Croquet would have preferred they took Pegasus limo, it was easier to keep his master from wandering off that way. He glared back at Isono and kept his usual stalwart pace.
"That's the spirit Kaiba-boi!"
Pegasus declared with enthusiasm and a smack to Kaibas shoulder that turned a few heads in the lobby. He ignored Kaibas comment about kidnapping him. It was a sort of kidnapping, he was definitely stealing him away from his work without giving him a choice. But they were soon outside in the bright summer heat of the bustling noon hour city street and all the activity had Pegasus looking around like a kid in a candy store.
"Nothing like some good fresh air and exercise to brighten your mood, eh? It's a wonder you don't have square eyeballs for all the time you spend staring at those computer screens of yours. My, but it's busy out here today, everyone else must have had the same idea. I'm glad I made reservations at the restaurant ahead of time."
He hadn't made any room for Kaiba to refuse his plans, assuming he would go along with it all from the start. That was just what it was to be Pegasus.
Kaiba looked over his shoulder for a moment, watching their two servants glaring at each other. At least they were enjoying themselves. He bit back the growl as Pegasus slapped him on the shoulder, being all too familiar for his tastes, and Japanese norms. he just about managed to tune out the prattle, having developed the ability to pick out when something important was being said amidst the chatty drivel, but not have to pay attention to it properly or it would melt his brain till it leaked out of his ears.
"I have a lot of work to do. And until I can find people I can trust, I shall do it myself rather than delegate it. This is why I have no spare time."
Except for the time he made for Mokuba, set aside and religiously kept to. Mokuba was the only thing more important than the company. He ground his teeth quietly as he realised that Pegasus had never had any intention of allowing him to not come to this lunch. Sometimes, just sometimes, he wondered if being trapped in that damn card was not preferable to Pegasus' meddling.
"Let's not waste time then, lest your table be given away." He said tersely.
"Yes, yes, no time for fun, as usual. We'll just cut through the park there, it's very pretty this time of year. Oh look, they've planted peonies!"
Pegasus wasn't going to let Kaibas snappy attitude get him down. He was already delving through the crowds at the crosswalk to get to the flower edged pathways of the tiny bit of green space wedged between two city blocks.
Croquet simply sighed a grating sigh into his moustache and went after him. It was somewhat easy to find Pegasus in a crowd.
Actually, the park was the last place Kaiba wanted to cut through. On a fine day like this, it would be full of children. Many of them his target group for Duel Monsters. And he was very recognisable. Not that he managed to stop Pegasus. He might as well try and stop a tsunami with his bare hands for all the good it would do. he stilled, watching Pegasus go, futilely hoping that he would come back if he waited long enough. But he knew better, and with a sigh that matched Croquet's followed.
A quick nod to Isono told him that he was on crowd control. And he would have to be on his least offensive behaviour in front of children in public. By the time he had caught up with Pegasus he was already hearing excited yells of his name, aware of young boys pointing in his direction.
"If you wish to see flowers, you could stop by the botanical gardens after lunch." he suggested grumpily, trying to herd Pegasus in the right direction.
"Oh but these ones are lovely and already right here. And look the irises are out too! I should really come back with a sketchbook..."
Pegasus was happy to wander the gravel pathways and ignore the stares of the business people he passed on park benches and mothers fussing with babies in their strollers and the occasional teenage girl with some fluffy dog like thing that would blush at him. He was used to being stared at simply for being an American.
However that didn't stop his smirk from blossoming when he saw the approaching hazard of young boys that had spotted Kaiba and come sprinting over from the childrens play area. He stepped back and all but let them have at their dueling idol.
"If you're going to hold us up here giving autographs Kaiba, I'll just be over there looking at the souvenirs."
With a quaint little wave Pegasus all but deserted Kaiba, drawn in by a few small vendors stands who were selling everything from shiny little cell phone charms to balloon animals. It was a bright and jumbled display that was almost as interesting to Pegasus as the flowers.
Kaiba glared at Pegasus as he deserted him in the middle of the park. Isono did his best to deal with the rabble of small boys and the occasional girl, organise them so he could deal with them as quickly as possible, and he hurriedly signed autographs to make them go away, aware he was watched by parents to these children, and that older teenage girls were excitedly talking about him and taking photos. One of them even smiled at him shyly, blushing a little.
Kami-sama, grant him patience. He just about managed to satisfy and shake off the mob and beat a hasty retreat after Pegasus, Isono behind him telling the boys that he was too busy to duel right now, but to be sure to come to Kaiba Land soon.
