Kaiba stared intently at the doctor, hating her with all his might.
This was their nth session held in complete silence.
He had refused to talk.
Because there was no point in talking.
Opting to listen to her thoughts, Kaiba discovered that they were usually very mundane, ranging from fear that he was going to get violent, to how hungry she was and what she wanted to eat.
Today, her thoughts were slightly different.
She sat with her legs tightly crossed, pen in hand, and a clipboard on her lap, looking very thoughtful.
That was a bad fight. This might make us break up…but at least this session is easy. As long as Seto Kaiba stays stubbornly silent, I get paid! Oh, I can't wait to buy those shoes I saw yesterday!
Kaiba crossed his arms and dipped his head down, pretending to take a nap, and he heard her thoughts increase significantly.
Oh wow! A first. He's going to try to sleep through these sessions. See, I'd be offended, but somehow, I'm not. Men are so prideful. We can do this back and forth forever until we die, Mr. Kaiba! I'm one of the top doctors for a reason!
Sighing audibly, Kaiba opened his eyes and made direct eye contact with her.
She immediately took this opportunity to address him, "Can we talk about what happened when we first met? The…incident in the lab?"
Kaiba gave her an appraising look before finally deciding to speak, "I was doing tests."
Her eyes widened, and she looked stunned.
OH! HE TALKED! He can talk after all! Oh my GOD, PROGRESS!
"May I ask what the tests are for?" She asked tentatively, her pen poised over paper, and Kaiba figured he would have some fun after all. He was trapped here until Mokuba decided he was "better", so might as well scare the shit out this doctor.
Top secret, Kaiba said, sending the thought to her directly and hearing her gasp.
She paled visibly, but her voice didn't waver, "So, you…are testing something. An innovative…tool, perhaps?"
Nausea medicine, Kaiba said stiffly, and she stared intently at him, her hand shaking over her clipboard.
"How are you doing that?" she demanded, glancing around the room with narrowed eyes. "Did you somehow put a transmitter in my office?"
Crap! Time to call the front desk…but the button is under my desk…crap….
"Crap," Kaiba said monotonously, watching her face for a reaction. "Time to call the front desk, but the button is under my desk."
She bit her lower lip furiously and jumped to her feet, opening the door and pointing out into hallway with a trembling finger, she whispered, "Session is over. Leave."
Gladly. Kaiba smirked, and he rose out of his chair to leave, congratulating himself.
Chuckling to himself, he stepped into the elevator and gave her a playful wave, seeing her standing at the door of her office, pale as a sheet with her feet planted apart.
If only he had done this sooner, these sessions would've been less of a pain.
Time to take a leisurely drive to the beach and meditate underwater.
Atem sat in the courtyard with Mana, watching her braid Serenity's hair, and he sighed before gazing upwards, wondering how Joey was faring.
"He sent me a message," Serenity said quietly. "It arrived yesterday by a red octopus. It told me that he's entering a Chrysalis and will be Deployed on land as soon as tomorrow."
Atem nodded and frowned, trying not to feel too worried.
He watched Mana expertly weave a strand of gems into Serenity's brown hair and he sighed, wondering what Kaiba was doing right this second.
Kaiba was bored.
He lightly fingered the syringe in his pocket, only half-listening to Mokuba talking.
"I really want to propose to her sometime before the year ends. Should it be a surprise? Or should I just do it in private? Does she want something extravagant?"
"I don't know," Kaiba answered carelessly, watching a few other people stride along the water, wearing brightly colored swimsuits. "You know her best—hey, why did you suggest this place? We have so many private beaches, why here?"
"Stop trying to drown yourself and listen to me for two seconds," Mokuba shot back angrily. "I'm saying I don't know! She says things like 'anything is fine, you don't need to try too hard' but I don't know if she means it, or if she's just saying it to be nice. I can't tell what she's thinking."
Kaiba frowned, eyeing Mokuba's girlfriend standing by the edge of the water, taking photos of the scenery.
