[✐fanfic] yugioh: puppyshipping
It's a week for me to write untitled, popular pairing fic. Here's a go at Puppyshipping.
Note that I have never written Kaiba before, nor have I read more than a handful of Puppyshipping fics. So I'm sure someone has done this same scene better elsewhere, because really. They beg for it. :/
Puppyshipping
"Don't misunderstand," said Kaiba as security dragged the man, still kicking and hollering and slurring, away. "Such behavior reflects poorly upon KaibaCorp - and upon the duelists we…." He frowned, not liking to openly admit the relationship. "Sponsor."
The pause did not go unnoticed, even though the other man was picking himself up off the floor, dusting off worn jeans, rubbing an almost-split lip. "Oi, I'd say I ain't happy either but a job's a job," Jounouchi Katsuya drawled - the second-rate, the gutter mutt who'd somehow learned to be a duelist (Kaiba attributed to exposure to Yuugi; there was no other somewhat logical explanation, when he even bothered to grant the nit the courtesy of contemplation). "Don't go having second thoughts, now. I got buddies betting on this tournament, so I gotta go far."
Kaiba frowned, and Jounouchi's idiot face burst into a sunny smile. "I kid, I kid!" he laughed, though Kaiba, frankly, doubted his honesty. "Jeez, lighten up, would you? You're only alive on stage, and even then you hardly pull that stick out of your--"
"Don't bring your personal baggage to my tournaments again," Kaiba ordered with a brief glance back at where the struggling man had been dragged away. "Ensure it can't follow."
The other duelist (Kaiba supposed after the progress he'd made he could at least afford the mutt that moniker) looked down, rubbed bruised knuckles and hid behind a messy curtain of golden bangs. Fix those, Kaiba almost found himself saying - almost found himself reaching to do the job right himself, an old habit from years of obsessive personal perfection. But Seto Kaiba hadn't touched another human being in what felt like months and he certainly wasn't going to start with this one. That it'd even flickered across his mind - preposterous!
"I never thought he'd find out," Jounouchi muttered, so quietly Kaiba almost asked him to speak up, then realized that would imply he cared what the other man had to say. He remained silent. "Told him I got a job and that was that….he rolled over an' went back to sleep. Maybe it was the TV ad. I do look damn good in it, don't I?"
The bravado flashed again. Kaiba wondered at what point he'd actually bothered to notice it was bravado, not some sort of sincere, diseased idiocy. "Hrm," he replied, which wasn't really a reply. "Just keep him away."
Kaiba turned, considering the matter closed, when the stupid drawling voice spoke again. "You think I don't try…?" it asked, softly, almost helplessly. Kaiba paused, tempted to savor the sound of Jounouchi Katsuya seeming defeated by something - but couldn't. Even though he'd long considered the boy a weed…mow it down time and again, it just kept springing up - he could derive no pleasure from this moment. The little pest. "You think I don't try to keep my life separate from his, so I can really be somethin'….you think I haven't tried to help him, haven't tried to fix this on my own?"
"Personal issues stay at home," Kaiba replied without turning around, and began to walk away.
"You wouldn't do any better if it was you!" the voice shouted at him in sudden anger, misdirected anger. Desperate anger. "If it'd been you who had to pick! Leave the lump, or save your…."
Kaiba whirled, teeth clenched, and stared coldly at Jounouchi. "Wouldn't I," he hissed, blue eyes meeting brown, both refusing and betraying his emotions. "The point stands, second-rater. He shows up again, you're fired."
Jounouchi nodded, but his eyes stayed on Kaiba. "He won't," he vowed, and his voice had steadied again. The weed had sprung back up.
Snorting, Kaiba whirled back around and stalked away, unable to even appreciate the swirling sounds his coat made as it brushed the backs of his legs (he did pay attention to these things, and yes, he did consider this coat the most impressive apparel he owned). When he found one hand reaching for the locket around his neck, he stopped it, clenched his hand and kept it firmly at his side. Wouldn't he, indeed. The mutt had no idea. No idea, and he never would, of the sacrifices Kaiba'd had to make, the things he'd done to himself, all to save…
He stewed and brooded all the way back to his office, where he managed to find some semblance of decorum again. The distraction his anger provided served him quite nicely.
