Chapter Text
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
He guessed he could see the appeal of getting to watch the sunrise.
The sun had finally come out, after months of rain, and it was honestly kind of a relief, all things considered. Jounouchi had never done good with cold, wet places. He’d always been a much bigger fan of the sun.
He was in a bit of a mood, he guessed. Something that was coming and going nowadays, and it made him feel a bit like an old man, even though he wasn’t even thirty yet. He guessed that was supposed to be what your twenties were all about, though. Something about trying new job paths, new careers, all that shit. He heard something online about people not even knowing what they should be doing with their hair yet when they were in their twenties. He guessed, too, that it kind of fit him to a t.
He hadn’t changed his hairstyle yet, not since he was a teenager. Maybe he should figure out something else to do with it one day. But ol’ reliable never really did him wrong before, so whatever. Nothing wrong with knowing what you’re about, anyway. He’d be a fuckin’ Yankee until the day that he died.
He didn’t know why he kept coming back to this place, if he were being honest. He wasn’t on the clock right then, so he didn’t really have much of a reason, but it was still one of the places that he kept getting drawn back to. Probably because it was something that had kinda been one of the worst places of his life, but he was getting used to it. Something about taking power back from the things that hurt you, he was sure he read something like that somewhere. Either way, it was something he kept finding himself back at, and he guessed that was okay, because it meant he got to watch the sun rise.
He’d usually take the night shifts, but he’d been switched to day shift lately, and though he preferred the differential pay at night, he definitely liked the sun better. And while there hadn’t been much of a difference the past, few months with the nonstop rainstorms, and while he’d been working weekends and holidays and all throughout May, he’d still managed to get through it all, and come back out on the other side, just the same way he always did.
He kind of took that as a bit of a point of pride even though most people did it without complaining, but hey, he loved complaining, so that was just a part of life at this point.
What was the spice of life but getting to bitch about how much it sucked to people? He sure as hell thought that was the point of it all. Honda would probably agree, too, seeing as he bitched to the guy nonstop during their gaming sessions, and he probably needed to buy the guy a burger for that at this point.
Still. He made it through, and that was the most important part.
He wasn’t on the docks this time, rather, he was on one of the railways. The viewing ports where families would come with their kids so that they could pop quarters in the binoculars and go and see the distant boats. In the early morning air, there were only a couple of joggers and old people, and he’d propped himself up so that he was looking out over the ocean, leaning full body against the metal.
It was fast approaching summer at this point, and the spring storms had passed, and with it came the cool, blue sky that always followed. He’d once heard something about old folk stories when it came to storms. Something about rings and moons. He should get into contact with Kajiki sometime about it. He always kind of wondered if the guy ever managed to get his boat.
“What are you doing here?”
Jounouchi only half turned to the person approaching, if he were being honest, looking over one shoulder, as used as he was to the voice by that point. He rested his chin on his arms as the other approached, before he automatically looked back over the ocean, where the waves met the poles, where it vanished over the horizon.
“Didn’t have to work nights yesterday or today, so I managed to get a regular amount of sleep. I wanted to come out here to see it. What about you?”
The conversation was strange, to him, in how calm and casual it was. They shouldn’t be people who had calm conversations like this. But then, he honestly hadn’t seen the other in the past month, and while he knew--damn well knew--that shit didn’t change much in a few conversations and a month, the odd tension still remained, and he just really wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
“I haven’t slept.”
“Heh, figured. You planning on getting some anytime today or something? Or are you planning to single-handedly fund Monster energy drinks for the next ten years?”
“Hmm. The latter.”
That actually drew something of a startled laugh out of him--a sharp sound that he covered up by slapping his hand over his mouth. Though the CEO didn’t react, he also sort of figured that was a good thing by this point, and he decided that he wasn’t going to push it much more after that.
“I didn’t bring any cigs with me this time, ya know. I really should get to kickin’ the habit, so if you’re coming to bum some smokes off of me, you’re pretty shit outta luck.”
“I have no need to ask to borrow any cigarettes from you, Jounouchi.” He spoke with such a strange formality half the time, and then he’d go and start shouting about something the other half of the time, but then the guy had always been like that, so Jounouchi was pretty right in a lot of shit not changing. Neat.
“So, just coming to check on me? How nice.”
“You’re speaking as if you haven’t done the same to me before.”
“I never said I was above being a hypocrite.”
“Most would consider that a negative trait.”
“Yeah, well, most can eat my entire ass.”
The other snorted at that, and Jounouchi smiled a little into his arm as he looked back out over the ocean again.
