[In Progress] -Open-

[note_atem]

Who: Atem and OPEN to anyone who would like a chaperon or who just wants HEY HELP HIM.
What: Welcome to Domino!
When: February 1st, in the afternoon after all the characters get there.
Where: Wandering the streets, parks, wherever you'd like to run into him because he just needs to keep moving.
Warnings: CARD GAMES? ANNOYING CHILDREN? COPIOUS AMOUNTS

Comments

[note_atem]

The snap scared him, if not for the anger in Seto's words, than the pain behind them. It was hidden, of course, but he knew it was there. His hand braced the window behind him, but he kept his gaze level. "You're putting the island at a level of a person, and I'm beginning to think it's a lot more than. It 'expended' no 'energy' to move us all here, and I doubt it would have trouble finding them all if it needed to."

Now he looked away, back out the window, but Seto was still in his peripherals. "You're going to be busy, then." And there was not much more Atem could do to convince Seto this wasn't a battle he could ever win. It just wasn't. And even that was hitting Atem, himself, pretty hard. "I'll just get in your way, so I'll leave." He chanced a smile at the brunet, but it was sad.

"At least people know you here. It's more your empire now than ever, hm?" Just a step forward. "At least you'll be able to feel good back at the helm, for however long this lasts." And his silent promise now was to be there when it crashed and took Seto with it.

[shutupandduelme]

Kaiba's glare grew colder. "If you start talking like that, I'll be expecting you to start talking to the Island too," he said defensively. "The Island is just an island. It's the people behind it I want, and I will spend a month in this office to find them, if I have to."

It was easy enough to pick up the sadness in Atem's smile, but it only made Kaiba more defensive. It better not be pity. It better not be regret. The brunet had no use for such things. It implied he was doing something wrong...and some degree of care. That was probably the part that made him the most unsettled.

"Go, stay, do as you will. I will be here regardless," Kaiba replied while trying to keep his reaction in check. "In fact, I was not expecting you...at least not so soon. What about the Game Shop, Atem?"

[note_atem]

People behind it.. If there really were people behind this- all of it, creating a place between worlds to house them all in, able to pick them up out of time lines or even from death, about to separate or throw them all wherever it willed, be able to mess with their free will-

...If this was the work of a person, any sane minded human would never want to meet them. Because at that juncture, in realizing what these people could do, how could one stand against them? But that realization only made him smile more. Of course, Kaiba Seto. It would have to be.

At the Game Shop, though, he just shook his head. "I don't belong there any more than I do out in the streets." He just didn't, not in this world. There was also the lingering fact that Yuugi could have been there, could have still been angry or hurt; or who knows what else. All excuses, he realized, but the first fact still remained. "Do you know how many times I've gotten called Yuugi, today?" He laughed sorely. "I accidentally signed some kid's card and he called me "fail" and Yuugi's "loser cousin"." All insults that hurt him more than he would care to say.

[shutupandduelme]

Those smiles, sad or otherwise, were just making things worse. The brunet was forced to get closer to his desk, if only to have something to keep his hands still. Strangling the other man for the possible look of pity wouldn't go over very well, Kaiba decided. Even if it was so very tempting.

At least Domino was giving him a hard time in Kaiba's stead. "I don't know what else you expected," the CEO commented dryly. "With that hair, you could only be a Mutou, and nobody here is sharp enough to notice that the Yuugi who appeared before the match was different from the one during. 'Fail' is a good nickname either way though."

[note_atem]

Atem noted the move to the desk quite carefully, not quite sure what that was about, but willing to venture a guess. He realized he should have stopped the caring attitude; it wasn't pity, it was upset- and he wished they could share in it together, but that was a dream that was never going to happen. Perhaps one day, many many years away, if he was lucky.

Instead he smirked, that was easier, and would probably be easier on Kaiba. "Oh yes, I suppose, thank you." He rolled his eyes, moving over to the desk to eye Seto some more, though he looked away, still grinning. "You win one game of DDR and it's already gone to your head." It was a simple joke, or something really more of getting back on the field they were used to. He'd worry about Seto later, and probably be angry as well.