"Enjoying yourself." He snarled quietly at Pegasus.
"Oh yes! Look! I found a cell phone charm for you. It's a little BEWD that lights up and growls when your phone rings. Isen't it just darling?"
Pegasus has been prodding at a few of the misshapen balloon creations trying to guess what they were when kaiba finally came over to him. He held out the little charm, dangling it infront of that glaring face for him.
In the true fashion of ADD though, Pegasus turned right back tot he booths, one at the end drawing his attention. It seemed to be selling food of some sort, but he wasn't all that sure. He turned to his version of a local, which was Kaiba of course, for an explanation.
"Kaiba...what are those little coloured ball thingies on sticks? Do you eat them? I've seen children eating them, but then, children will put almost anything int heir mouths."
Kaiba just gave the phone charm a very scathing look. It was cheaply made of course, and while it was a Blue Eyes, if he were to have such a thing on his phone, it would be far better made and something he commissioned himself, a one of a kind piece. Though it was easily forgotten of course, Pegasus asking after the confection cart.
"They are dango, dumplings, yes, you eat them. The coloured ones are hanami dango since it is the season for the them, or they have the white ones served in a sweet sauce, mitarashi dango." He explained wearily.
"Aren't dango those things ladies wear in their hair?"
Pegasus made a cupping motion on either side of his head to indicate buns. He looked at Kaiba and then back tot he dumpling booth somewhat skeptically.
"Well, whatever they're called, they're certainly colourful. When in Rome as they say, I'll have to give them a try!"
Pegasus vaguely remembered seeing the colourful little balls on sticks in certain animated shows and on Japanese tv. So they were certainly common enough to be safe. It only took a few moments before he was standing there happily holding his very own rainbow of dumplings on a stick.
Although when the time came to actually try them, Pegasus was left standing there frowning at them. How did one eat something off a wooden dowel in public without seeing completely without manners?
"I think you mean odango." Kiaba corrected him irritably.
Though Pegasus was resolved to trying some dango, so he waited impatiently for him to purchase the confection. Though now he had it he was standing there looking at it. He sighed.
"Just eat it."
There was no polite or impolite way to eat them, one just got on with it. He glared at him impatiently, waiting for the American to clue in so they could get moving again before he got mobbed for a second time. There was a trio of teenage girls lurking to his right, tittering away and edging closer, that seemed set to ambush him if he waited here too long.
Pegasus shrugged and smiled, deciding to go along with kaibas advice. He took a small finicky bite of the first ball, it was squishier than he expected and somewhat sweet.
"You know these aren't all that bad. I didn't think you Japanese liked sweet things very much."
Picking up on Kaibas impatience and the fact that there was a classy restaurant waiting with a nice bottle of wine just down the avenue, Pegasus decided to eat the rest of his treat a bit faster.
He turned the stick to the side and gave it a hesitant look. If you ate it from the side wouldn't the balls just fall off after you bit through them? The solution then was obvious.
Pegasus shoved the whole thing into his mouth at once and was then quite triumphant in having all the little dumplings fit while he pulled the stick out clean.
Behind them a few teenage girls nearly had simultaneous heart attack as they squealed and swooned at Kaibas talented 'date'.
"We make plenty of things with sweet bean paste." He pointed out.
He was rather surprised to watch Pegasus actually eat the treat, especially how he elected to deal with it in the end, leaving a little wide eyed as the girls squealed. He could easily guess what they were imagining, and he seriously wanted no part of those rumours.
"Come on." He muttered, and set a brisk pace down the path toward the restaurant.
Pegasus didn't say anything of course. he was too busy chewing squishy rice dumplings to respond.
He followed after Kaiba, somewhat glad to be out of the denser crowds around those little souvenir booths. He was getting rather hot in his velvet suit on such a warm summer day and sitting down in the AC of a restaurant was sounding very nice about now.
Croquet had taken a shorter route and was already waiting at the doors to the restaurant for them. he had cleared any misunderstandings they might have with missing their reservation time and a table was ready for them in a more private area of the lavishly decorated upscale establishment.
Kaiba made a note to himself to try and make Pegasus aware of how, rather obliviously, he was making blatant come ons to him, in public no less. He doubted the older man would understand the subtleties but he really had to enlighten him.
