jigglephysics | (no subject)

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[ It's not like things have been chaotic since he left.

Yuugi slipped out in the night and things got even duller. He gave up on school - there wasn't any chance that he would graduate or go anywhere, anyway, and got a part-time job. He tried to keep his nose out of trouble, just in case Yuugi came back. He spent some more time with Shizuka. He tried to keep up with what was going on at the school with everyone through Honda, who was scraping by. He had more drive about academics than Jou did, after all.

Otherwise, he tried to just keep out of the house, only checking in for sleep and the mail. His dad didn't dare find out he left school. He didn't want to see how that fight would go, if he cared at all. He's sure it'd end up with a neighbor calling the police again.

He tried not to start fights, to get his hands dirty with stealing too much or being places he shouldn't be. He tried to keep to the better parts of town... but there's only so much he can do to avoid things the stink of a street punk attracted to him.

Fights still happened. Sometimes, he still stole, when he had to. Sometimes, he got a mouth on him and told off the wrong people. He couldn't help what came naturally to him and he couldn't help his need to lash out when he felt all alone now.

It sucks that he's ended up here, on the steps in front of Seto Kaiba's home, of all places, but where else could he go after a fight like that? He can take on a lot of guys, but not when he's caught off-guard. He won in the loosest sense, but getting away became top priority once the other guys were down. They'd get up again in no time and hunt him down.

So he climbed the fence, one shoe missing, jacket gone and hands stiff from throwing punches. He ended up on the other side and ambled his way to the steps that lead up to the door.

He wonders how long he can stay out here, just perched in the dying light outside of one Seto Kaiba's house, dribbling blood from his lips and nose onto his pristine stairs and filling the perfect air with tobacco smoke as he tries to figure out what the hell to do, or where the hell to go.

His answer comes in a hand hauling him up by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him inside, a voice berating him with who's and why's and cursing. He barely recognizes the voice, but he's sure it's one of Seto's henchman, dragging him in for a brief interrogation before preparing to boot him out.

Nice safe spot while it lasted. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ most of his nights are what what anyone would call quiet — filing through reports of his projects, speaking with his brother, entertaining potential business partners, making employee evaluations. his life is what it's always been, except that somewhere inside seto kaiba knows that things have changed ever since yuugi and his friends returned from egypt. allowing himself to become connected to anybody was embarrassing enough as it is — it stung his rather limitless pride — but he couldn't do anything but admit that he'd had a connection with the man who he had sworn would be his life-long rival. and now that man was gone, and the person who should have taken his place had left as well.

it should have infuriated him that yuugi was running away. he wanted, more than anything, to be angry. but he understood despite himself, and so turned to more constructive things to fill his time besides that bottomless, empty anger, and the helplessness that comes from knowing he couldn't have stopped him, couldn't have molded the future to better suit him despite all his power, despite everything he has.

but just because that man didn't have a future doesn't mean that he's without one. he still has things to do.

not that those things should involve the racket currently coming from downstairs. whatever it is, all disturbances are to be brought immediately to him; he does prefer to deal with these things directly. after he hears the knock on the door, he gathers the reports laying out on his desk, sets them aside, and sits up straighter, arms crossed across his chest. ]

Come in.

[ Jou hates that he's being dragged in like a stray dog and it's even worse to be set down on the ground like a naughty child being faced towards his father. He's too old for that, but he's used to getting in trouble, at least.

Preparing to be scolded by Seto Kaiba, though... this was going to be new. He looks up at him with his chin slightly down and his nose dripping red on the floor. He snorts in a breath through his nose, trying to draw it back into his head, but it keeps dripping down his chin onto his shirt all the same. His cheek is swollen. His lip is swollen. But his eyes are as defiant as ever, if not a little lukewarm in their gaze.