"So?" Kaiba said, leaning back against his lounge chair and closing his eyes. "You know her best."
"I'm asking you for a favor, don't you get it?" Mokuba growled, giving his brother an exasperated look. "Can you find out for me?"
Kaiba stared at his brother, feeling a laugh climbing up his chest.
"Now you want my help?" Kaiba asked incredulously, and he caught a playful punch on his shoulder. "Fine. I'll talk to her." And he leaned back again with a sigh.
Mokuba stared expectantly at his older brother, grinding his teeth impatiently.
"Now, Seto. Please? Can you talk to her right now?"
Kaiba threw Mokuba an exasperated look, but obliged. Rising out of his chair, he approached the beach, seeing her turn around and smile brightly at him.
He raised his hand in a half-hearted wave, feeling oddly put on the spot, but he stepped over an oncoming wave to stand beside her, nodding at her politely.
Ah…! She thought frantically. He's standing next to me…oh…help… Mokuba-kun…hurry, please come save me.
"I know you hate me," Kaiba said bluntly, his voice barely audible over the waves, and he heard her gasp fearfully and shake her head.
"No, no, not at all," she mumbled, bobbing awkwardly into several polite bows. "We don't know each other, that's all."
EEK! Mokuba was right about his weird telepathy! Quick, think about nothing…nothing….
"Yeah, and I don't know if we should know each other," Kaiba said plainly, kneeling in the water and seeing a few shells being washed ashore, half-buried under the sand. He dug one out and turned it over in his hand, pleased to see that it was undamaged.
Ah! WOW! He found a whole shell! That was so cool! What the heckkkkkk….. Was it there the whole time?!
"Do you like pearls?" Kaiba asked awkwardly, standing up and beginning to clean the shell in his hands. "Finding one in an oyster can be a nice surprise, right?"
Her smile wavered, and she nodded, "Ah…y-yeah! Hahaha…"
UH…?! So he's trying to have a conversation with me? Okay, yes…pearls are cute.
"Pearls or diamonds?" Kaiba asked again, unable to find a way to hold a normal human conversation. "Or…neither?"
"Um…ah, dia…monds?" She wrinkled her brow in confusion. "I-I mean, don't get me wrong, but I heard the way they make pearls is a bit…"
Unethical. Doesn't it hurt the oyster when forcing it to grow a pearl? Ah, I don't know! I'm sounding so money-hungry now that I said diamond…but there's a horrible industry of diamonds too…HELP ME, MOKUBA! Oh god, can he hear me thinking to myself?
Kaiba stared out across the water, incredibly bored.
He didn't know how to steer the conversation towards a proposal…without directly asking her.
"I-Is that all you wanted to ask me, Mr. Kaiba?" she asked, sounding very formal. "I'm gonna go…sit over there!"
"Wait…" Kaiba said awkwardly, making brief eye contact with her and realizing her eyes were beautifully almond-shaped. "I'm going to spoil a surprise. Care to hear it?"
She stared at him for a long moment, blinking rapidly while she thought nervously to herself.
What?! Does he know something? What surprise? Oh god, I hate surprises.
"Then you'll appreciate me telling you," Kaiba said knowingly, also personally hating surprises. "Mokuba wants to propose to you."
She blinked again and nodded stiffly. "Not…a surprise, Mr. Kaiba. We've openly talked about it quite often."
"What a relief," Kaiba answered dryly, rolling his eyes. "He wants to know if you want an extravagant proposal or something private."
"I told him that anything is fine!" She cried, sweeping her hair out of her eyes as the wind blew a few strands across her face.
Oh god…he sent his telepathic brother over to read me! I knew he didn't believe me when I said it was fine! Can he hear this? Seto Kaiba you stupid ugly wierdo ugly stupid ugly stupid—
Mmm thanks, Kaiba thought back viciously, hearing her squeak in surprise.
He glanced at her, seeing her with both hands pressed over her mouth, her eyes so wide, he could see all the whites around her pupils.