Thankfully they were now at the restaurant, though as they were shown to their table, Kaiba felt a headache coming on as they were put in the more... romantic corner, complete with flowers on the table. Wonderful, just wonderful. By the end of this afternoon, the whole country were going to think they were dating.
He huffed as he sat down, Isono already sneaking away to find him a strong pain killer for the headache that was about to come on any moment. and head off any press who might be delighting in his predicament. As they sat down he sighed.
"You do realise that you declared to the whole park that we are dating." He told Pegasus.
Kaiba sighed as Pegasus clearly had no clue whatsoever what he had done. And he seemed a touch upset. So given that he still wanted Pegasus to be his business partner when this was over, he decided to cut him a break and try and do this in an understanding fashion.
"To be honest, I don't care whether I am beneath your standards or not." He said quietly, inwardly cringing at the thought. "And I realise you cannot be aware of every little nuance of our culture."
Why would he be? He knew how complicated it was, and he could recognise what a minefield it was for foreigners, not to make an ass of themselves in public.
"The phone charm. Unless you are a young girl buying a gift for a friend, the only reason you would buy them for someone else is because you are dating them." He clarified, picking up the menu, feeling the headache coming on already at having to do this. "And the reason the girls were squealing should be obvious in that context."
"That's the spirit Kaiba-boi!"
Pegasus declared with enthusiasm and a smack to Kaibas shoulder that turned a few heads in the lobby. He ignored Kaibas comment about kidnapping him. It was a sort of kidnapping, he was definitely stealing him away from his work without giving him a choice. But they were soon outside in the bright summer heat of the bustling noon hour city street and all the activity had Pegasus looking around like a kid in a candy store.
"Nothing like some good fresh air and exercise to brighten your mood, eh? It's a wonder you don't have square eyeballs for all the time you spend staring at those computer screens of yours. My, but it's busy out here today, everyone else must have had the same idea. I'm glad I made reservations at the restaurant ahead of time."
He hadn't made any room for Kaiba to refuse his plans, assuming he would go along with it all from the start. That was just what it was to be Pegasus.
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"I have a lot of work to do. And until I can find people I can trust, I shall do it myself rather than delegate it. This is why I have no spare time."
Except for the time he made for Mokuba, set aside and religiously kept to. Mokuba was the only thing more important than the company. He ground his teeth quietly as he realised that Pegasus had never had any intention of allowing him to not come to this lunch. Sometimes, just sometimes, he wondered if being trapped in that damn card was not preferable to Pegasus' meddling.
"Let's not waste time then, lest your table be given away." He said tersely.
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Pegasus wasn't going to let Kaibas snappy attitude get him down. He was already delving through the crowds at the crosswalk to get to the flower edged pathways of the tiny bit of green space wedged between two city blocks.
Croquet simply sighed a grating sigh into his moustache and went after him. It was somewhat easy to find Pegasus in a crowd.
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A quick nod to Isono told him that he was on crowd control. And he would have to be on his least offensive behaviour in front of children in public. By the time he had caught up with Pegasus he was already hearing excited yells of his name, aware of young boys pointing in his direction.
"If you wish to see flowers, you could stop by the botanical gardens after lunch." he suggested grumpily, trying to herd Pegasus in the right direction.
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Pegasus was happy to wander the gravel pathways and ignore the stares of the business people he passed on park benches and mothers fussing with babies in their strollers and the occasional teenage girl with some fluffy dog like thing that would blush at him. He was used to being stared at simply for being an American.
However that didn't stop his smirk from blossoming when he saw the approaching hazard of young boys that had spotted Kaiba and come sprinting over from the childrens play area. He stepped back and all but let them have at their dueling idol.
"If you're going to hold us up here giving autographs Kaiba, I'll just be over there looking at the souvenirs."
With a quaint little wave Pegasus all but deserted Kaiba, drawn in by a few small vendors stands who were selling everything from shiny little cell phone charms to balloon animals. It was a bright and jumbled display that was almost as interesting to Pegasus as the flowers.
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Kami-sama, grant him patience. He just about managed to satisfy and shake off the mob and beat a hasty retreat after Pegasus, Isono behind him telling the boys that he was too busy to duel right now, but to be sure to come to Kaiba Land soon.
"Enjoying yourself." He snarled quietly at Pegasus.
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Pegasus has been prodding at a few of the misshapen balloon creations trying to guess what they were when kaiba finally came over to him. He held out the little charm, dangling it infront of that glaring face for him.