“I’m taking you off of your mandatory hours. That’s what I came here to tell you.” His voice was as flat as it was before, as flat as it always was when holding meetings, and Jounouchi glanced back over his shoulder, watching carefully.
“I don’t care. It’s good money.”
“You are still welcome to ask for them, but they are not mandatory for your job security any longer.”
“Huh….thanks.”
“Hm. Your schedule will be coming out next week. The spring semester usually brings in a lot of orders for the beginning of the school year. You’re welcome to ask for as much as you’d like, we’ll be shipping out orders from April soon. The summer season for July next month will also begin picking up orders.”
The wind picked up again a little, and a few words were caught on Jounouchi’s tongue, because he wanted to ask a lot of questions, but he also didn’t want to overstep shit. The disappearance of the other over the last month. The fact that Mokuba said he’d actually started seeing someone, and they’d been going to a few sessions together. He knew it didn’t change much, but, fuck, the fact that he’d even started in the first place was a bit more than Jounouchi ever thought he’d get.
Quite a bit, actually.
A new kind of silence fell between them, one that wasn’t quite so filled with tension. More the kind of silence that falls when you don’t have much to say, or there’s too much to say, and not much of a way to put it. It was something he’d gotten a little used to with himself and Yuugi when they were on the phone, or something between him and Honda when he’d turned down the drinks that were being offered to him.
He’d kicked the drinking habit altogether, and that was something he was proud of. And he’d gotten them a nice kotatsu, and a couple of futons for Shizuka. He was learning how to cook, too, more than instant rice and cup noodles, and he was even more proud of that.
He was going to take them on a nice hot spring trip. Not anywhere fancy, but enough, and she already sounded excited about it.
His dad never did that for them. He couldn’t do it all at once, he guessed, but he could do little things, like turning down the glass and checking in on everyone and making sure his sister got a nice trip when she took off her classes to come see him.
That he could do.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll keep showing up to work. I might move to part time when we save enough to put a down payment on a place and get enough shop equipment to start our own business, though. Honda’s been dying to get it started.”
“Hmm.”
The sound of acknowledgement was enough, he guessed. He still wasn’t quite sure how it all got started in the first place, but he guessed that he couldn’t complain. Not when a good effort was being shown. Not when he was being approached without much hostility.
He guessed it was alright with him.
“What does your schedule look like?” The question was asked, suddenly, and while he tilted his head to the side curiously, Jounouchi still took out his phone anyway.
“Ehh? What for?”
“Your work schedule.”
“Oh, shit, duh.” Leaning back so his back was facing the ocean, he opened up his phone, and scrolled through his calendar. “Got nights tomorrow, the day after, and this weekend. Planning some kind of big operation or some shit?”
“No.”
And honestly, it was only then that he really looked at Kaiba, who was in that weird, peacoat looking outfit from the time the Tenmas took over KaibaCorp, when he and Mokuba first came back from America, and while the guy definitely looked like he hadn’t slept, he still had a little less grey in his skin than the last time that Jounouchi saw him, which was definitely good.
His cheeks were a little less sharp, face a little less sunken. Looked like he had a haircut, too, which Jounouchi couldn’t say much about (he was still rockin’ the pompadour, dammit, and it still looked good on him) but he knew that was some kind of big deal in the CEO world. Not much of a change, just a little cleaned up around the edges.
He kind of guessed that was how the other looked in general. A little cleaned up around the edges. A little less like he was a dead man walking. A little less like a moving corpse.
He guessed that was how that kind of shit worked, though. A month won’t do much, he just had to keep at this shit. Just like Jounouchi did. Just like Yuugi over in Germany, and Honda at his dad’s factory, and Anzu in her tryouts soon. They all just had to keep moving.
“I ask because I want to know what your schedule will be like.” Of course it was a circular answer, and Jounouchi scoffed a little at that, because the day Kaiba actually answered a question was the day that cats and dogs actually fell from the sky, and he tucked his phone back in his pocket, and out of his other pocket he actually drew the carton he’d been trying not to touch, but fuck, might as well anyway.
“Yeah, well, you’re the big boss. You can look it up any time you want.”
“I thought you said you didn’t bring any.”
“Yeah, well, I lied.”
“That’s another thing generally frowned upon in society.”
“Yeah, and so are mullets, but you’ve still got one.”
The second snort he received in return was something that made him smile a little, despite himself, and he tore open the carton, and when he stuck one of them between his teeth, he leaned back a little over the railing again, his head tilted back.
The wind picked up a second time between them, sending the leaves stirring, and he shut his eyes.