You know, it's fine if you do want something extravagant, Kaiba continued, finally getting a good look at her figure in a bikini. There's no shame in wanting something for yourself. What's money for if you don't spend it?
"I-I…" She slowly sank to her knees and sat down cross-legged in the sand, the tips of her ears bright red.
Actually, I'm offended, Kaiba continued, folding his arms across his chest and gazing down at her black swirl of hair. Mokuba is always offering to pay for you, clearly trying to make your life more comfortable. Your refusals make you look bad. Would you refuse if he offered to give you the best medical care while you're sick? Or…dare I say, pregnant?
No… She thought back quietly, and Kaiba saw her curl her fingers tightly in the sand beside her thighs, creating five lines where her fingers sank into it, leaving deep grooves.
Rules of this family are that you live proudly with the money we've earned, Kaiba said boldly, not really believing his own statement. Don't marry him if you don't know how to spend money. You're clearly upsetting him because he doesn't understand how you think. But you know how he works. Just agree to spend the damn money. Isn't it easier that way?
Kaiba waited for an answer and didn't receive one.
He glanced down worriedly and saw her nodding repeatedly.
To his rising horror, he saw a lone tear curve down her pale cheek, and he took a worried step back, glancing over his shoulder at Mokuba, who looked furious, glaring at them from his lounge chair.
"Hey, stand up, before he kills me," Kaiba said hastily, glancing around and seeing people beginning to stare. Ayame-san. Stand up, or he'll think I'm fighting with you or something.
She rose to her feet obediently and dusted the sand off her legs, looking him right in the eye after managing to compose herself.
"Well then, I won't hold back!" She said, patting her bicep and making a flexing motion. "I'll buy an island and five cars. No, ten! I'll even buy a car for the dog."
"You have a dog?" Kaiba asked, alarmed at this new information. "Is it your dog, or did you and Mokuba adopt it together recently?"
She gave him a funny look and threw her head back, laughing heartily, "No! That was a joke! You reacted to the wrong thing!"
"That's the correct thing," Kaiba said, slightly annoyed. "Cars are fine, but a dog is an animal."
"Okay, okay, Kaiba-kun, I understand," she said, holding her hands up defensively. "I thought I would offend you and Mokuba by…"
She fell silent and decided to complete the sentence in her head.
By spending your money, because…well, it's not mine. And everyone knows you have a lot of it. It's hard to appear like I'm actually interested in Mokuba, and not just what he has…you know?
We get it, Kaiba replied, managing a smile, and he heard Mokuba's furious thoughts invading the front of his mind.
YOU MADE HER CRY?! YOU'RE THE WORST!
"Nobody cried," Kaiba said instantly, taking several more steps back to give Mokuba and his girlfriend more space.
"Seto, I asked you to do one thing," Mokuba started, rounding on his older brother while his girlfriend clung onto his arm, trying to hold him back. "And you made her cry!"
"Please don't fight! I didn't—I'm just not feeling well!" She insisted, her heels skidding across the sand as Mokuba advanced on Kaiba, and Kaiba turned his gaze out towards the ocean, trying to avoid angry eye-contact with his brother.
He had heard something coming from under the water, but he wasn't sure what.
Also, people's phone cameras were appearing from their pockets, filming them.
"HEY! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Mokuba growled, grabbing his older brother by the collar with one hand while his other hand was being pulled back by his girlfriend. "Apologize to her!"
They were interrupted by a terrified scream, and people began to scatter on the beach.
Thankful for the interruption, Kaiba dodged Mokuba and glanced over everyone's heads, looking for the source of panic.
A blond-haired man was completely naked, doubled over on all fours, looking as if he was choking.
"A doctor! Call a doctor!" Someone cried.
"Where is the lifeguard? The booth is empty! He was here a moment ago!"
Kaiba slipped his hand into his pocket for his phone, but then saw something that almost made his heart stop in his chest.
The man vomited violently, and a greenish sludge splattered messily on the sand on top of his hands.
A…. surfacing…merman. Holy shit! What luck!
