The Presence of Wings

Their relationship made the word relationship sound like a joke.  They didn’t waste time on trivialities like emotion, and there wasn’t much in the way of communication.  Little things like dates, small talk – out of the question.  Of course that included gifts.  They were more like a hit and run than a relationship, but the passing encounters seemed to be enough for both of them; Kaiba was perfectly content, and Jounouchi never showed any unhappiness with it.  

The downfall in the “relationship” was the unpredictability of it – it was so unpredictable that it might as well have been predictable.  So when Jounouchi came bounding into Kaiba’s office it didn’t seem at all out of place (though how he had gotten past security was a question even Kaiba couldn’t answer); Kaiba followed him without question into the elevator.  Whatever he had expected, it hadn’t been to find himself on the roof of Kaiba Corporation at eleven PM, Jounouchi racing to the middle with his arms outstretched, announcing loudly, “Kaiba Seto, I present to you Domino at night.”  Turning to face the brunet, he smiled widely, obviously waiting for a response.

“…and just what am I looking for up here, besides a cold?”

Jounouchi rolled his eyes.  “Follow me.”  With that the blond went to the west side of the building, leaning down on the edge and pointing to different places, explaining what they were, speaking loudly to be heard over the wind.  Dumbly, Kaiba went to stand beside him, looking out over the cityscape.  The lights sparkled off into the horizon, painting a picture of Domino that Kaiba couldn’t admit to ever having seen from his office window.  It was breathtaking, and a sight he’d have to look at more often when he worked late, but he was infinitely more interested about why he was there to start with – why, in a relationship where acts of kindness were optional, Jounouchi would do something so random for Kaiba.

Eventually the blond’s banter wore off, and they were left standing side-by-side, shivering in the winter wind, but neither leaving to get their jackets, nor moving closer for warmth.  But as Jounouchi had been the one to initiate the silence, he was also the one to break it.  “Do you like it?”

Kaiba hesitated to admit that he did.  “Does it matter if I like it?”

“Ah,” Jounouchi tapped his fingers rapidly on the cement he was leaning on, hesitating as he said, “I noticed you like things up high, and I couldn’t see a building higher than Kaiba Corp.  And Domino is always prettier at night – I thought you might appreciate it.”

“Hmm.”  Maybe Jounouchi didn’t care to try for a better answer, or maybe he just didn’t know what to stay, but whatever the case, he dropped the topic, instead fixating on some twinkling light too far off into the city for Kaiba to discern.  He didn’t seem to notice the brunet studying him, wondering…  Either that, or he didn’t care.  “Are you unhappy, Jounouchi?”

Blond hair whipped up against the wind, and was quickly forced back, leaving Kaiba to face brown eyes blinking owlishly.  “What?  No, I – ”

“Then there’s something you want.”

“No, I just – ”

Kaiba smirked, crossing his arms and leaning his weight on his elbow, supporting himself on the building.  “Then – ”

“Drop it already!” Jounouchi snapped, looking away from Kaiba in a movement just as forceful as his words.  “I just wanted to give you something you’d like, and – ”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Jounouchi retorted, shrugging.

“Why would you give me anything?” Kaiba elaborated, shifting his weight again so he could face the twinkling lights in the distance.  Their better conversations went without eye contact, anyway.  “What reason could you possible have for that?”

It was hard to tell in the scant light atop the building, but it seemed to Kaiba that Jounouchi was blushing.  “I…  I just wanted to,” he mumbled.  “Seemed right and all.”  He looked back out into the city.  

Once again, he left Kaiba stumped; all that talking, and he hadn’t made sense of anything at all.  “But that doesn’t answer my question.  You did it because you wanted to – but why did you want to?”  He made a point of looking at Jounouchi, and jabbing him so he would turn and look at him.  It was hard to tell in the scant light, but he was pretty sure that Jounouchi was blushing.

“I… I figured that if we’ve been… sort of together for so long, that maybe it’d be nice to do something you’d like.  Look, if you don’t like it – ”

“I do.”  

“Huh?”

It was his turn to look somewhere, settling on a fading neon stripper sign, so small that he almost couldn’t read it.  “I said I like it.”

They fell into silence again; not for the first time, Kaiba wondered what was going through Jounouchi’s head.  It was one of those more personal curiosities that he never voiced, and in return never had to answer for – it’d be a damn shame to ruin a good system.  But for once, it seemed like a decent shame not to wonder either.  “What are you – ”

“I’d take you higher, if I could.”  The words were quick, clipped, spoken like he had to say them before they were lost.  Jounouchi took an audible breath, deep and shaky; he sounded as though he wasn’t sure he should’ve spoken at all.  “If I had wings, I’d fly as high as you wanted.”

As high as he wanted.  Kaiba couldn’t fathom that – he didn’t think in terms of what he wanted, and other people didn’t do things based on what he wanted.  It seemed like an overly sentimental way to look at life, especially a life involving himself and Jounouchi.  Smirking, he said, “What if I wanted you to fly so high that you burnt your wings?”

Jounouchi didn’t flinch, didn’t even look away from the skyline: “Then I’d burn ‘em.  You’d be happy, right?”

Kaiba laughed – he didn’t have a better reaction to such a strange question.  He looked at Jounouchi’s face; his forehead was creased in thought, and he was still focused on the horizon.  He was good looking like that, in the dim night-light of Domino, above it all.  He reached out, fingertips brushing rough hair, and Jounouchi turned away.  Kaiba frowned, reached forward and gripped Jounouchi’s hair, yanking his head back – all to make the other teen look into his eyes.

There was the anger he was used to.  “Let go of my hair!”  Yes, there it was, exhibited as freely as always, but held up against the bizarre emotions the blond had been relating… it wasn’t quite so satisfying.  “Got a problem?” Jounouchi snarled, pulling experimentally against Kaiba’s hold on him.

“Don’t look away when we’re talking – you act like you’re not better than a dog – ”

“Kaiba, I’ve had enou—”

Kaiba held up his free hand, speaking over Jounouchi’s protests, “ – and I won’t say anything important to someone who acts like that.”  Their eyes met, and further protests fell silent on Jounouchi’s lips, replaced by Kaiba’s kiss – demanding and urgent, burning far brighter than the lights below them.  Kaiba’s hands moved to touch Jounouchi’s cheeks, framing them as he spoke: “You don’t need wings.  I’m happy enough.”  He released Jounouchi, turning back to Domino at night.  

“I, uh… Thanks.”  Jounouchi’s breathing was heavy, and he turned back to the view as well.  “Me too.”

-end-