downcast eyes shot up to regard him. "I mean, it's not going to be very interesting. "And," he said, peering at his watch "I'll be finished soon, it's almost six, and I imagine dinner is probably scheduled for sometime about now."

Kaiba didn't reply, but instead sat down on a stool beside the table, which seemed a kind of solemn acceptance. Jou wasn't really sure whether to start conversation or not, so continued with what he was doing, taking the material down from the manikin, and beginning to sketch out vague patterns. Realising he hadn't taken Kaiba's measurements yet, he turned to the brunette.

"Hey, Kaiba, what are your measurements? I'll need them if i'm going to make this to fit you."

The man held a blank expression for a while, and then replied "I don't know."

"What?" Jounouchi put down his pen and turned towards him. "Don't you buy clothes for yourself?"

"All of my clothes are tailored. They measure me in the shop. I don't know what my measurements are."

Jou sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"There's a tape measure in the drawer."

Jou cursed inwardly. Measuring clients was probably the least fun part of the job. If it was a woman, they'd usually get unbearably flirtatious, or sensitive about their measurements, and if it was a guy, they tended to be ridiculously awkward around him, making him feel uncomfortable in the process. And now he had to measure Kaiba? That meant actually making contact with him. This was not going to be fun.

He found the tape measure where Kaiba had told him, and turned round to find that Kaiba had already taken off his jacket. He could feel himself redden, as he approached the other man.

"Right, uh, I'm just going to-"

"Neck, I know. I have over twenty different suits, which have all been tailored, Jounouchi. Do you think I don't know how to do this?"

"Right. Sorry."

Moving towards him, he took the end of the tape measure and wrapped it around Kaiba's neck. He could feel the brunette's eyes on him as he peered at the numbers on the tape. Why were they so small? In an effort to see them clearer he leaned even further forward, so that their bodies were almost touching. His heart rate quickened with embarrassment, as he memorised the number, removed the tape measure, and moved away to scribble it down on a piece of paper.

Kaiba made no sounds and no movement, as Jou moved back towards him, taking the tape this time to wrap around the other man's shoulders. He really didn't like being in such a close proximity to the brunette. They'd had fights before where they'd been at each other's necks, but when it wasn't aggressive, there was something very uncomfortable about it.

Scribbling down the second measurement he took Kaiba's chest measurement. He put his hand on the measure to keep it steady, and found his hand resting flush against the other's chest. To his surprise, Kaiba's heart was rocketing in his chest. Glancing at the man's face, the other's expression was strained. He seemed to be enjoying this about as much as Jou was.

Taking his arm length next, Jou then moved onto his waist. Tightening the tape around the brunette's waist, he could feel the other's hipbones through the shirt, SEE them as the material pulled against the other's stomach, and was alarmed by just how small the measurement was.

"Kaiba, this isn't healthy." He said, without thinking.

"Excuse me?" As Jou rose, the other eyed him, frowning.

"For your height, I mean, your measurements should be a lot larger. By several inches, almost."

The other turned away from him, slightly, crossing his arms.

"Why does it bother you?"

"Well, believe it or not, Kaiba, I am supposed to care about the welfare of my clients."

The other seemed to regard the floor for a while, blankly, and Jounouchi frowned. Had he struck a chord?

"Look, sorry, I won't bring it up again."

He approached the other with the tape measure, laying it along the length of the other's leg. Kaiba didn't protest as he took the measurement. Jounouchi braced himself for the final measurement.

"Right, going to take your inside leg now."

He waited for Kaiba to take the tape measure, but he didn't. He was still staring blankly out of the window. Reddening more than before, Jounouchi realised that he'd have to do this himself. Placing the end of the tape at Kaiba's foot, he slowly moved the tape measure up over the other's calf, knee and, reluctantly, thigh. The other man tensed up immediately, and Jou heard a sharp intake of breath. Trying not to make it any more awkward, Jounouchi peered at the measurement, keeping his touch on the other's leg as lightly as possible and avoiding his gaze. Reading the numbers, he moved away as quickly as possible, writing the measurements down. Kaiba cleared his throat.

"I just don't get all that hungry anymore." The brunette said, suddenly.

Jou raised his eyebrows, turning to face the other man.

"Really?"

Kaiba shook his head.

"I'm too busy."

"You always seemed to have time before." Jou said, tentatively. Was the lack of eating to do with Mokuba? Christ, this was more serious than he'd thought. The other didn't make much of a response, and began to move towards the door.

"Wait!" Jou said. He wasn't sure whether he liked the idea of Kaiba being by himself.

"Look, Kaiba, do you want to hang out, or-or something? I don't think I'll get much more done this evening. And I've got nothing to do." The other frowned at him, confused. Well of course he was, Jou had no idea what he was doing either. After years of rivalry, were they actually going to be civil towards each other?

