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It happens. Sometimes you lose control. It’s human. It’s normal. It’s comforting.
Seto Kaiba was no ordinary human, though. Control was everything he had. Even after years had passed, he never lost his glacial attitude.
“Jonouchi! Table two asked for these three cocktails ages ago! Stop standing around and hurry up!”
Jonouchi shook his head, “coming!” he said, trying to focus on his tasks.
It was indeed hard, since someone at table six had caught his attention. He kept wondering how that guy ended up in such a vulgar bar. The man at table six was visibly annoyed, tapping his fingers on the table while resting his head on his right hand. Jonouchi pondered for a while. He wondered if he came all the way there just to meet him. Unlikely, but possible. Maybe it was about Duel Monsters?
“Can I, uh, take your order?”
“Jonouchi?” Seto was surprised to see Katsuya, “you work here?”
“Ha! You’re always so funny,” he sighed, “can I take your order?”
“There was nothing humorous about my question. I didn’t know you worked here.” Kaiba sounded genuine.
“Ah, uh, yeah.” Jonouchi tried to look unaffected by Seto’s ability to completely ignore his existence for fifteen minutes.
Seems like he didn’t come for me, after all.
“I’m glad that a lout like you managed to open a bar. It’s pathetic, but I don’t think you could do any better.”
“I, uh, actually work here part-tim…” then he realised, “What?! You serious?! You know, normal people actually have to work their ass off to survive.”
“Are you going to ask for my order or did you come here to bother me?” said the millionaire.
Katsuya almost completely lost his temper but then realized keeping his mouth shut was for the best. He even managed to do it. How the times have changed!
“Can I,” he sighed, “take your order?”
“It took the stray 10 years to be tamed, good boy.” Seto said, mockingly.
His face turned red. Katsuya tried to say something in response, but the words that came out of his mouth were nonsensical blabber. It somehow felt different from all those years ago. Maybe those words now had a distinct effect on Jonouchi.
It felt pleasantly shameful.
His stomach was hurting while he kept trying to find a proper response.
“Water.” Seto, unimpressed, interrupted Katsuya’s monologue.
For a brief moment, there was silence.
“Water?!”
“Water.” Kaiba repeated.
“You came all the way here for water?!” Jonouchi was speechless.
“I didn’t come here on my own will,” Seto looked at him as if it was obvious, “Mokuba told me to.”
“Mokuba?”
“My little brother.” Kaiba sighed.
“I know who Mokuba is!” Jonouchi was exhausted, “why?!”
“He said there was someone who needed to talk to me here, even though I feel like this is not a place fit for business meetings.”
“It’s not.”
“Yeah, I can tell. They hire people like you.” Kaiba laughed again.
The air felt heavy as if something horrible was about to happen.
Jonouchi silently went away and came back with a tray on which was placed a single glass of water. He put it on Kaiba’s table.
“On the house.”
Seto took a sip just for him to violently cough right after. His throat was on fire.
“Vodka, Jonouchi?! Are you serious?!”
Katsuya bursted out laughing, “It seems like the stray never forgot that it can bite.”
“There’s plenty of appropriate words I could say to you right now, but I’m just going to remind you that I can speak to the manager. And I could sue you.”
“Yes, you’re rich, you have money. Oh, I’m so scared. Also, my shift has ended.”
Jonouchi sat in front of Seto, on the opposite side of the table.
“I want to see you drink alcohol.” Jonouchi looked straight into his eyes.
“It won’t happen. It’s stupid. Why would I want to have fun like this?”
Jonouchi raised an eyebrow, “You never drank alcohol, did you?”
“It’s stupid. When did you become even nosier?”
“I get it, I get it. You’re scared. You’re scared to lose control.”
Kaiba suddenly chugged the glass of straight vodka.
Jonouchi got up, “What are you doing, Seto?! This is not a shot. That’s a whole fucking glass!”
Kaiba started coughing.
“Are you okay, Kaiba?!” Jonouchi got closer to Seto.
The man was still sitting. It all felt so confusing. Everything was swirling into a blur.