Was he suffocating? When was he going to eat the slag? Did the greenish vomit happen before or after ingestion?
Interested, Kaiba took several steps towards him, feeling Mokuba tug on his arm. "No, Seto! Someone already called the doctor."
"He doesn't need a doctor," Kaiba heard himself say, and he approached the choking man as if his feet were possessed. He stood above the man, seeing his cheeks slowly turning red, and then purple while his brown eyes darted frantically back to the water.
His thoughts were crisp and clear.
H-Help! Fuck! I'm gonna die here! Shit! People are watching!
I haven't even…I forgot to bring the stinky slug
…I need to crawl back…can this guy fucking stop staring at me?! Useless human!
"This useless human is going to help you," Kaiba whispered gleefully, bending forward and slipping his hand into his other pocket for the syringe he had prepared for himself. "I'm going to give you air. In return, you must tell me where the nearest Chrysalis is. It's here, isn't it?"
Joey grabbed his throat with both hands and shook his head frantically, turning back to look at the ocean again, wondering if he could still breathe underwater as a human. Fuck. Who was this guy?! Asking for access to a Chrysalis? Hell no!
"Hey, shake or nod your head," Kaiba said, holding the syringe in front of the blond man's face, giving it a teasing twirl between his thumb and index finger. "You can choose…death by suffocation or disclose the location of a Chrysalis. I've got a slug for you…right here…"
"Seto! Get away from him!" Mokuba's voice could be heard from afar, but Kaiba ignored him.
Glaring furiously, Joey swiped at the syringe, his vision fading in and out to green. Damn…Damn… He'd rather die than tell this stranger where a Chrysalis was.
Good-bye Tristan…Duke…Atem…
"Ah...fuck," Kaiba muttered, and he stabbed the needle into Joey's thigh the second he heard Atem's name.
Kaiba stood smugly and watched the man take a deep gasping breath, coughing heavily while cursing in his mind.
FUCK THIS GUY! FUCK THIS FUCKER! WHO IS HE?! He had slugmutt all this time and fuckin' let me suffocate for two whole minutes! I couldda died!
"You're welcome," Kaiba said coldly, instantly reminded of a wet dog from the way the man's blond hair matted across his forehead. "Now tell me—"
The man jumped to his feet after regaining some energy, and he sprinted back towards the ocean, clearly running away.
"Hey…HEY!" Kaiba shouted, running after the naked man, his fury rising to an all-time high. "Sure, don't even say 'thank you'! COME BACK HERE!"
To his dismay, the merman dove expertly into an oncoming wave and disappeared.
Kaiba dove in after him, intent on catching him, but since he had dived in second, another wave rushed at him, pushing him backwards. Hissing in annoyance, Kaiba fought the wave and swam forward strongly, seeing the man's pale feet disappearing into the depths beneath.
Shit. SHIT!
I said COME BACK HERE! Kaiba yelled in his mind, hearing nothing but silence in response, and he let out a frustrated groan.
He let another wave push him back onto shore, and dragged himself out of the water, trudging across the sand back to where Mokuba and his girlfriend stood, staring at him with dumbstruck looks on their faces.
As he strode across the beach, groups of people began applauding and congratulating him on saving the man.
Thoroughly pissed, he approached Mokuba, his wet clothes sagging heavily against his body while he managed to say through gritted teeth, "That guy was really fucking stupid."
"What was he allergic to?" Mokuba cried, pressing his hands to his face in shock. "You saved his life! You gave him some of your…vitamins?!"
"Yeah, you could say that," Kaiba growled, ignoring the people who were starting to crowd around him. "Going to dry off. See you back at the resort."
"You were so cool...!" The girlfriend called, waving at his retreating form. "Rest up and we'll have dinner together!"
Mokuba beamed at his girlfriend, giving her hand a warm squeeze. "It looked like he made you upset, but it seems you guys had a good talk?"
"Yes," she said with a firm smile. "He lectured me about not spending enough money. I know exactly how to deal with him now. I need to spend money in front of him."