He isn't going to say anything until Kaiba addresses him. There's no point when he knows what's coming. He hopes he can at least find his shoe when he's back out there. It's hard to run with one bare foot. ]

[ the shock that appears on his face is immediately shut down, but it's there inside him all the same, and even when he tries to trample it beneath his own derision, it sticks. pricks at something uncomfortable, makes him want to fidget (which he doesn't do). seto frowns and hopes it's suitably menacing, standing so that there's even an further distance between the two of them with jonouchi on the floor. he has no idea what he's been doing since yuugi left. he doesn't know what any of yuugi's friends have done with their lives since then. but by the looks of it, jonouchi's hasn't gone anywhere good. ]

What are you doing here?

[ there's blood on his clothes, blood on the carpet. he was obviously chased onto the estate. it's the only place he wouldn't be followed. ]

I thought dogs preferred being alone to go lick their wounds.

[ Jou crinkles his nose and looks at him straight in the eye. He just wanted to camp out a while and now he's stuck here, in Kaiba's presence, being looked down on like always. He wipes his nose on his arm and huffs.

His ego's been thrashed enough lately. But he didn't have a choice. He had to come here. ]

Don't start, unless you wanna learn how the other guys look the hard way.

Just try it. You'll be out on the street before you can even lift a fist. Understand?

[ although jonouchi doesn't look like he could take on anyone in this state, he's not about to underestimate him when it comes to things like this — he's no slouch himself, but he can tell by the look on his face that jonouchi's been in the place he's in right now enough that he must have more than a little experience in a brawl. not that it really matters to him. he doesn't intend to let things get that far.

seto meets eyes with the guard that dragged jonouchi upstairs and wordlessly waves him away, cutting of the protests before they begin. he won't have anyone disagreeing with him.

once they're alone, he walks out from behind his desk. ]

Go and get cleaned up before you stain my carpet.

[ If there wasn't a guy at his back, bearing his shadow over him, he'd believe it. He hushes up, though his gaze speaks loud enough. He's just got out of a corner and he's not about to be backed into another. He's just waiting to be let loose again, trying to think of another place to duck himself for the night.

Going home with a bruised up face wasn't going to fly.

He's surprised that Seto sends the guard away instead and his brow furrows under his thick fringe. He watches him move, tall as ever, and hears the guard shuffle off after some mixed words.

It's clear he doesn't believe him right away, that Seto's offering his bathroom to him to get the mess off of his face, but he stands up slowly soon after. He's not going to take charity, but he is too tired to be too sharp about a little kindness. ]

Where?

[ seto can tell jonouchi is surprised without even looking at him, but he doesn't need to explain himself. he motions to the closed door on the left side of the office — that's one of his private bathrooms, but he's not going to have him out walking around the halls in that state when mokuba might run into him, and he's not going to play caretaker and show him there, either. this is easiest, so this is what they're going to do. ]

Don't make a mess. I assume you know how to clean up after yourself.

[ it would be so easy to say something nasty, but despite himself he bites it back. tells himself he's saving it for later.

those reports weren't that interesting anyway. ]

Yeah, yeah....

[ He's tempted to get water everywhere in his damn pristine bathroom as he walks over to the designated room and opens the door. It'd show him for... letting him wash up in his house instead of kicking him out. He frowns and curses under his breath.

Damn it, could today get any worse? Is he really doomed to get his pride stomped all over today from start to finish?

He turns the hot water on high in the sink and starts washing his face down, delicately and with the hottest water he can stand. He's going to take his time with this, looking his face over, trying to get some swelling down with the heat and scrub the dried blood off his face. He can be heard cursing and hissing in pain as he goes, though he's trying for once to not make a ton of noise. ]

[ there's nothing else he has to do for today, but maybe it's telling toward the amount of stagnation he's been feeling that instead of leaving to take care of his own business, he finds himself standing at the doorway, watching jonouchi curse his way through cleaning himself up. he only looks worse with his bruises uncovered, but he doesn't flinch in sympathy, doesn't even consider walking in and helping. who would have thought katsuya jonouchi would end up on his doorstep on a night like this?

doesn't he have better places to be? he has friends. ]

Charming. So this is what you're doing now that Yuugi is gone?

[ Jou can feel himself being watched, but he won't let their gazes meet in his reflection in the mirror. Wasn't he working? He supposes he's probably more interesting than work right now. Great.

