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Seto’s right leg bounced up and down. He was supposed to be finalizing the budget for KaibaCorp, but he couldn’t focus. Instead, he stared at the clock hung on the opposite side of his office. He still had to wait thirty minutes before he could fetch his car and meet Pegasus. He didn’t want to be too early. Pegasus would grow suspicious. He could spot a surprise a mile away.
His phone buzzed, and he glanced to the lit up screen on his desk. Dinner with Pegasus, it said on an alert across his screen.
He scoffed and let out a gruff sigh before getting to his feet. Pegasus thought they were going for dinner. Technically, it was a date, but neither of them had said that word yet. They were both afraid of what it meant if they did. What it could ultimately lead to. He pursed his lips and glanced at the clock only to see it said the same time, thirty minutes till.
He stepped around his sleek black desk to examine the clock and make sure it hadn’t stopped. It hung on the same nail that used to hold up the oil portrait of Gozaburo Kaiba. Seto had taken it down the week after his father threw himself out the window.
The odd part was that the clocks he hung there always stopped. The batteries only lasted for a few meager months before dying. At one point in his life Seto would have suspected poor quality batteries, but after all the supernatural crap he had witnessed, he had a hard time accepting simply faulty batteries or wiring as the cause. Gozaburo would be the type to haunt his old office.
Sure enough, the batteries were dead, and the clock was frozen. Seto sneered at it before pulling a fresh pair of batteries out of his cabinets and replacing the clock. He set the time again. It was ten till, and he needed to get going.
***
Pegasus was staying in a hotel in downtown Domino while he worked on negotiations for a Toon World to be added to Disneyland Tokyo. Normally Seto might be jealous of Pegasus choosing the Mouse instead of going to Kaibaland for his Toon World, but Pegasus had already promised that Disney’s Toon World was aimed more at kids, wouldn’t permit duels with Duel Monsters, and that Toon Blue-Eyes would not be borrowed for it. That made Seto feel better about the arrangement. Plus the knowledge that his holograms were far superior to the kids’ playground.
In the two months that Pegasus stayed downtown, they went out to dinner together every Friday. At first it was business, but then devolved into a friendly night out, and now… Seto wasn’t sure who started flirting first, but Seto had downed a glass of sake and wasn’t one to back down. They exchanged compliments that turned into very physical compliments last week. Seto knew where this was going. If Pegasus was playing the long game and testing Seto out, he was doing a very good job. Only now the ante was set, and Seto knew precisely how to win over Pegasus’s final affection. At least, he hoped it would. If it didn’t, he wasn’t sure what more he could do.
His limo pulled up beside the posh hotel, easily the most expensive one in all of Domino, and Seto felt a strange panic form in the pit of his stomach. He always felt out of place in such places, like he didn’t belong there rubbing elbows with the lavishly wealthy. The strange fear came over him that Pegasus might not like the trip at all, or Seto’s latest project. Pegasus was old money, the man had a freaking castle built on a private island. What if he didn’t see the usefulness in his creation? What if he couldn’t grasp the genius of it?
He almost considered changing plans, and hovered a finger over the button that controlled the partition so he could inform his driver, but then spotted the familiar platinum hair that made Pegasus stand out so much here in Japan. The streets were crowded and Pegasus was frowning as he made his way down the short flight of steps to the familiar limo.
Seto heard the driver step out to get the door. He closed his eyes in frustration. There was no way to back out of it now. Soon he would know Pegasus’s verdict on both his latest invention and on their potential relationships.
In true duelist fashion, it could either go very well, or completely ruin everything.
***
“I’m so glad to see you, Kaiba-boy,” Pegasus huffed as he sat down beside him. He wore a black suit that showed off his broad shoulders, powerful arms, and his perfect posture. Seto couldn’t tell if it was new or if he just hadn’t seen it before.
“Long week?” he asked with a small smile.
“You saw all those emails! If your security team hadn’t insisted we upgrade our firewalls last year, Industrial Illusions would be on the list with all the other Fortune 500 companies that got hacked.”
