Title: Call It Love 1/?
Author: Tsutsuji
Date written: 3/14/05
Fandom: Yu-gi-oh!
Rating: NC17 (starting in chapter 2)
Pairings: Seto/Jou
Original characters: no
Type: yaoi/slash
Warnings: some bdsm-type stuff in later chapters; other warnings to come later.
Status: in progress.
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to these characters and I'm making no
profit from this fic and intend no copyright infringement. Kazuki Takahashi owns
Seto and Jou. Poco owns the lyrics to "Call it Love."
Summary: Sequel/side story to "Just A Fantasy." Jonouchi finds his
own fantasies invaded by thoughts of Seto Kaiba, but when Kaiba finds out he's
part of Jou's fantasies, his reaction is not what Jou expects.
Archive: whatever
Notes: Been working on this S/J opus for a long time. I think it's finally
ready to roll. It's not a song fic;I just happened to hear a song that fits
perfectly with what I had in mind for these guys.
---
I play my hand,
You call my bluff.
We push each other
'Til we've had enough.
When it's all you've got -
Call it love.
"Call it Love" by Poco
---
Call It Love 1
"What was I thinking?" Jonouchi asked himself over and over again.
Actually, he knew what his answer was at the time: he was just helping out a
friend. That was the only reason he'd agreed to Bakura's invitation to be part
of Ryou's kinky sex fantasy scene. It wasn't like he was into that whole
bondage and dominance scene, or even into having sex with other guys. It was
all just for Ryou - just helping out a friend. That's all he'd been thinking
about.
The problem was, he kept thinking about it afterward, and his body kept
responding to those thoughts in inconvenient ways. Like, sitting there in
class, he would just happen to glance over and see Ryou absently sucking on the
end of his pen, and the whole scene would come back to him, making blood rush
into his face and surge into his groin as he remembered the sweet, hot pressure
of Ryou's mouth sucking on him. Or seeing Ryou flick his hair back off his neck
would remind him of the sensual way Bakura had teased him and the sounds Ryou
made. Or absolutely nothing at all would set off a sudden vision of Ryou
writhing on that table and he'd remember how arousing it was just to watch his
friend being consumed with pleasure.
If he tried to relieve his inconvenient state of arousal in a quick, private
session with his own hand, more images flooded his mind. He tried to bring back
the old standbys that usually got him going, those typical guy things that had
been so reliable in the past, but they didn't stand a chance against these new,
vivid images.
But the worst of it was those odd, seemingly random things that used to come
into his head unbidden just when he was at the edge and going over. He'd always
ignored those visions as much as possible, but now they added themselves to his
memories of the scene with Ryou, and that was what really freaked him out.
Because far too many of those images included Seto Kaiba.
So now, when Jonouchi tried to push away the images of Ryou on his back on the
table with his legs spread and bent, or of Bakura's body flexing while he
fucked his lover, they were only replaced by visions of Kaiba kneeling between
his legs and doing what Ryou did, or else it was Kaiba on his back on that
table, naked with his arms bound and muscles straining... or, absolutely
freakiest and worst of all, Jou would suddenly imagine he was the one on the
table, and Kaiba was bearing down on him, pinning him there with his sharp
blue-eyed gaze and the weight of his body...
For the first time in his life, Jonouchi actually tried to pay full attention
in class. He even welcomed the load of homework they were all given at the end
of the week. Anything to help drive those impossible images out of his head.
He envied Ryou - not for his kinky fantasies, or for having a lover who
indulged him in them, but for his aura of serenity. Ryou seemed as blissful as
a mystic who had reached enlightenment, floating through the school week with a
contented smile that never completely faded away.
At least, that smile didn't fade away completely until they met outside school
on Friday afternoon. They had hardly had a chance to speak together all week,
which had suited Jou perfectly well, but now he noticed that Ryou looked
distressed as he greeted Jou.
"How ya doing, Ryou?" he asked casually. "Lots of homework this
weekend, huh?"
"Yes," Ryou nodded. "They really piled it on this week, didn't
they? I was hoping you and Honda could come over and really play that new video
game, but I suppose we're all going to be too busy."
"Yeah," Jou said a little too quickly. "Way too busy!"
The concern on Ryou's soft features deepened. Then he seemed to force a laugh.
"Jonouchi, I hope we didn't really shock you too much last weekend, did
we?"
He was blushing, and Jou realized with distress that his forced humor was
covering up real concern. He remembered how horrified Ryou had been when he
found out Bakura had revealed his fantasy to him and Honda. Ryou thought they'd
be ashamed of him and not want to be his friends once they knew of it.
Apparently, that concern hadn't been flushed away by all that they'd done; in
fact, Jou guessed Ryou was even more worried now than he had been. Moved to
sympathy, Jou grinned his biggest grin.
"Nah," he said, "Takes more than that to shock me! I mean, it
surprised me a little, I'll admit that. But as long as you enjoyed it, I'm okay
with it!"
"Are you really okay with - with all that we did?"