The brunette regarded him, clearly suspicious.

"No worries. If you're busy." Jou turned back towards his work, beginning to pack away the material.

"Alright."

Joey's eyebrows shot into his hairline. Did Kaiba just agree to spend time with him? He turned around, schooling his expression.

"Dinner should be almost ready, but afterwards I have no work I have to complete. There's a television in the drawing room."

"Don't you have a headache?"

The other shrugged, nonchalantly. As if on cue, the bell rang for dinner, and Larson entered the room less than a second later.

"Master Kaiba, Mr. Jounouchi, dinner is served. You don't mind if we join you?"

"Not at all, Larson. I shall be making it customary from now on."

To Jou's shock, Kaiba actually smiled at Larson. Kaiba, smiling? This was new. Sure, it didn't last very long, but even Larson looked taken aback. And it certainly wasn't a bad trait.

"Jounouchi, are you coming?" asked Larson, politely, breaking Jou's confusion.

"O-one sec, I'm just going to pack up a bit, don't want it in a mess tomorrow morning." The other two left the room, and Jounouchi took a minute to lean back against the table. All of this was so alien to him. Kaiba seemed almost a completely new man. Well, not entirely, he still hadn't mastered the skill to have a human conversation, but considering how little he'd chosen to insult him today, it was difficult to believe.

Perhaps not all of it was for the best, he thought, glancing at the door. Not only was Kaiba calmer, but he seemed to have lost his fighting spirit, or any spirit at all. His sentences were blank, his face was blank. It was like talking to a shell of a person.

Jounouchi felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps Kaiba was genuinely looking for company. No doubt almost a year of Mokuba's absence would have taken his toll on him. Perhaps that had been why he'd looked so downcast when Jou had left before. Was he lonely? No, of course not. Kaiba would never search for comfort from others, that just wasn't like him at all. The insults would probably reappear before too soon.

Shaking his head, Jou made his way towards the door. His stomach rumbled.
"Good timing." He muttered, and stepped out of the studio.

Dinner was a far more enjoyable experience than the morning meal. The staff chattered excitedly, Jou making himself known, among the maids especially, and was asked again and again to namedrop the celebrities he'd designed for. Kaiba listened, but didn't really take part in the conversation, only interjecting occasionally to make enquiries about how the house was doing. He didn't look very comfortable in the sociable atmosphere, but then again he never had been. Jou felt a little bad about this, but including him in the conversation would probably make him feel even more out of place.

Jou noticed that he didn't eat a lot. The staff were too busy talking amongst themselves to pay much attention, although a couple of times, Jou noticed Larson watching Kaiba's plate carefully. Jou wanted to push more food onto his plate, but given how defensive Kaiba could be it probably wasn't a good idea. He still didn't know where he stood. After dinner had finished, the maids began to clear the table, and shooed the two men out of the room, insisting on clearing it themselves.

Jou followed Kaiba into the drawing room, away from the chatter of the kitchen. Jou realised that he hadn't been in this room before. Moving inside, it was almost as large as Kaiba's suite, with large glass windows looking out on the Mansion garden.

"You really do have an impressive house, Kaiba." Jounouchi said, peering out of one of the windows to take a good look at the grounds. A large garden, almost the size of a field stretched out in front of him, the patio lined with white blossoms, fountains and even statues in the shape of various duel monsters.

"Thanks." The brunette replied, taking a seat on the sofa. Jou turned around, looking for the so-called television.

"So where is this impressive TV, then?"

Kaiba didn't reply, but clicked a button on a remote. To Jou's surprise, a screen began to roll down from the top of one of the walls. He noticed a projector on the ceiling in front of it.

"Oh, because a widescreen HD wasn't good enough for you?" he smirked, taking a seat on the sofa, making sure not to sit too close.

"No, because the projector doesn't agitate my headaches as much." The other replied, blankly.

"Oh." Jou wasn't sure what to say. So they happen often, then?

"Do you get them a lot, then?" He tried to sound nonchalant.

"Most days, if I'm lucky." Jou frowned, turning to the other.

"Have you gotten them checked out? That sounds serious, Kaiba."

"Yes. They're stress-related apparently. So I cut down my work." Jou doubted that entirely. He didn't seem to want to continue with the conversation, so Jou decided to let off, for now anyway.

"So what are we watching? Anything on? I've brought films."

"No matter, I have a large collection. Anything you want to watch will probably be stored there."

"How large is this collection?"

"I have shares in most of the major filmmaking corporations. I can choose practically any film I want."

"And you've watched them all?!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "No, pup, of course I haven't. I barely have the time. They're there, however, if I want them."

"Fine, then have you seen...Fight Club?"

"No. Who's the director?"

"David Fincher."

"Who?"

Jounouchi's eyebrows shot up. "You don't know who David Fincher is? Se7en? Panic Room? Benjamin Button?"