In the true fashion of ADD though, Pegasus turned right back tot he booths, one at the end drawing his attention. It seemed to be selling food of some sort, but he wasn't all that sure. He turned to his version of a local, which was Kaiba of course, for an explanation.
"Kaiba...what are those little coloured ball thingies on sticks? Do you eat them? I've seen children eating them, but then, children will put almost anything int heir mouths."
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"They are dango, dumplings, yes, you eat them. The coloured ones are hanami dango since it is the season for the them, or they have the white ones served in a sweet sauce, mitarashi dango." He explained wearily.
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Pegasus made a cupping motion on either side of his head to indicate buns. He looked at Kaiba and then back tot he dumpling booth somewhat skeptically.
"Well, whatever they're called, they're certainly colourful. When in Rome as they say, I'll have to give them a try!"
Pegasus vaguely remembered seeing the colourful little balls on sticks in certain animated shows and on Japanese tv. So they were certainly common enough to be safe. It only took a few moments before he was standing there happily holding his very own rainbow of dumplings on a stick.
Although when the time came to actually try them, Pegasus was left standing there frowning at them. How did one eat something off a wooden dowel in public without seeing completely without manners?
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Though Pegasus was resolved to trying some dango, so he waited impatiently for him to purchase the confection. Though now he had it he was standing there looking at it. He sighed.
"Just eat it."
There was no polite or impolite way to eat them, one just got on with it. He glared at him impatiently, waiting for the American to clue in so they could get moving again before he got mobbed for a second time. There was a trio of teenage girls lurking to his right, tittering away and edging closer, that seemed set to ambush him if he waited here too long.
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"You know these aren't all that bad. I didn't think you Japanese liked sweet things very much."
Picking up on Kaibas impatience and the fact that there was a classy restaurant waiting with a nice bottle of wine just down the avenue, Pegasus decided to eat the rest of his treat a bit faster.
He turned the stick to the side and gave it a hesitant look. If you ate it from the side wouldn't the balls just fall off after you bit through them? The solution then was obvious.
Pegasus shoved the whole thing into his mouth at once and was then quite triumphant in having all the little dumplings fit while he pulled the stick out clean.
Behind them a few teenage girls nearly had simultaneous heart attack as they squealed and swooned at Kaibas talented 'date'.
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"We make plenty of things with sweet bean paste." He pointed out.
He was rather surprised to watch Pegasus actually eat the treat, especially how he elected to deal with it in the end, leaving a little wide eyed as the girls squealed. He could easily guess what they were imagining, and he seriously wanted no part of those rumours.
"Come on." He muttered, and set a brisk pace down the path toward the restaurant.
The sooner they were there, the better.
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He followed after Kaiba, somewhat glad to be out of the denser crowds around those little souvenir booths. He was getting rather hot in his velvet suit on such a warm summer day and sitting down in the AC of a restaurant was sounding very nice about now.
Croquet had taken a shorter route and was already waiting at the doors to the restaurant for them. he had cleared any misunderstandings they might have with missing their reservation time and a table was ready for them in a more private area of the lavishly decorated upscale establishment.
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Thankfully they were now at the restaurant, though as they were shown to their table, Kaiba felt a headache coming on as they were put in the more... romantic corner, complete with flowers on the table. Wonderful, just wonderful. By the end of this afternoon, the whole country were going to think they were dating.
He huffed as he sat down, Isono already sneaking away to find him a strong pain killer for the headache that was about to come on any moment. and head off any press who might be delighting in his predicament. As they sat down he sighed.
"You do realise that you declared to the whole park that we are dating." He told Pegasus.
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"I'm sorry? Why would anyone think that? It's not as if I tried to hold your hand or something. That would just be creepy."
Pegasus placed his napkin across his lap with a neat snap and he was almost a little upset by Kaibas abrupt declaration.
"...Not that there's anything wrong with that...I mean, you're not beneath my standards or anything..."
He tried to smile, hoping he hadn't offended Kaiba for whatever odd sentiments had prompted that statement.
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"To be honest, I don't care whether I am beneath your standards or not." He said quietly, inwardly cringing at the thought. "And I realise you cannot be aware of every little nuance of our culture."
Why would he be? He knew how complicated it was, and he could recognise what a minefield it was for foreigners, not to make an ass of themselves in public.
"The phone charm. Unless you are a young girl buying a gift for a friend, the only reason you would buy them for someone else is because you are dating them." He clarified, picking up the menu, feeling the headache coming on already at having to do this. "And the reason the girls were squealing should be obvious in that context."
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