He pulls his shirt off, using it to dry his face instead of a towel. It's stained with his blood already, anyway, and he doesn't need Kaiba asking him to pay him for a ruined towel.

He looks over and scowls. ]

Believe it or not, there's people out there that hate me a lot more than you do. They've known me a lot longer, too.

[ seto doesn't doubt it, with those bruises. even his body is battered — from whatever it was he got into now, and from past confrontations that he can see written in pale scars. obviously he's not unused to getting into this kind of trouble, so the fact that he's here... things really have changed. but there was a time he wouldn't have had any second thoughts about seeing jonouchi dead. there was a time when it would have been an advantage; him at his worst.

there's no need to say it out loud, but he doesn't hate jonouchi. ]

And this was really your best option? What about your friends? I bet Mazaki would just love to take care of you, looking like that.

[ she's that type, all loyal and caring and sickly-sweet. ]

... I can't go to them. I don't want to get them involved anymore. Honda's got better about this. Anzu's busy getting ready for school. I didn't even mean to come in... I just needed to get somewhere they couldn't get me.

[ He rings his shirt out in the sink, frowning further. He doesn't want to look at him, but if he turns his gaze now, he'll seem weak. ]

This was the closest place I could get to that I knew.

[ seto crosses his arms across the chest and leans back against the door jam. it's simple to note the information to file away for later, even though he's fairly sure he'll never need to use it. taking advantage of what's freely given is natural to him as anything else that was beaten into him in his childhood. but aside from that... he supposes he can't argue that it makes some sense, to go somewhere where he wouldn't care who he was encumbering.

it should make him angry, but it'd be too bizarre if he didn't feel that way. they don't like each other. that's just the way things are between them. ]

How long are these people going to be looking for you?

Edited 2016-01-20 04:53 (UTC)

[ Jou hears the question then looks down at the sink again, giving his shirt a hard twist before bringing it up against his tender nose again. How long? Who knows? He's hunted people down for hours before, but with the way Kaiba is and the angle he's taking in this conversation, he's got an idea about what the actual meaning behind his words are. ]

... Just let me get my head clear and I'll be out of your face. I should be able to dodge them 'til night.

[ And by night time, his dad should be passed out probably. He can slip in. ]

Don't be an idiot, you're not leaving. If you get killed after someone's seen you on my estate, what do you think it's going to look like?

[ he could always offer him some sort of escort, give one of his guards the day off, but no — that would be too much. and who knows what the thugs around here would stop at? the last thing he needs is to lose one of his men on top of everything else this day has brought him. and he prefers to do things in the most efficient way.

if anything, he can check surveillance, see if he can't figure out when they've given up the chase. he doesn't need jonouchi staying here any longer than he has to, but his image doesn't need to suffer any more than it already has, either. he has a business to run, after all. kaiba land is more important to him than a few hours of discomfort.

it's easy to tell himself all that, of course. but the practicalities have either slipped his mind, or are below his notice. ]

I doubt they'll track you for longer than a day. You can go tomorrow morning.

Edited 2016-01-20 05:12 (UTC)

I said I'm-- wait, what?

[ That wasn't even remotely the response he expected. Shouldn't Kaiba be shoving him out now that his face is clean? What did he care about punks with knives and fists? It's not that Jou can't take them, either, he just doesn't want caught off-guard again but...

Is Seto Kaiba really offering him a safe haven on a flimsy excuse like that?

He doesn't try to combat it, slack jaw closing slowly as his brow furrows at him. He almost can't come up with a response.

Is he really letting him stay here until morning? It's not a joke? ]

I-- you serious?

[ heh. seeing that dumb expression of shock on jonouchi's face makes him want to smile. this is the least insidious way to get one over on him — it's not like he's sacrificing anything to stay the night here — but he'll take advantage of anything. he hasn't had a proper conversation with anyone besides mokuba about something other than business for... well...

business is what's most important. ]

I'm in negotiations to start construction on another Kaiba Land within the next year. I can't let anything happen that could set back my plans. Especially not something involving you.

