OLD ATST Seto/Joey

Left Me Roses By The Stairs .-12 Seto

He let the known gravity of everything sink in. It was a titanic sized moment.

The invitation, arrived this morning, besides what other choice did he have?

"You always have a  choice " Joey wheeler snapped at him blonde hair whipped about. It might have been less impartial if he had snapped.

 Joey had looked  him with for lack of better term brown puppy dog eyes, deep and searching. The air on the rooftop buffeting him and Seto had been suddenly reminded of how thing he must be to wrap his arms so tightly to him, how thing his T-shirt must be, how cold he must be.

 Joey stared over the edge " I never noticed before but it's a bit of a fall" Kaiba couldn't comment. He had the  sinking feeling he might jump. 

It was a thought too harsh to bare. He didn't know what he would do if that was the case. Seto was never indecisive. He shouldn't have feared the mutt only raised his chin defiantly and turned away turning those puppy dog eyes at him in full force as if he knew what would come to pass.

Time he never had enough time .

Not for Mokuba.
Not for Joey.
Funny how fast he'd graduated from calling him wheeler to Joey .

Contemplatively he twirled the seemingly innocent thing for all the trouble it had caused  between his fingers then gave the air another definitive sniff .

The unmistakable smell of rose petals wafted its way toward him .

Seto glared at the scent then the small, dare he say vital object then pocketed it .

His fingers felt around a note that was now worn at the edges..

That stupid idiot mongrel .

He'd been that close !
In the same house no less.
Heck Seto had even opened the door gone to his bedside..
Only to anticlimactically notice a wounded Joey was shivering and daringly climb into  the bed and cover them both over.
It had been a late night and sleep gripped easy long past dawn.
For the last three days they had eaten, spoken and done work with a hairs  breath of space between them both.
Till this morning  without reason, he had woken to an empty bed. Not to find Joey nearly  burning down the kitchen or banging cabinets in hot pursuit of whatever.

Not in the game room  occasionally winning against Mokuba by sheer will of unpredictability.

Joey's sister had stayed at a friends all this time and was after  all a big girl. He wasn't curled up on the couch either or anywhere  else.

He was gone.

Then he found the letter.

At first Seto had been blazing mad. He had raged and screamed.
Fine then ! He had thought.

If he wanted to pull the plug he should have said so!

Not done this! This if all the stupid infuriating, that low  down mangy three legged cur. There had  been something there, surely wheeler no matter how dense had felt it  to. They had so little time.
Time. Kaiba always needed time. Sitting and waiting felt like eternity and now he funny as it was he just wanted less time.
Seto remembered how he  had  made time once.
Time for bad B-movies that he "just had to watch or he hadn't  lived" for ice cream at one in the morning. For this, whatever this was.
For someone other then his beloved brother.
For Joey

Still it had come to this.

A different this, now he wasn't even making sense to himself.
It didn't matter, he should have known better.
Seto remained projecting outward calm. The entire duration of his sitting the clock ticked by.
Tick-Tock

Waiting his least favorite thing and curse it , if he didn't know that .
Waiting around to be told what to do, like a lowly peasant to a sovereign king.

He wasn't in control, he is ready but he isn't in control.
An that is the well placed kick in the ribcage.

Kaiba knew why the man was doing this, to grate at his nerves why else?
This man would use any home advantage he had to  his plant the seed of doubt .

Seto could grudgingly admire that. He chose not to. Having the enemy pull out all the stops also meant he had to admit Seto is a force to be reckoned with.
Everything else will be resolved soon. He needs to remember why he is here. He cannot loose sight of his goal now.

His phone gave a buzz, vibrating in his pocket .

Kaiba's last option , made itself apparent.

Seto could almost see the bright screen of the device, through the black fabric then it winked out going dark .

He gave a long-suffering sigh, playing it off as pure unadulterated boredom.

Seto pretended to readjust his sitting position and smoothly grabbed a magazine. Over the top of " Fortune Games " he tried to peer out the window behind the secretaries's desk into the night.

The definitive unmistakable click of heels upon tile sounded.

It was too late. He suppressed a minor flair of panic then pleasure at the sight that greeted him.  So there ploy had come through?
They need not worry any more .

While he might not be in control, he is more than prepared.
Even young dragons have sharp, fully functional fangs, and claws.
They are also  born to breathe fire, not even the
The secretary offered him a what she must have thought was reassuring smile it looked hollow and worn. He discreetly gave a curt nod. She would be payed for her trouble.
Her hands eased their tight grip on her clipboard and she dropped a pen  by "accident". He stooped picked it up for her and placed it in her shaking hand. It was bent and chewed with puppy eraser end. Something a child would use. Not this women dressed in a smart red suit.
Seto smiled . My what teeth you have. The secretary thought the same and flinched. She glanced at the security of her desk thanked him, bowed once then spoke.

"He will see you now Mr. Kaiba"