He heard the movement of the other man until he was standing beside him, and the creak of the railing, and he opened his eyes, only to see Kaiba resting the full weight of his back against the metal.
They still didn’t touch, about an arm’s length apart from each other, and he supposed that was a good thing, because he honestly didn’t know much about the other guy apart from what he’d been told, but whatever. Silence was good.
“I ask because of now.”
“What do you mean?”
“This now, right here. I don’t mind it.”
Well, shit. That was definitely something he didn’t expect.
He tilted his head back again for a while, fingers outstretched for a moment, and then curled back in on themselves. He guessed it was right that it didn’t have a name. And he guessed he could live with it. He guessed that he could live with this.
Not everything had to be done at once.
“Next weekend, after this one.” He finally said, after a while. “Nothing scary, though. I fuckin’ hate scary movies and haunted houses.”
“Hmm.”
“And I don’t do fancy shit, either. I hate owing people money, even if you say you got it covered.” He continued. “I don’t have any fancy clothes, anyway. And no offense, but I don’t trust the food, anyway.”
“Understandable.”
Jounouchi stuck his hands in his pockets again after that, and something turned in his chest and gut, and he honestly wasn’t sure what possible name he could give it, except for the fact that it was new and weird and while he’d felt something close to it, it was never the same thing he felt then.
He guessed he could live with it, though. Because while he didn’t know if it was good or bad, it definitely wasn’t fear, and that meant it was something he could live with.
He exhaled.
“Hm. Do you have any of those to spare?”
“I thought you said you didn’t need to bum any off me.”
“I can repay it. Easily. Very easily.”
“Yeah, yeah, no need to brag.”
He flicked open the carton again, and he handed one over to the other.
The sun finally broached the horizon on the ocean, a ball of fire rising over the sea. Streaks of red and gold painted the sky, chasing the stars away.
The golden light touched the city, and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky to stop it, not a storm on the horizon, and for a moment Jounouchi was caught up in it, so much so that he dropped the lighter, and he loudly swore as it hit the water.
“Well, that’s just fuckin’ perfect!” He groaned. “Don’t even have a fuckin’ way to light anything else up….maybe it’s fate or some shit telling me to stop.” He huffed, and he was honestly ready to stomp out the one he still had in his fingers, before he glanced back to Kaiba with the most annoyed look of the century.
“Just stand still.”
While he kind of wanted to tell Kaiba no just on instinct, he gave a little huff of a sigh, and braced himself back against the railing.
He already kind of knew what the other man was thinking, just without even asking, because that was honestly the only way they had. And while he probably just should have kept holding it between his fingers, he put the cigarette right back between his teeth to hold it steady so he wouldn’t drop it again.
And Kaiba moved.
And he leaned in, quiet sizzling as paper and fire met, and Kaiba stepped closer, until their shoes were almost touching, and until the shadow of the other man fell over him, and until he could count the threads on his sweater if he wanted to, and until he was close enough that he could count the other man’s eyelashes, shadows falling across his high cheekbones and pointed face.
He could hear his breath, quiet inhale and exhale, and he could feel it across his face. A moment of stillness as Kaiba held the cigarette between his teeth.
They could have touched, if they really wanted to.
He definitely didn’t look the prettiest, but neither did the other man. The world was kind enough in that moment to not send a spray of seawater, or to not pick up the wind, and he could smell day-old cologne and hair gel, and what was definitely way too much coffee on the other man’s breath, and he probably still smelled like the shop when he was working on Honda’s bike, but he kind of guessed that was the way that things went in the real world, and neither of them looked the prettiest or the nicest but it was enough.
Jounouchi held completely still, fingers to keep it steady, and one light bummed another, and he watched Kaiba inhale between his teeth to spark it.
They stayed that way for one, two, three more breaths. Jounouchi wasn’t the first to move back, and neither was Kaiba, and another few breaths passed, and Jounouchi noticed that both of their hands were braced against the railing so that their knuckles were touching, and he guessed he didn’t feel it before because he was holding it so tightly that his fingers were a little numb.
Kaiba finally drew back, and uncurled his hand. It was only after a moment longer that Jounouchi did the same.
“You should probably actually be going, though, man. Even if you’re doing some good shit now for yourself, bad habits still need to stop.” Jounouchi finally said. “And I don’t mean the cigarettes, though. I mean actually going to bed at a decent hour.”
A moment of quiet, and then an exhale, and Kaiba sent a puff at the sky.
“Next weekend.”
“Yeah. Next Saturday.”
“Five in the morning again? Same place, same time?”
“Yes.”
And it was a date.
“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, and filling an emptiness we didn’t ever know we had.”