Seto grinned, “So I guess you rust my expertise now?”
He rolled his eye, “Like I don’t normally?”
The limo merged into traffic and soon got onto the highway. It always took some time for Pegasus to wind down out of work mode. Once he did, he noticed that something was off.
“Seto, where are we going?” There was a hint of concern in his voice, and Seto realized that his eagerness to let this be a surprise might have instead been misinterpreted. Why hadn’t he expected that? He was about to apologize, but then his mouth got in the way.
“We’re kidnapping you.”
Pegasus shot him a look that would have melted one of his employees.
Seto chuffed an awkward laugh, “I’m joking.”
Pegasus sighed and put a hand to his forehead. “You better be.”
Seto reached over and slid his fingers around Pegasus’s smooth palm, pulling his hand closer. His skin felt perfect. Everything about him was perfect. The anger in his eyes faded quickly to shock, then to curiosity.
“My humor is in poor taste. Sorry.”
His gaze softened. “What do you have plotting in that brilliant mind of yours?”
Seto nodded to the window at his side. Pegasus turned in confusion. In the distance, Seto could just make out the base of the construction through the trees.
Pegasus arched an eyebrow. “You don’t strike me as the outdoor type, Kaiba-boy.”
He shook his head. “You’ll see what I mean.”
***
Seto gripped his hand as he led Pegasus through the gravel and dirt toward the entrance. Pegasus held up his other hand to cover his eye, a smile on his lips.
“Seriously what is this all about? Have you built another dueling arena? A new Kaibaland?”
Seto had him stop, then stepped behind him and placed his hands around the base of his jaw. Pegasus gasped at the touch, which made a blush sneak up Seto’s cheeks. Pegasus lifted his head.
“Okay,” Seto whispered. “Now look.”
Pegasus did. It took him a moment to speak. At first it just looked like a metal building, but then the long shaft protruded upwards, disappearing in the clouds.
“Kaiba, is that—?” He gaped up at it, still questioning what he saw.
“The beginnings of the Kaiba Corp space elevator, the first technology to allow anyone to visit space without the need for anti-gravity health tests or rocket fuel to punch through the atmosphere.”
Pegasus put a hand to his mouth. After a few moments, Seto couldn’t stand the anticipation any longer.
“I know this isn’t the romantic setting you probably had in mind, but I wanted to share what I’ve been working on the past year.”
Pegasus turned to him with tears in his eyes. Seto felt a heat flare up on the back of his neck. Shit, what had he said? He mentioned it was romantic. Maybe he had read Pegasus completely wrong, and he wasn’t interested at all. Shit.
Seto put a hand up, “I mean, this doesn’t have to be romantic at all if you don’t want it to be. It can be just a friendly… business… thing.”
Pegasus dropped his hand and Seto was relieved to see a smile on his lips.
“Seto… this is one of the most romantic experiences of my life.”
Seto breathed a sigh of relief. “So it’s not too modern for you? Too frivolous? I thought you might think I’m being ridiculous building such a—”
Pegasus cut him off by wrapping his arms around him. Whatever Seto had been saying was completely forgotten in his embrace.
“My brilliant, awkward Kaiba. You never cease to amaze me with all that you do. You reach for the stars and still think my opinion matters.” He pulled back, his cheeks wet. “I love it! You are single handedly taking us into a new technological age.”
Seto nodded, feeling his embarrassment slip away at his words. He was about to regale him with the pitch he practiced: the design, the man hours, the inspirations; but then Pegasus leaned in and kissed him.
Pegasus’s lips were soft and silky as they brushed against his for such a brief moment, but it sent a shiver through him. He wasn’t accustomed to such intimate physical contact, but he wanted more.
He pursed his lips, relishing the wonderful memory and not wanting it to leave.
“And yes,” Pegasus added with a sly smile, “this is a lovely place for our first official date.”
That only made Seto shiver again.
END