"Hell, Ryou, I'm more than okay with what you did!" Jou said. He
glanced around to make sure no one was near enough to hear them, then leaned a
little closer and lowered his voice. "You know, that blow job you gave me
probably spoiled me for blow jobs for the rest of my life!"
Ryou blushed charmingly and laughed, and Jou grinned, feeling a little red in
the face himself.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Jonouchi," Ryou said, sounding relieved.
His soft brown eyes gleamed with joy at having shared his pleasure with a
friend. But he wasn't completely reassured yet. "I'm sure you think I'm
the strangest person you ever met, but it's nice of you and Honda to put up
with me!"
Jou just couldn't let his friend feel bad about himself like that. He leaned
toward him with another conspiratorial grin.
"You're not so strange Ryou, lots of people have fantasies like yours, or
even weirder. I won't even tell you about the one I have sometimes about Seto
Kaiba and a dog collar!" He laughed out loud, and Ryou laughed with him.
"You're making that up, of course!" Ryou said, but he smiled to show
how much he appreciated it anyway.
"Of course!" Jou laughed. He wasn't about to admit how close to the
truth it was.
"Well, then," Ryou said, calming his laughter, "I won't invite
Kaiba over to study with us, but if you and Honda would come over on Sunday, I
promise all we'll do is study - and eat! Maybe if we help each other get
through all this work, we'll have time to play that video game as well."
It was a relief to joke about his fantasy with someone else, even in a
roundabout way. And maybe, he thought, hanging around with Ryou and doing
normal things would help take the power out of those iimages that were plaguing
him.
"Yeah, let's do that," he said. "I'll drag Honda away from
whatever he's doing and we'll be there Sunday afternoon."
"And I promise to make Bakura leave us alone as well," Ryou said.
"He gets bored when I just sit and study, and keeps interrupting me to see
if I'm done yet. I'll get a lot more done with you guys there!"
So that was settled. Jou felt more relaxed than he had in days as they parted
ways. He strolled around the corner to cut across the schoolyard toward home,
hands in his pockets and whistling, and thinking about nothing. Back to his
usual self.
He barely noticed the person sitting on a bench just around the corner until
the silver gleam of a wafer-thin laptop caught his eye. With a horrible,
sinking feeling in his gut, he realized only one person at school had a
computer like that.
"Oh, fuck," he mouthed soundlessly, ducking his head. Had Kaiba been
sitting here, right around the corner, the whole time he'd been talking to
Ryou? Even if he was, Jou thought desperately, he couldn't have heard much of
what they said. Could he?
He tried to keep strolling along casually. Kaiba didn't look up from his
laptop, ignoring Jou as he usually did anyway. But just when he was almost
past, he heard Kaiba speak one word.
"Mutt."
Jou kept walking, facing straight forward, head low to hide his red face behind
his mop of hair. That had to just be one of Kaiba's usual insults, just trying
to get a reaction out of him. Didn't mean he'd heard anything Jou said to Ryou.
He managed to glance at Kaiba out of the corner of his eye. Kaiba's gaze was
glued to his computer screen, but from the smirk on his face, Jou had a nasty
feeling he'd heard every single word.
He kept walking, too flustered to turn around and confront that smug attitude.
When he got out of earshot he muttered under his breath, "Yeah, but I
didn't say who was wearing the dog collar, did I?"
***
Studying alone on Saturday afternoon didn't work. He couldn't get hold of
Honda, and Yugi had to work at the store, so Jou gave up and went to the arcade
by himself. He was hoping that a nice, familiar, mindless video game would numb
his brain. He wandered through the noisy crowd, looking for a game that he
hadn't conquered to the point of boredom already.
Near the back there was a new game he'd never seen before. It was a little
complicated for his usual taste, with a storyline involving medieval-type
knights and jousting. But at the higher levels, the knights got to tame dragons
and them ride them into battle. That got his interest. He went ahead and
dropped his coins in the slot, just a second before he noticed the KaibaCorp
logo on the screen.
"Great," he groaned. "Can't I get Kaiba out of my face for even
a minute?"
He'd paid his money, though, so he set to work figuring out the commands and
settings. It was a little different from most games he'd played, and he grumbled
when his knight sat on his butt instead of jumping in the air, and then jumped
in the air instead of ducking like Jou wanted him to do.
"What's the matter, mutt?" said a voice at his shoulder. "Are
you already stumped by my company's newest game?"
"Shit, Kaiba," Jou snapped. He'd jumped several inches himself when
he heard that voice, losing his grip on the controls. His knight took a major
hit from the computer's player.
Kaiba laughed. Jou growled and tried to regain control of the game. It was
difficult to remember the commands he'd just figured out with Kaiba standing
right there, practically leaning on his shoulder. He shoved at him with his
elbow. Kaiba dodged but didn't move away.
"C'mon, give a player some space, will you!" he complained.
Instead, Kaiba reached across the console and placed his hand over Jou's.