[shutupandduelme]

Kaiba snorted, his posture relaxing a tiny bit as they started to slide into a more familiar, less dangerous routine.

"You think this is about the DDR? I told you, it's not like I can tell anyone about that," he said with a dismissive look. "What you said before was more accurate. For whatever time I have, I've gained back what I earned. And it is substantial enough that people remember me. You've got no chance to catch up."

[note_atem]

Ouch.
That actually felt like that might have been too low a blow. Though he supposed Kaiba wasn't really that familiar with the name he tried so valiantly to earn back. Really, Seto was just being Seto. His remarks were callous, but not purposely personal.

Here was the split decision. Did he rag on and on about how depressed and upset that one sentence, the meaning behind it, make him? As little as that would get him. No, he knew better.

Moving swiftly passed it he just shrugged. "Or perhaps you say that in fear. Scared if I challenge you now I might gain a name back so quick it'll make your head spin? I wonder, I wonder.." And with that he turned on his heel, intent on making his way to the door- slowly; with all the sauciness of his usual walk. Hips swaying, leather conformed so tight in his new outfit, ankhs clinking together. He knew a few things, and he hadn't missed those lingering gazes.

As on the playing field an opponent would use anything and everything to their advantage. This was no different.

[shutupandduelme]

Huh. He thought he would have been able to draw more out of Atem with that crack about his name. It had certainly been the impression that he had been giving earli....-

...oh. It was a new outfit for him, Kaiba observed, most of Atem's words ignored in favor of watching those little ankhs swing. Damn it, this was his office, and he was not going to be turned away from!

It only took a few strides forward to close the distance between them, as the shorter man didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to actually leave. Kaiba grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him around to meet a calculating and wary gaze.

"There is no fear in this building," he hissed, "save from those who try to turn their back on me like you just did. I thought you were smarter than that." The heavy hand on Atem's shoulder slowly migrated up to hold him by the chin instead.

[note_atem]

Smart enough to catch his attention and make Seto put his hands on him, yes, Atem was. Calculating and calm as always, when he let himself be. And when he let himself be he obviously got the best results. He kept his hands to himself, trying to think of what the next move was to be. He was caught in that cerulean gaze, a hand on his shoulder-

Or his chin rather, which only made him smirk more. He was not giving in to those little chills down his spine. "I'm quite intelligent, Seto." He remarked, leaning coolly upwards, and yet letting the bow in his spine be a little more lax. He cared, he wanted this, but he couldn't reveal just how much.

His hand moved upwards, skirting along Seto's fingers and upwards over his arm. "It's nice to know you'd rather have my eyes on you than the exit." The quip was packed with double meanings, and the smirk on his lips tugged a little tighter, his eyes lowering just a little. This was a game he could play, and would; because when this meeting was over, he'd be back out on the streets trying to undo what the brunet was doing. Grumpy, sadistic, and upset at the world.

He needed this at least, if only for a few minutes.

[shutupandduelme]

"Intelligent," Kaiba murmured with a snort, his hand twitching a little as Atem's ran over it. "I'd support that if you agreed with me more often. But I think both of us know that's not happening any time soon."

He let his thumb trace random patterns on the other duelist's jawline and leaned in close, enough for the brunet's breath to skirt over the other's skin. "Especially since you seem to have no idea who you're talking to. In this office, you focus on me at all times," he murmured, his words more breath than sound at this point.

[note_atem]

"You do support it. You put up with me, even my different thinking. And we both know anyone who is not up to your standards or level of intelligence gets swept under the rug." He tilted his head further upwards, eyes nearly closed at this juncture, but the crimson absolutely shining and catching the light in the best possible way at this angle.

"Or are you mocking your own intelligence?" He chuckled softly, his own breathing mingling with the others as he got close. His hand continued its trek upwards to his shoulder, over his collarbone, and to the back of his neck.