“It… sucks.” Kaiba laughed loudly, “It fucking sucks.”
“You’re being so loud, Seto! Calm down!”
Jonouchi waited a few minutes, then helped Seto get up. His arm was around Katsuya’s neck and all of his weight was on the other’s shoulders.
“You’re going to make me lose this job, I swear.”
They slowly reached Katsuya’s car outside. He made Seto sit on the back seat, then went back inside to get an actual bottle of water.
When he came back to his car, he found Seto struggling to unbutton his shirt.
“What are you doing?!”
He sat right next to him and stopped Kaiba from doing it.
“I’m melting! It feels so hot in this cheap car!” Seto protested.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Jonouchi opened the water bottle and held it near Seto’s lips.
“Drink. It’s water.”
Kaiba obliged, strangely so. He seemed so tame with his eyes closed while Jonouchi was holding the water bottle he was drinking from. Could it be that alcohol was necessary for him to shut up?
Until.
In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Seto pushed the other away; Jonouchi’s back was now pressing on the car door.
“What was that for?!”
Like a feline getting close to his prey, Kaiba got closer to Katsuya. Face to face.
Jonouchi gulped, his face was burning. His stomach was burning. He couldn’t bear to have Seto so close to him. Overwhelming him like this. It shouldn’t have ever happened.
“I don’t like you. I dislike the way you are so carefree,” Kaiba looked straight into the other’s eyes, “I want to destroy you. By my own hand. I want to have control over you. Let me control you. Let me build you from scratch, Katsuya.”
“How, how do you…” Jonouchi couldn’t even think straight, “even, plan on doing it?”
Seto got even closer.
Katsuya closed his eyes and faced away from the other, his breath was becoming so unstable it almost felt like dying. He even put his hands on Seto’s chest. He couldn’t bear any of that anymore.
Blood was rushing through his veins.
“Seto,” Jonouchi looked at him again, “I’ll never let you drink again.”
The weight of Kaiba’s gaze made Katsuya face away again.
“I don’t feel good. I feel like everything is going round. Round.” Kaiba spoke again.
“Just sit like a normal person, then!”
It was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea.
His brain was trying to stop him from bringing the drunk millionaire to his house. But what other possibilities were there? He was too drunk to even get close to his car, let alone being seen by other people who know how respectable he is.
Kaiba was sitting on Katsuya’s old and dusty couch when he brought him a blanket and another cup of water.
“You need to drink water.” Jonouchi sighed.
“Is it poison this time?!”
“Oh, shut up, Kaiba! It’s time for you to be a good boy and listen,” he replied and sat next to him, “drink.”
Seto diligently drank his water.
“What was all of that stuff about disliking me, Kaiba?” Jonouchi looked at the ground.
“You’re poor,” he replied, “and I often think about you. I think about you when I don’t want to.”
“Yes, I know I am- Uh?”
“I think about you when I don’t want to. You come into my mind when you shouldn’t. I dislike you. I wouldn’t know what to call this feeling other than dislike. You come into my mind because I dislike you. Because you’re different from me. Sometimes I think about you right before falling asleep. Maybe it’s ‘cause I’m scared you might haunt my dreams. Sometimes you actually do. Sometimes I dream about us living together. When I wake up I’m angry. It’s because you haunted my dream. I see people loving each other and I think of you. And I hate that.”
Jonouchi stopped breathing for a second. He clenched his fists strongly. He bit his lower lip.
“Why are you doing this to me, Seto? Is it so funny?” Katsuya whispered.
Kaiba put his head on Jonouchi’s shoulder.
“It’s funny. To be with you, Katsuya.”
Moments right after, Kaiba fell asleep.
It was midnight when Jonouchi woke up to the sound of a phone notification. He had fallen asleep on the couch with Kaiba.
It was his own phone. A message text from Mokuba.
Joey, did my brother perhaps come to the bar you work for? I think I accidentally sent him a message that was for a friend of mine.
Katsuya laughed.
Yeah. I’m pretty sure you’ll see him tomorrow. I think he’s going to have a migraine.