Author's Note: Rated K plus because sometimes Seto can be sweet. …Even though after that sweetness, he becomes a horny bastard again in later chapters.
On another note… FANFICTION IS BEING SO FUCKING LAME. I keep getting the email alerts saying you guys reviewed, but they're not showing up on the review page even hours later, and when I try to reply directly from the email alerts, fanfic says that your reviews don't exist! D: I want to reply to your reviews BUT I CAN'T! *dies* I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Hopefully this will make up for it.
F is for Forehead
Seto crossed his arms and sighed. He'd been a jerk and he knew it. This—unfortunately—meant that he'd have to apologize to a certain puppy. …If only he hadn't been a jealous, possessive jerk! Of course he knew Joey wasn't trying to be loving with Yugi and Yami, but he'd just spouted it off like the asshole he was! He'd hurt his puppy, and now he had to apologize.
It would be so much easier if he didn't have to go into the game shop to do it, though. He had no doubt that Joey would run to them and tell them what a jerk he'd been, so he'd have to go in and possibly deal with a Shadow Game because yes, protecting his friend was important, but Yami was known to go overboard in this day and age.
Taking a deep breath, the brunet steeled himself for the many possibilities that might come and stepped into the game shop.
So he was sort of expecting the disapproving look from Yami (the kind a parent would give their child if they were flunking an easy class like art or PE—which, Seto really didn't understand, because Yami may have been five thousand years old but he didn't look a day over eighteen). He was highly unprepared for the dirty Look of Death he received from Yugi. But, ah, he needed to speak with his puppy.
He stepped up behind the blond huddled at the counter and gently touched his shoulder. "Joey? I… I'm sorry. I—" But then his puppy turned toward him and his brain shut down.
Joey sniffled a little and lifted a hand to wipe away a tear that had managed to escape his eyes. "Seto? Ya mean it?" He frowned when he saw the deer-in-the-headlights, horrified expression on his lover's face, then reached up and gently touched his cheek. "Seto?"
Seto mouthed at him wordlessly for a few moments, trying to find his voice, but when he couldn't, he wrapped his arms around the blond and pulled him into a tight hug. He didn't want to lose his puppy. Why was he always being a jealous bastard and driving people away?!
The younger boy blinked in confusion as the brunet yanked him into a bone-crushing hug. He hadn't been hugged like this in some time; it was the CEO's guilt hug. Seto was not an idiot; he was usually pretty quick about figuring out how he messed up. However, the amount of guilt he felt for each individual mess up varied. Apparently, he was feeling lower than dirt for this one.
"…Seto?"
"I'm a horrible man, puppy," the brunet whispered, before pressing a soft, sad kiss on his forehead. "I don't know why I say such mean things. I'm sorry, puppy. I didn't mean it—well, I did mean it, but I was just being jealous—not that that's any excuse, because there's no excuse for my behavior—I didn't mean to make you cry—why do I always make you cry?"
Joey wasn't as stupid as other people thought he was; he realized that the brunet had switched from apologizing to him to talking to himself. He didn't like hearing him insult himself… He knew first hand just how cruel he could be with insults… "Seto…"
"I don't even know what got me mad enough to say it. Why would I do something like that? I know you love me. You're my puppy; you're loyal. Why would I hurt you like that?"
"…Joey? Is Kaiba okay?" Yugi asked after a few minutes, frowning in concern. His friend had told him about how much his lover could upset himself, but this was the first time he'd ever seen it.
At that, Joey leaned back and slapped the brunet across the face, scowling. When the older boy put a hand to his cheek and looked back at him in shock, he frowned and reached up to cup his face, making the brunet drop his hands at his sides in confusion. "…Ya need t' stop doin' this t' yourself, Seto. It may sound silly to ya, but it hurts me more to see ya beat yourself up like this then ya sayin' mean things t' me." He tilted his head pleadingly. "I see that you're sorry, okay? Don't beat yourself up anymore."
Seto frowned at him for a few moments, then let his head tip forward slightly, pressing his lips to the blond's forehead again. Except this time, he kept them there, and wrapped his arms around him again. "I'll try."
The blond smiled sweetly—not that the other boy saw it, but he was happy that the older boy was actually listening to him. "Thank you, Seto."
All was silent for a few minutes until Yami lifted up the camera he'd just gotten the hang of using and pressed the button. Seto flinched away as the bright flash burned his eyes, then let out a roar and dove over the counter at the former spirit.
Joey and Yugi sighed; this would not end well.
