azurite | [YGO] [Seto x Anzu] I'm Not As Think As You Drunk (Response for Mamono)

rhapsody_dragon requested a ficlet taking place 20 minutes after the end of "The Joke's On You," which I've only released the first chapter of. I have planned out almost all the subsequent chapters (I haven't actually focused on them or published them due to an uncanny latter-chapter resemblance between it and Prophecy Girl, another one of my Battle City fics)

So for your viewing perusal, a snippet from the unreleased Chapter 2 of The Joke's On You... 20 minutes after the end of Chapter 1.

When Joey, Tristan, and Duke Devlin arrived in the main entryway, where Kaiba was supposed to lead them to the dueling arena and the surrounding galleries, Téa was standing by a support beam-- banging her head on it.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..." She emphasized each word with a proper bang against the beam, and it wasn't until after seven more bangs and an exchange of confused glances between Tristan and Joey that the latter boy intervened, sliding his hand between the pole and Téa's head.

So instead of banging her head on the pole, she banged Joey's hand into it.

"Ooooooooow!" Joey howled, snatching his hand away and clutching it closely.

"Huh? Joey!" Téa exclaimed. She had a very tired expression on her face, but her cheeks were still tinged pink. Joey guessed that it was from banging her head against the pole so many times-- she must have caused all the blood in her head to swirl around or something.

Such were the thoughts of Joey Wheeler, who had never excelled in science.

"'Dat was my duelin' hand, Téa! Now you better have a good excuse for banging ya head on da pole, or I'm gonna--"

"His dueling hand?" Duke muttered to Tristan, who nodded sagely.

"Aren't both his hands used when he duels?"

"Hey! I heard dat!" Joey shot back, nudging Téa forward so she wouldn't go on another banging spree.

"What's up, Téa? What was with the bang-fest?"

"Téa! Darling, your face is all red! What happened?" Mai was striding down the same hallway Joey and the others came from, followed by Serenity. It looked as if the two had been talking to each another, as now walking alongside one another.

"Uhm, I..." Téa didn't feel like explaining any exact circumstances, but she couldn't come up with a viable excuse at the moment. Today obviously wasn't her day for explanations, anyway.

But thankfully, before she had to offer one, the object of Téa's thoughts himself appeared from behind an electronic sliding door.

Joey sniggered quietly to himself, remembering Téa's joke from earlier, and leaned down to whisper to her.

"Hehe, if it isn't Mr. Obelisk himself..."

But instead of laughing as Joey expected her to, Téa's eyes met with Kaiba's, and the two both blushed darkly before Kaiba whipped in another direction, facing the approaching Yugi, Bakura, Namu, and "Marik."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on the one who had announced himself as Marik. While he wasn't one so quick to believe the horseradish Isis had been telling him-- let alone the garbage Yugi was known to spout, he did have an odd feeling.

'Something's not right about this.' Kaiba mused, 'But we have to get on with the duels.'

That and, he was hoping for something to distract his thoughts from what had happened a mere twenty minutes ago. But then, thinking about not thinking about it was the same as thinking about it, wasn't it? So in order to think he was not thinking about it, he had to really NOT think about it and...

'I'm getting a headache. I just have to... ignore her. That should be simple. Right?'

"All right, everyone, this marks the first quarter-final of the Battle City tournament. Duelists will take this elevator," he motioned behind him, "to the upper level, and the rest of you," he carefully avoided Téa's eyes and instead met with Joey's, "will come this way to the galleries."

And so Yugi and Bakura broke from the crowd and headed into the elevator, while everyone else followed Kaiba down a side hall.

Téa, for her part, was keeping her eyes trained on her sneakers-- but even then, the hem of Kaiba's almost fluorescent-white jacket, flowing behind him, kept sliding its way into her line of sight... and she kept thinking back...

"Why did you think any of THAT was funny?"

"Because..." Téa murmured, her bright blue eyes shimmering as she met Seto Kaiba's navy ones, "I'm a stupid girl, I do... stupid things."

And with one firm YANK, she pulled the collar of Kaiba's trenchcoat down-- and his entire body with it, pressing her lips against his.

"Ohh..." Téa moaned to herself, shaking her head. "I'm never going to get that out of my head!"

"Get what?" Joey asked, slowing his stride and walking beside her.

"You've been actin' weird ever since you came from yer room, Téa. What's up with you? I know you can't be angstin' over a duel, since you're not in one."

"Hah, Thanks, Joey. It's not a duel I'm 'angsting over,' as you say," Téa sighed. She lifted her head -only slightly, but Kaiba wasn't even looking in her direction.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Joey was silent a moment, and then spoke in a stage whisper, "Did you get a bit TIPSY again?"

Téa gaped at Joey in bewilderment and stumbled, ramming right into the back of Namu-- who turned around and stared at her, a single eyebrow raised in questioning.

"Uh, sorry Namu! I uh... JOEY!" She scowled at him, and lowered her head once more. The moment she dared to glance up, Kaiba's gaze met hers-- and her cheeks turned scarlet again.

They were all waiting outside the gallery elevator, and now, most everyone's gazes were turned on Téa. Joey witnessed the odd exchange between one of his best friends and one of his most hated nemeses-- and the wheels in his head began turning.

'What is goin' on here?'
***
I suppose I should apologize for this being a direct C&P from Chapter 2, but the timing was just too perfect for me to rewrite everything. It's still rather rough, I think, compared to my style of writing nowadays, but since TJOY is low on the list of my priorities, I'm not currently too up on dissecting it and polishing it to a high shine. Still, constructive criticism of any sort is gladly appreciated and welcomed.

Up next:

geniusgirl's request and

guardian_kysra's request.

[YGO] [Seto x Anzu] I'm Not As Think As You Drunk (Response for Mamono)

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