Melting in the Sun - Part 2.
Lunch time dragged on, which was never a bad thing. The heat remained, permeated by hazy mist floating lazily through the stifling air.
Seto liked it. First there had been the rather pleasant accord he seemed to have reached with Jounouchi today, which meant their being able to have a civil conversation with the underlying unspoken rules that the worlds 'mutt' and 'moneybags' had been temporarily banned from their vocabularies. Had he known that simply talking with his - perhaps now *former* - rival would be so pleasant, he was fairly certain that he would have begun doing it sooner. For a moment the brunette idly wondered if their truce would have been reached if it had rained, instead of the blazing heat. Perhaps not, so he silently thanked the sun for beating down upon them and allowing their non-violent communication.
Another thing that Seto liked about the heat of the day was that, having finally gotten too hot, Jounouchi had opted to strip off his shirt and use it as a pillow. The blonde was sprawled comfortably on the soft grass with the rolled up uniform top behind his head, drumming his fingers lightly on his chest and staring up at the clouds as they drifted past lazily, far above them. His golden, muscular chest moved slightly with each breath he took, and Seto found himself drawn to stare at it helplessly, knowing that he could never have resisted the urge to lay his cool eyes upon that heated expanse of smooth skin. Perhaps the coldness of his icy blue eyes would cool down Jounouchi's lithe form as they travelled over it.
Leaning back against the tree behind him, Seto continued his staring, knowing that Jounouchi could feel his gaze from the satisfied smirk tugging at his lips. It didn't really matter, the fact that Jounouchi knew he was being admired. He was a very handsome young man, Seto mused, and the admiration was deserved. Letting his eyelids droop slightly with the heat, the brunette smiled slightly and continued his silent inspection of Jounouchi's golden chest.
* * *
Jounouchi did indeed feel the gaze on him like a physical touch, and it pleased him vaguely to know that Seto thought he was worth looking at for so long and with such intensity. That, though, could be thought on in more detail later, out of the stifling heat. Now, though, he was still toying with the idea that Seto was some sort of robot. The information they'd so far shared spoke otherwise, but Jounouchi was amused with the idea and so continued devising all sorts of interesting tests he could perform to prove Seto's humanity.
The one he liked best required a little movement. He rolled onto his side and reached for his bag, unzipping it and drawing out a cheap portable CD player. Seto watched him, he knew because he could feel that piercing gaze on his back. After a moment he rolled over again onto his back, next to Seto, and placed the disk player down on the small expanse of grass between them. Pressing play, he turned the volume up as loud as it would go, resulting in them being just able to hear it, even though the headphones lay on the ground.
Out of the headphones drifted a chatchy beat, sounding somewhere between country and rock music. A strange conbination, but oddly pleasant to listen to. The lyrics Jounouchi liked played out, and he listened to them, all the while keeping his eyes carefully locked on Seto's hands where they were draped elegantly across his lap.
~For I've an affliction, a terrible thing, fists of fury and a tongue with a sting, seems such a shame, but he kept us entertained, now...~
There! For the tiniest fraction of a second, Jounouchi was certain he saw Seto's fingers twitch. Was the catchy beat getting to him? Jounouchi watched until the song ended, but Seto didn't move again, wondering what the blonde was up to. Deciding to up the stakes, Jounouchi skipped forward a few tracks on the CD until he came to the one he wanted. This one was impossible to resist, even for the great Seto Kaiba.
~On a rope, on a rope, got me hangin' on a rope~
The chorus continued through most of the song, over and over, while across the yard Yami was stood watching in amusement whilst Bakura tried to escape the wicked clutches of both Yugi and Mokuba. He was giggling in a very fiendish way as they tickled him into submission, Yugi sitting on his chest and Mokuba clinging to the bat-like spikes in his hair. Yami, helpfully, seemed to be chuckling deeply at the whole scene, occasionally sparing a glance in Seto and Jounouchi's direction in case they reverted to their usual ways and began to argue again. No, the heat was too overpowering for something as energetic as an argument.
* * *
Seto looked up with an elegant eyebrow raised questioningly at his companion, as the blonde began to laugh softly.
"Is something amusing?" The brunette asked, without his usual sneer or spiteful remark.
Jounouchi simply pointed to Seto's hand and the CEO looked down, vaguely surprised to find that his fingers were tapping in time to the music, seemingly with a mind of their own.
"It looks like you are human after all," Jounouchi remarked, taking Seto's hand in his own as he lay there and using it to shield his eyes from the sun, all the while looking up at it and running his golden eyes over it in interest.
"Do you expect me to deny it?" Seto asked, almost smiling.
"It would make my argument a lot more convincing if you did," Jounouchi grinned, looking at the lines on Seto's hand and wondering if they actually meant anything or if they were simply random lines. Fortune tellers read palms, he thought to himself, but what would they say about Seto? Hmm...
"Fine, I'm a robot and I only pretend to be human, but it obviously hasn't fooled you and I congratulate you on exposing me for what I truly am." Seto actually did smile this time, and Jounouchi thought he might melt at the beauty of it. Deep blue eyes sparkled with amusement and lips curved up slightly, not awfully familiar with the motion but instinctively knowing it anyway.
Jounouchi, instead of replying, rolled over again and bought a clean sheet of white paper from his bag, laying it flat on the grass between them and writing a number one on it in biro. Seto raised an eyebrow again.
"And that is?" He asked, curious.
Jounouchi grinned and folded the paper up, tucking it safely in the pocket of his shirt, which lay behind him on the grass.
"How many times I've made you smile," the blonde replied, then lay back down and folded his arms behind his head, looking supremely pleased with himself.
Seto waited until Jounouchi's eyes were closed, then smiled again.
TBC.
Aww... Seto smiled. *cackle*