The smirk softened a little. "Well you have my focus now, Seto.. But I do enjoy those windows.."

[shutupandduelme]

Kaiba's eyes followed at Atem tilted his head, seemingly drawn to the slits of crimson that reflected the light like jewels. He found them more worth looking at than the view outside, though that would be put on the list of sentiments he was incapable of putting into words. Instead he simply hummed in appreciation, and brushed his lips lightly over the shorter man's.

"I put up with sixty nine floors of people who really aren't up to my standards," he murmured absently, closing his eyes at the feel of that hand reaching over his shoulder and collarbone. "But...I suppose I can admit I tolerate you. It is a shameful weakness, this allowance for manipulative little punks. I have the greatest misfortune to be related to one, and here comes another..."

His tone was light and teasing as his mind wandered, for once skimming the surface of a hope, of a wish that maybe it could stay this way. He had promised Atem that he would at least be able to get him off the Island, and it had happened. Kaiba was also sure that he could cut the hold their captors had over them in a short time, even if he couldn't find a way to get everyone to their exact home world within that time frame. But that would happen too eventually, especially if everything else went back to normal around him, went back into its normal routine. Everything except this man in his arms, the one selfish desire he kept solely for himself. His money, his company, his home, and every plan he had ever made eventually made its way back to Mokuba in Kaiba's mind. KaibaCorp had been paid for in blood and sweat, just so Mokuba would never have to want, nor set foot in it if he didn't wish to. Most of his money was invested back into KaibaCorp or into a trust fund he was building for Mokuba's sake. It was even ultimately for Mokuba that Kaiba was removing all the other Salkia residents from Domino. He couldn't trust them to play the same predictable games, to act as Kaiba had projected to public to act in his own future goals. Atem was different, however, and just thinking of it sent that odd possessive rush into Kaiba's chest. His free arm crept around the other man's shoulders.

"The windows...the second pane to the left is my favorite," Kaiba continued, still not really fully paying attention to what he was saying. "And after all your twitching, I do not understand it. You said you didn't belong in the Game Shop or on the streets...yet being above them fascinates you."

[note_atem]

There was something to be said about this situation; for in Salkia where this had happened times before, he would be out of breath, stalled, and unsure what to do. And that was where Kaiba usually had the upper hand on him, not that he completely minded. But here in the CEO's office, in a world that wasn't home- perhaps he felt a little home, if only because of the man he was with. Something about that rush kept him level, even if his heart was beating rapidly, and he did feel that familiar fire inside.

When he felt the other's lips on his, he smiled against them, tilting to push just a little more, but allowing him to speak. A quirked eyebrow preceded a soft mocked noise of surprise. "Kaiba Seto has a weakness? Admitting it to me? ...And it is me?" Well more or less him, technically. "What a dangerous thing to be doing.."

When that arm came around his shoulder he felt more securely locked into this embrace, as if it made it all the more real. Here in Seto's office, atop the world he didn't belong in, being soft with each other and yet still challenging back and forth. It felt right. Too right. And the more he stayed in it, the more he wanted this so badly. It was a beautiful picture only destined to burn, but like this he couldn't pull away from it. He was barely even thinking about anyone aside from the man holding him so close and enticing him further into this hell.

He was going willingly.

"Perhaps it is who I am with and where I am that makes the view all the better." He managed back. "Because at least with you I belong somewhere; if not down in those streets or in that Game Shop. Someone here knows my name, and I rather like it when he shouts it in anger, or says it with a hint of neutrality.." He kissed Seto, softly, with that lingering grin before whispering to him all the more gently. "Or moans it in pleasure.."

aiba hissed in warning and nipped at Atem's lip.

[shutupandduelme]

"Start spreading that around, and maybe I'll get over my aversion to saying I played DDR. Just for the sake of tarnishing your record," Kaiba hissed in warning before he caught Atem's lip in his teeth. Maybe he could draw that sound out of him again. With a bit more honesty this time.