"Oh…good," Mokuba said, gazing out over the ocean, feeling an odd pang in his chest. Didn't he witness Atem throwing up green stuff? Was Seto making medicine for Atem's race?
Brushing the thought out of his mind, Mokuba let his girlfriend pull him towards the lounge chairs happily while chatting about an engagement party.
On a nearby shore, Joey rolled onto the sand and gasped for air, his chest heaving mightily with effort.
Damn. Shit.
First, he had gotten lost and mixed up the meeting spot, and second, he had made a life-threatening mistake by forgetting to find some slugmutt before rising to the surface.
"You're late!" Mahad called, popping his head up from the water and pointing at the shore where Tristan stood, already fully dressed and dry.
"I got—I got lost…" Joey gasped, hauling himself out of the water on all fours and coughing weakly. "Fuck."
"The first time is always the hardest," Mahad said sympathetically, "Take a few deep breaths, Warrior Jounouchi, and all will be well."
A towel and a bundle of neatly folded clothes appeared under Joey's nose, and he swiped them out of Tristan's hands, hastily getting dressed, feeling his ears burn with humiliation at his own mistake.
"I got the money, so I'm the treasurer," Tristan declared loudly, and he glanced at Joey, waiting for him to protest, but to his surprise, his friend remained silent.
"Good. Now…" Mahad pointed at the road behind their heads. "Next challenge: rent a car or buy a train ticket and attend the university as students or find yourselves some part-time jobs. Use the money to buy whatever you need, but it is not infinite. Budget wisely."
"But...how much is anything?" Tristan asked, curiously flipping through the banknotes and giving them a sniff. "Ogh, it stinks!"
"You're in a new land, figure it out," Mahad said vaguely, pushing off the shore and sticking his staff in the air as a salute. "Remember to follow your Code! Good luck and goodbye!"
"Thanks for the cash!" Tristan yelled, waving back enthusiastically and giving Joey a rough nudge. "Yo, what's the matter with you? Poison swelled up your tongue?"
Joey sat down heavily in the sand and held his head in his hands, slowly processing everything that had happened to him in the short amount of time he had had legs.
"I think…that was him," Joey said, his voice cracking from the dryness in his throat. "Seto fucking Kaiba. That was him! Holy fuck…. THAT WAS HIM!"
Brown hair, condescending blue eyes, pale skin, and handsome features.
It had to be him.
Atem had always described Kaiba right down to the curve of his jaw, and that man was definitely Seto Kaiba.
"What?" Tristan frowned, worried by the sudden outburst. "What are you talking about?"
"I got up on the wrong shore!" Joey cried, his voice muffled by his hands pressing against his face. "I forgot to catch a stinky slug, and nearly suffocated in front of a buncha people."
"Oh…damn," Tristan said, sitting down slowly beside his friend and giving him a quick up and down check. "You look and sound fine. Alive."
"Yeah, 'cuz that bastard Seto Kaiba gave me a slug!" Joey yelled, lifting his head away from his hands, unable to contain his fury. "He somehow…stuck it in me. I didn't eat anything. H-Holy fuck…he saved my life. I owe him, Tristan. I fucking owe him now!"
"Someone stuck a slug…. inside you?" Tristan scratched his head, looking worried. "Are you hallucinating?"
"It was in a needle," Joey said vehemently, nodding. "Like the kind human doctors use. He somehow put slugmutt…in that. Scary, right? He's not a safe guy to be around.…holy shit."
"Okay…well, he's far away now," Tristan said, standing up and brushing the sand off his pants. "Let's go! I've always wanted to drive a car."
Joey nodded silently and rose to his feet, feeling slightly dizzy, but he ignored it. He had to remember to complete the Assignment Mahad had given him, but now he wasn't sure if he wanted to be anywhere near Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba sat across the counter at the jeweler in his stuffy little shop, watching the old man inspect the diamonds under a microscope.
The silence was stifling, and Kaiba gazed out the window, trying to hide his anxiety.