It kept him from thinking he and that weed might actually be alike.
Note that I have never written Kaiba before, nor have I read more than a handful of Puppyshipping fics. So I'm sure someone has done this same scene better elsewhere, because really. They beg for it. :/
Puppyshipping
"Don't misunderstand," said Kaiba as security dragged the man, still kicking and hollering and slurring, away. "Such behavior reflects poorly upon KaibaCorp - and upon the duelists we…." He frowned, not liking to openly admit the relationship. "Sponsor."
The pause did not go unnoticed, even though the other man was picking himself up off the floor, dusting off worn jeans, rubbing an almost-split lip. "Oi, I'd say I ain't happy either but a job's a job," Jounouchi Katsuya drawled - the second-rate, the gutter mutt who'd somehow learned to be a duelist (Kaiba attributed to exposure to Yuugi; there was no other somewhat logical explanation, when he even bothered to grant the nit the courtesy of contemplation). "Don't go having second thoughts, now. I got buddies betting on this tournament, so I gotta go far."
Kaiba frowned, and Jounouchi's idiot face burst into a sunny smile. "I kid, I kid!" he laughed, though Kaiba, frankly, doubted his honesty. "Jeez, lighten up, would you? You're only alive on stage, and even then you hardly pull that stick out of your--"
"Don't bring your personal baggage to my tournaments again," Kaiba ordered with a brief glance back at where the struggling man had been dragged away. "Ensure it can't follow."
The other duelist (Kaiba supposed after the progress he'd made he could at least afford the mutt that moniker) looked down, rubbed bruised knuckles and hid behind a messy curtain of golden bangs. Fix those, Kaiba almost found himself saying - almost found himself reaching to do the job right himself, an old habit from years of obsessive personal perfection. But Seto Kaiba hadn't touched another human being in what felt like months and he certainly wasn't going to start with this one. That it'd even flickered across his mind - preposterous!
"I never thought he'd find out," Jounouchi muttered, so quietly Kaiba almost asked him to speak up, then realized that would imply he cared what the other man had to say. He remained silent. "Told him I got a job and that was that….he rolled over an' went back to sleep. Maybe it was the TV ad. I do look damn good in it, don't I?"
The bravado flashed again. Kaiba wondered at what point he'd actually bothered to notice it was bravado, not some sort of sincere, diseased idiocy. "Hrm," he replied, which wasn't really a reply. "Just keep him away."
Kaiba turned, considering the matter closed, when the stupid drawling voice spoke again. "You think I don't try…?" it asked, softly, almost helplessly. Kaiba paused, tempted to savor the sound of Jounouchi Katsuya seeming defeated by something - but couldn't. Even though he'd long considered the boy a weed…mow it down time and again, it just kept springing up - he could derive no pleasure from this moment. The little pest. "You think I don't try to keep my life separate from his, so I can really be somethin'….you think I haven't tried to help him, haven't tried to fix this on my own?"
"Personal issues stay at home," Kaiba replied without turning around, and began to walk away.
"You wouldn't do any better if it was you!" the voice shouted at him in sudden anger, misdirected anger. Desperate anger. "If it'd been you who had to pick! Leave the lump, or save your…."
Kaiba whirled, teeth clenched, and stared coldly at Jounouchi. "Wouldn't I," he hissed, blue eyes meeting brown, both refusing and betraying his emotions. "The point stands, second-rater. He shows up again, you're fired."
Jounouchi nodded, but his eyes stayed on Kaiba. "He won't," he vowed, and his voice had steadied again. The weed had sprung back up.
Snorting, Kaiba whirled back around and stalked away, unable to even appreciate the swirling sounds his coat made as it brushed the backs of his legs (he did pay attention to these things, and yes, he did consider this coat the most impressive apparel he owned). When he found one hand reaching for the locket around his neck, he stopped it, clenched his hand and kept it firmly at his side. Wouldn't he, indeed. The mutt had no idea. No idea, and he never would, of the sacrifices Kaiba'd had to make, the things he'd done to himself, all to save…
He stewed and brooded all the way back to his office, where he managed to find some semblance of decorum again. The distraction his anger provided served him quite nicely.
It kept him from thinking he and that weed might actually be alike.