"Let me give you a free tip, Jonouchi," he said smoothly. He pressed
Jou's hand down on the button. "Holding this down for a few seconds
instead of tapping it gives your knight an extra burst of stamina and
strength."
"Aha!" Even as distracted as he was by Kaiba's presence, Jou reacted
with true video-gamer instinct when his knight lit up with a golden glow. He
punched the "Hit" button just as the enemy moved in to attack. Sure enough,
his knight swung his sword with a mighty swing, graphically slicing his enemy
in two. Jou laughed in triumph.
Kaiba released the pressure but didn't take his hand away. More enemy knights
appeared, dividing Jou's attention.
"Of course," Kaiba said in a low voice, "that temporary burst of
strength saps your overall staying power. They only way to gain more stamina is
through practice, either alone or with a sparring partner."
Jou struggled to keep his mind on the game with the uncomfortable feeling that
Kaiba's words held a double meaning. He wanted to swat Kaiba's hand aside, but
if he lifted his hand off the controls for an instant, his knight would get
slaughtered.
"Get off me, Kaiba," he growled, shoving him again.
"I'm not 'on' you, Jonouchi," Kaiba said. This time, Jou couldn't
ignore the suggestive tone of his voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw
Kaiba's smirk grow wider.
Jou gritted his teeth and made a desperate effort to ignore Kaiba completely
and keep his knight alive. It would have been difficult enough without all the
extra distraction. In less than a minute, "Game Over" flashed on the
screen over the pieces of his knight's body.
Normally, he would have kicked the machine a couple of times, called it a few
choice words, and then dumped in more coins for another round. But he just
stood there, staring blankly at the screen through the hair that had fallen
over his face, gritting his teeth in frustration. He was torn between the urge
to turn around and punch Kaiba's face in or... something else. He wasn't sure
what. Kaiba was literally breathing down his neck.
"Is there something you want, Kaiba?" he forced himself to sound as
calm as possible. He barely turned his head enough to see Kaiba's face.
"I just want to know one thing, Jonouchi," Kaiba said, so quietly no
one else could hear in the noisy arcade. "Do you really think Ryou Bakura
ruined you for life?"
"What?" Jou snapped his head around and glared at him. "That's
none of your fucking business, Kaiba!"
"Maybe not. But don't you think you should get a little more experience in
the matter before you decide you've had the best blow job you're ever going to
have?"
Jou knew he must look stupid with his jaw hanging open like that, but for the
life of him he couldn't close it. Kaiba's hand was warm on top of his, and
those blue eyes stared at him steadily. They flicked downward to his mouth
before moving back up to hold his gaze again. He couldn't quite make sense of
what Kaiba just said, because it couldn't mean what it sounded like it meant.
"What are you suggesting, Kaiba?" he finally gathered himself enough
to ask. "You offering to go down on me so I have something to
compare?"
Kaiba didn't answer. He smiled silently at Jou for a few seconds longer before
slowly drawing his hand away. His fingertips trailing over the back of Jou's
hand left a tingling feeling that ran up his arm and down his spine. Without
another word, Kaiba turned and walked away. Jou gaped after him. He caught part
of his brain appreciating the way Kaiba's narrow hips swayed as he walked to
the back of the arcade. He tried to convince himself he'd never noticed that
before.
Kaiba disappeared through a door marked "Private" at the far corner
of the arcade. The door didn't close completely after him.
"Oh, shit," Jou said. "This can't be happening!"
He turned around and faced the machine again, leaned forward and banged his
head against it once. That didn't do anything to dislodge the images that were
pushing their way into his mind, or to relieve the pressure that was growing in
his jeans.
"Damn it, Bakura," he muttered. "This is all your fault!"
"Hey, buddy, you done playing? Wanna let someone else have a turn
already?"
He barely saw the pair of skinny, eager-looking kids standing there with their
hands full of coins.
"All yours," he said absently as he peeled himself off the machine.
He took a deep breath and followed Kaiba's path across the room.
***
(continued in chaper 2)
***
Lyrics to "Call It Love" by Poco
We've got all night,
Let's take our time.
Tell me your secrets,
I'll tell you mine.
When it makes us feel better -
Call it love.
You say you won't,
I say you will.
You make me crazy
But I want you still.
When it makes us feel better -
Call it love.
Do we tell the truth,
Or do we live a lie?
Is the feeling good?
Is that what makes you cry?
When you say those words
Look me in the eye -
Tell me why
You call it love.
I play my hand,
You call my bluff.
We push each other
'Til we've had enough.
When it's all you've got -
Call it love.
If I didn't have money
Would you want me still?
When you look real close
Do we fit the bill?
Call it what you want,
But only time will tell...
Do we tell the truth
Or do we live a lie?
Is the feeling good?
Is that what makes you cry?
When you say those words,
Look me in the eye -
Tell me why
You call it love.
We've got all night,
Let's take our time.
Tell me your secrets,
I'll tell you mine.
When it makes us feel better -
Call it love.