Oh, if Atem only knew how he was essentially making things worse for himself. Kaiba wanted more of this game. He wanted things to make sense again, to work out in a way that would lead to a situation like this every day, if he could manage it. What Kaiba Seto wanted, Kaiba Seto got, no matter how much work or how many heads needed to roll to get there. Atem had just single handedly sentenced the brunet to more sleepless nights in the office, working on how to get the world to bend exactly how he wanted it to. It wasn't something that Kaiba wasn't used to...but the cause of it, doing it for another person, was new to him. He wasn't sure what he thought about that.

That soft kiss drew another growl from the brunet. "How arrogant of you. I think you just like the sound of hearing that name after you won it," he said, completely bypassing his own hypocrisy for saying that. "But I can make it more than a name. It will be a real identity. I can get you a birth certificate, entrance into the health care system, a Government listed number and name. You will be you, and Yuugi will be Yuugi, and no one will be able to forget it." An oath he intended to make sure of. "Even if...our captors haul us back, I will anchor you to this future the only way I can."

[note_atem]

"One point.." That sentence alone was edging on being a moan but it wasn't quite there. Though with the way things were going he couldn't imagine how much harder it really could have been for Seto to get him into a writhing, panting mess. But he couldn't help himself, and this was dangerous. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that.

He smirked, though, continuing. "Just as arrogant of you to love the sound of your name from my lips, in form of an impassioned scream." Atem was not about to let the hypocrisy go unnoticed, not when it was so delicious.

However, he wasn't expecting Seto to go into such deep territory. He hadn't expected any favors, not like the ones the brunet was speaking of. And the fact that he knew Seto could do it, too.. His eyes opening a little more from their narrow, as if searching the blue back. Trying to find out if Seto was just toying with him, lying, trying to get him all worked up for the cause of nothing. But he could see and hear nothing beyond that note of sincerity.

It was touching; damnably so. And in the furthest reaches of his mind, some part of him was screaming to let this die. To walk away now before it was too late. He didn't belong here, he would never be here, even if Seto could make it happen- and he could. He wanted it, so, so very much. And it was right there. They were killing each other, and he pondered for a moment if each of them knew how much this was going to hurt when it was all over. Because all they were doing was dragging each other deeper into this illusion.

The smirk died on his lips, nothing but a whisper of a smile. He wanted so much to be able to push passed this. "Don't trouble yourself like that." It was all he could think to do. "You have things to do, people to kick out, a company to run, a brother to look after.. I don't need to add on to your things to do." It was almost a strong sentence, if not for the look of pain and wish in his own eyes.

"I'm just one person." And he regretted saying that immediately after doing so.

What the hell LJ, stop putting words where I don't want them. |D

[shutupandduelme]

"One point is still a win," Kaiba replied certainly, "and that scream is a win too. I like to take them where I can get them." Something that didn't require jumping off the side of a building? A plus.

He couldn't help but smirk a little when Atem stared at him. There was desire for it in that stare, no matter how much pain rose up to mask it, or what the shorter man said. Besides...Atem really had no idea.

"Idiot. Don't draw away from what you want if it is being offered to you," Kaiba replied sharply. "You have no idea how easy it is to get into government databases. The Mutt could stumble over a way to get in, and that's before the Chinese hackers rip their firewalls to shreds." His lips tightened, along with his grip. Kaiba even bothered to bend his knee just enough to look Atem straight in the eye. This was Kaiba the CEO now, will of steel quite evident in the tone of his voice alone.

"And do not be blind enough to think I do this for your benefit alone. You have no idea how hard it is to get my mind around the fact that you are here, that I can touch you, that I can speak to you like this. Your very presence forces me to acknowledge things that go so far beyond my understanding of the world, I wonder if I am simply imagining it all," he said coolly. "Even if you disappear tomorrow, doing this makes what has happened real. Maybe...I will not decide I am losing my mind when I look at it."