Isono had blatantly disobeyed him by neglecting to take the diamonds to a lab, so he had done it himself, and the lab had sent him back to the jeweler.
It seemed everyone wanted to run him around in circles.
"Hmm…" the jeweler said for the millionth time, and he continued to inspect the diamond.
"What is it?" Kaiba asked impatiently. "Are they real?"
"Oh, they're real," the man mumbled, his brow shining with a slight sheen of sweat. "What's interesting is the shape. These appear to have formed this way, and not cut. How strange…how strange…"
"Yeah, well, how much?" Kaiba asked carelessly, beginning to grow irritated, feeling as if he had to wait forever for the old man's verdict. "And how long will it take for you to make several rings?"
"For you Master Kaiba…" the old man drawled, finally lifting his face away from the microscope and making eye contact for the first time. "One to two weeks with all of my effort and attention. I will do my best work for you."
"Good," Kaiba said shortly, pushing away from the counter to stand and eyeing the door. "See you in a week."
"Ah, but…this one in particular," the old man held up a tear-drop shaped diamond, and his brown eyes gleamed with interest. "May I buy this from you?"
This one is extremely unique! I doubt he even cares….
"No," Kaiba glared reproachfully at him. "Follow the templates for the designs in the email I sent you and send photos of your progress."
The old man nodded, bowing deeply and mumbling, "Thank you for coming in…"
Kaiba swept out of the shop without another word and stepped out into the rain.
Damn, he had forgotten an umbrella.
Sighing, he marched through the rain back to his car, his mind filled with thoughts of taking a dive in the ocean water while it was raining.
Joey strode rapidly through the school campus, nervously adjusting the straps on his bag as he went. He had overheard a conversation held by a couple of girls sitting at a nearby coffee table, talking about a certain Mokuba Kaiba on their campus, and that had sent him into an investigative frenzy.
After attempting to sweet-talk the head office to give him a glance at personal records, he was politely asked to leave.
Sighing to himself, Joey found a seat on a nearby bench underneath a flowery tree and slipped his phone out of his pocket, hastily searching Mokuba Kaiba in the browser, kicking himself mentally for not doing this first.
The results were plentiful, with many of them saying the same thing: that Mokuba Kaiba still attended K University and was due to graduate before the end of the year.
Sighing again, Joey hung his head, gripping his hair in frustration.
Mahad had not disclosed how difficult it would be to get into contact with any Kaiba. It seemed these two humans were elusive and extremely private, but their information was somehow widely available to the public.
Humans were so contradicting.
Memorizing the most recent photo he could find of Mokuba Kaiba, Joey folded his arms across his chest, deciding he would find Mokuba at any cost.
He was in the right place.
All he had to do was wait a little longer and be more vigilant.
Mokuba suppressed a yawn and closed his textbook slowly, deciding to head home.
The library was almost empty, and the librarian was making his last rounds on the top floor, waking up any snoozing students while wheeling the book cart noisily across the carpeted floors.
His phone buzzed, and notification popped up on his computer screen simultaneously.
Glancing at his laptop, Mokuba rolled his eyes in fury when he saw it was from the user "JW" again.
This student had been messaging him non-stop through the student portal since the beginning of the year. It had stopped being annoying and was becoming creepy.
JW: hey! Let's hang out!
"No, I don't fucking know you. Stop it," Mokuba hissed, wishing there was a way to block fellow students. "Leave…me…alone…." he said through gritted teeth while typing, then he hit send.
The response was lightening quick.
JW: aw c'mon please? I gotta tell your brother something. Pls pls pls pls pls
JW: pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls
JW: I don't have any friends on campus. heh.
Groaning, Mokuba leaned his head on his hand, tapping his pen absently against the side of his laptop.
Who the fuck was this guy?
And would he really shut up if they met up once?
Or maybe it would be better to foist this guy onto Seto.
Was he dangerous?
Poising his hands over the keyboard, Mokuba took a moment to think before he quickly replied.
MK: fine. You wore me down. 08-2339-9909. DON'T call me. Text only.