[ those plans of his are still a while off, it's true, but it's never a bad idea to be cautious about these things. ]

[ Jou's still in shock. This can't be an act of kindness. Is there a catch? Surely, someone like Kaiba plans to get something out of everything. Is he really just letting him couch crash without any consequences?

He can't believe it... but he won't question it, at risk of giving him ideas. He knows better than to do that, at least. ]

... I'll be out by morning, then.

Good.

[ that's that, then. how hard can it be to entertain jonouchi for a night? it's not like he has to chaperon him. what could he even do? steal something? despite his vocal opinion of him, seto doubts even he's that stupid. it'd take a lot of guts. and other than that...

there's nothing for seto to concern himself with. ]

Two doors down and to the right there's a room you can use for the night. I expect it to look the same as I left it by the time you're out of here.

[ seto uncrosses his arms and stands up like he's about to walk out, but he only returns to his desk. there were still a few things he needed to sort out before he finished work for the day... then he'll go talk to mokuba about their unexpected guest... ]

Edited 2016-01-21 01:14 (UTC)

[ Thankfully, Jou only has sticky fingers these days when he's hungry or short on smokes. He tries to go back and sneak money to the shops later when he has it.

Aside from that, he likes living, and nicking stuff from Kaiba is an equation for death. ]

For Mokuba's sake, I'll keep it nice and tidy. I'll even make the bed in the morning.

[ He watches him meander back behind the desk and takes it as a cue that he should probably get out of his hair. He's too achy and wound up to just go to bed, but maybe he can nab him later when he hears him wandering out of here.

He turns and gives Seto a half-hearted wave, set on finding his room in this huge place. ]

[ seto searches for something biting to say in response to jonouchi's mention of his brother, but nothing's come to mind by the time he's opened the door. his acknowledgement ends up being wordless. it makes the back of his neck prickle with the sense that he's done something wrong, but it's too late now to take it back. anyway, his reasoning is perfectly sound. he won't lose anything by letting him stay here for some odd hours. his personal space is important to him, but they're not even going to be in the same room. in fact, if jonouchi knows better, he'll leave without making his presence known. then they won't even have to see one another again.

that would be ideal, wouldn't it? so he closes his laptop thirty minutes later with an air of finality and a sense of satisfaction. if they'd fought, it wouldn't have ruined his night, but getting the matter dealt with quickly is almost more satisfying than tearing into him would have been.

the door shuts behind him softly as he steps outside and into the hall, intent on finding mokuba. ]

[ Jounouchi finds his guest room and plants himself on the bed after plucking off his only shoe. He lets his stained shirt drop to the floor, figuring he's got to deal with being down a pair of shoes and an outfit. It's happened before, but he's annoyed. These shoes were new and no pair of shoes is cheap.

He half-dozes until he hears that same door down the hall open and shut, quiet but just enough to be caught by his ears.

Does he ask for food? Does he put up with his stomach grumbling? It's a little too risky... but he does crack his door, peering out to see what Kaiba's up to. He's bored already but he knows he walks a fine line here. ]

[ in the midst of trying to decide whether he should have something prepared for his dinner or settle for yesterday's leftovers, and similarly wondering whether or not mokuba's eaten his dinner yet, seto feels a different sort of prickling at the back of his neck. he glances over his shoulder with his eyes narrowed, a frown swiftly appearing on his face. he knows exactly where to look, so the open door doesn't slip past his notice even for a second. ]

If you want something, speak up. And stop staring.

[ it's weird. ]

[ Jou makes a face, surprised when he's noticed. Damn, he tried to be so quiet, too. He nearly just shuts the door again, but he frowns instead and concedes to opening his mouth about it.

If he gets too hungry, he knows he'll become a true pain in the ass. ]

Uh... you... have dinner yet?

[ there's a loaded pause in which he debates whether or not to tell the truth, and then whether or not to answer at all. ugh. but if he gets caught in his lie, then he'll be forced to own up to the fact that he chose not to deny him outright. and why isn't he just telling him to shove off?

whatever. who does he have to explain himself to? ]

... No.

[ but that doesn't mean he won't make him ask for it. ]