"As I said, mutt, I have very little time."

"Kaiba, I asked about the nicknames."

"Well, if you're a dog, you're a dog. I can't change that." The infamous smirk had returned. But there didn't seem to be any malice in it. It seemed more playful, more teasing than anything else. Kaiba looked almost cheerful, in some sadistic way.

Jou sighed exasperatedly, running a hand through his hair. "Fight Club it is then."

Well, at least Kaiba wasn't unhappy, Jou thought, even if it meant sacrificing his own dignity.

During the film, Kaiba seemed genuinely interested in the plot. At first he'd crossed his arms, not seeming to expect much, but then, as the film carried on, Jou noticed that he was sitting further forward. Jou found himself glancing at Kaiba several times during the film, almost feeling like he wanted to impress Kaiba, win his respect. Thinking about it, Jou realised that had always been the irritating thing about Kaiba, no matter how far he'd risen in the duelling leagues, Kaiba always seemed to overlook him, concentrating only on Yugi and defeating him. Sure, in duelling he perhaps wasn't the best thing that had ever lived, but his new career seemed to actually place him at the same level as the brunette. Did that mean that Kaiba would now give him the time of day? Did he want Kaiba to give him the time of day? Shaking his head confusedly, he turned his attention back to the film.

The plot really sped up towards the end, he remembered why he loved it so much. As Edward Norton confronted Brad Pitt, Jounouchi found himself unable to concentrate on anything else, watching as the final scenes approached.

As The Pixies played the final scene out into the credits, Jou turned to grin at Kaiba, to ask his opinion, and found the brunette, surprisingly, asleep. Jou frowned, fight club was probably one of the only films it was impossible to fall asleep to. But, thinking about it, Kaiba had been pretty tired. Jou looked at his watch, it was only 10pm. Not sure whether or not to wake the brunette up, he leaned over him to get the remote.

To his alarm, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him and pulled him into an embrace. Jou turned to stare at Kaiba, and noticed he was still asleep. What was he doing? More importantly, what was he dreaming about?!

"No, Mokie. It's okay. You can sleep here." The brunette mumbled, pulling Jou closer and running his hand through his hair. Jou tensed. What the fuck was he going to do now? If he pulled away, Kaiba would wake up and FIND them, well, in this position. If he stayed where he was, well, god only knew. At least it was only his brother he was dreaming about. He decided the latter was a better decision, hoping Kaiba would eventually release him.

Jou found it very difficult not to burst into hysterical laughter at how ridiculous this situation was. First, Kaiba and he were on the verge of friendship, and now they were in some horrifically intimate embrace. Well, not horrifically. Just, well, uncomfortable. Well, not even that. Having Kaiba's arms around him was, admittedly, quite comfortable. More than comfortable. His heart pounded as Kaiba's chest rose and fell beneath him, Kaiba's breath hitting his forehead, soothingly. His body began to react to the close proximity he was in, and he felt himself slowly relaxing against the other man. Kaiba's scent seemed to surround him; it seemed to be an attractive mixture of cologne and musk, and something else. He felt his eyelids begin to flicker. It would be so tempting, just to – NO. No, he had to get out of this. If he moved slowly then maybe the other wouldn't wake up. He swallowed, trying to remove his hands from Kaiba's chest.

Suddenly the man beneath him convulsed, violently, as he grabbed Jou by the collar and pulled him closer.

"NO, MOKUBA. YOU CAN'T. You can't do this to me!" The man's voice sounded pained, angry, as if he was close to tears. Jou panicked as his grip on his shirt tightened.

"Kaiba, wake up!"

"Moku-"

"KAIBA."

"MOKUBA. You ca-YOU CAN'T-"

"SETO!"

The brunette's eyes snapped open, and released Jou from his vice grip. Both men panted, wide-eyed, watching each other for a moment in silence.

Jou moved to the opposite end of the sofa, unsure what to say. Kaiba immediately looked away, downwards, suddenly refusing to make eye contact. After a while, his fists clenched, shoulders raising.

"What. Happened." He growled. His voice was monotone, blank. Angry.

"Y-you fell asleep. You had a nightmare. I tried to wake you up, but you grabbed me a-and..." Jou hesitated, watching Kaiba carefully. He saw something drop from Kaiba's face into his lap. Was that a tear?

"Seto?" Jou didn't realise he'd used the others first name until after it had passed his lips.

The other stood up, hair over his eyes, his expression dark. Not saying a word, he strode towards the door, fists clenched.

"Wait! S-" Jou began, but the brunette had already swept out of the room, his loud footsteps echoing loudly down the corridor.

A/N: Yay for more exciting scenes :) They're a lot more fun to write!

Please Review if you have time!

I finished my A2 German Oral Exam today, and it went really well! So I allowed myself a break to do a bit more writing :)