On the other side of the screen, Joey let out a celebratory fist pump and a whoop, forgetting where he was in the moment, and he snatched his phone up triumphantly.
It had taken an agonizing 7 moons to get Mokuba to reply positively to anything, so this was an absolute victory. Mahad would be proud.
Mokuba heard a yell echo through the floor, and he winced, growing more and more disgruntled with every passing second.
Yep, he was leaving.
Studying at home would be way more comfortable.
Joey sent the first text after typing the number into his phone with shaking fingers.
"YO. It's me. Jou."
Mokuba lifted his phone up to his face and set his jaw, replying slowly.
"Ok. Nice to know you have a name. Now LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Joey pressed on stubbornly.
"I'm in the library rn. 8th floor. Where u at? I can come to u."
Mokuba froze, his heart pounding nervously as he wrote back, "Same. 8th floor. By the windows. Leaving soon."
Clicking his phone off, Mokuba scrambled to get his things together, eager to disappear before the mysterious and possibly malicious JW found him and accosted him alone.
Joey leapt out of his seat and made his way methodically through the towering bookshelves, aiming for the slanted windows hugging the other side of the room.
He spied a tall figure with long black hair hastily packing a bag, and he stood awkwardly from afar, waving.
He was ignored until the man swung the bag back over his shoulder and froze after seeing him standing there with his hand still raised in a half-wave.
Mokuba's breath hitched painfully in his chest when he vaguely recognized the guy. He had a familiar crop of messy blond hair, and soft, dark brown eyes.
"Hey, aren't you…?" Mokuba lost his voice mid-sentence when he remembered in a rush. This was the naked blond guy Seto saved on the beach that one time.
"Yeah, that's me!" Joey nodded vigorously, forgetting his training immediately and answering Mokuba's thought directly. "Nice ta' finally meet ya'! I'm Joey!" And he held his hand out enthusiastically for a shake.
Mokuba took several hesitant steps forward to grab the man's hand and shake it firmly, searching his face for any signs of hostility, but the smiles were all genuine.
"Let me guess, you want to thank Seto personally," Mokuba said dryly, not letting his guard down. Smiley people all had a motive.
"Ah…yep," Joey said awkwardly, hearing Mokuba's hostile thought and unsure of how to make himself seem less motivated to meet Seto Kaiba. "But honestly, I really need to talk to him. Can we do that?"
Mokuba took a step back and raked his gaze over Joey's strong build, taking in the well-worn army green jacket, the plain blue jeans and a pair of off-brand sneakers on his feet.
His whole vibe screamed harmless. It should be fine to let this guy meet Seto, who was in desperate need of friends and basic social contact with other humans.
"Fine, we'll go over to my place now." Mokuba shrugged carelessly and walked briskly to the elevators, hearing Joey celebrate audibly behind him.
He stabbed the 'down' button and turned to face Joey once more, taking in his glowing smile.
"Don't freak him out with your weirdness. You can tell him we've been friends for a whole year," Mokuba said instantly, knowing Seto would be suspicious of any stranger walking into their home. "…And we are working on our master thesis together. Got it?"
"Got it, got it good." Joey made playful finger guns at Mokuba and grinned. "Thanks man. You're really helping me out."
Mokuba threw Joey an odd look over his shoulder before stepping into the elevator and feeling his anger melt away.
Maybe this guy would be good for Seto.
Author's note:
dundundun joey surfaces and is on the hunt
kaiba manages to streamline slug consumption. Making advancements for the mer-community one thing at a time
wonder how atem is holding up? We'll see in the next chapter!
edited by:taedae
here's a link to a post with pics from my recent travel to japan!
(paste in you browser without the spaces and underscore;P)
( h_ttps:/ / ugli fish . tu m bl r dot com / post/189196188509/my-quick-stay-in-japan-ygo-spotting-post )
i have a lot of spare millennium item necklace toppers that are made from diecast metal! I went a little crazy buying them because i figured they'd make great gifts for xmas :P
PM me if you'd like one!
Hugs,
Ugli