It was about 8:15 in the morning; Seto was working on his fifth cup of coffee and going over various product reports when his intercom buzzer rang. "Yes?" He waited for his secretary to answer, not taking his eyes off the screen as took a sip of the hot beverage. 'A little too hot', he thought as he grimaced at the slightly numb state of his tongue, reminding himself to find whomever had prepared this cup and reprimand them thoroughly later.

"Sir…there's a young man here who's demanding to see you. Should I call security?"

"The name?" Seto asked and waited a few moments for a response.

"Jounouchi."

"I see, send him up."

"Yes sir." Seto looked up from his work a few moments later as two security guards held open the large oak double doors to his office.

"Would you like some help with that?" one of the men asked as the blonde man staggered in a bit awkwardly, trying to balance a large television on one hip with both his arms wrapped around it.

"I can manage," Jou grumbled out as he proceeded to the edge of Seto's desk, behind which sat the brunette, patiently waiting with his arms folded, obviously unfazed.

"I see you've received my gift."

"No shit," Jou huffed as he placed his burden on the lacquered desk top, collapsing into a exhausted heap on the chair nearest to him a second later. "You know I can't accept this."

"Why not? You said your television wasn't working."

"I know that, but I still can't take this."

"So stubborn," Seto sighed and made a few clicks with his mouse. He typed in some text on his keyboard before looking back up at the blonde, who was staring back at him and looking quite irritated. "You're still here?"

"Yeah, I'd like an explanation as to why you think you can send me gifts. I don't need your charity, Kaiba."

"Fine then, I was only trying to be nice." Jou made a face at that comment, as if it was the most absurd concept he had ever heard in his life, "You can just leave it here and be on your way. If you don't mind, I have work to do." Jou sighed as the man turned back to his work, effectively ignoring him. The blonde wasn't even nearly satisfied with the outcome of this little conversation. He had wanted to chew out Seto for even thinking that he needed the bastard to take care of him. So what was this feeling of hesitation?

"How much was it?" Jou spoke up when he made no move to leave, staring down at Seto's fast moving fingertips that were flitting gracefully over the keyboard.

"Hn? The television?" Seto asked, not bothering to look up at the blonde and instead continuing with his work.

"Yeah, I'll pay you back. It seems like a waste of time to have you return it when I was planning on buying it anyway," Jou half bluffed; he had wanted to buy a new one, but it probably wouldn't have been one that expensive.

"I see; I guess that will work." Seto couldn't understand why the blonde couldn't just accept the gift and be grateful, but he decided to allow Jou that one small compromise. Not including the ones for Mokuba, he could count how many gifts he had given in his lifetime on one hand, and not one of them had ever been refused. "The price was 10,000 yen." Seto informed him. In reality it cost about twice that amount, but the brunette felt the mutt really didn't need to know that.

"I guess…I could swing that. I'll have to stop by the bank though." Jou scratched the back of his neck self consciously, wishing that Seto would actually look him in the eye instead of treating him like he was invisible.

"Alright, come by here at 7, I should be done with all my work by then."

"Fine…" Jou got up and prepared to leave. As an afterthought, he turned and asked, "Um…do you mind if I leave that here for now? It's a bitch to carry that thing across town at this time of day." Jou gestured towards the flat screen he had left on top of the CEO's desk.

"I can only imagine," Seto sighed and waved the boy away dismissively. "Until 7 then; don't be late," he repeated, as if Jou had the memory span of a goldfish or some other small animal.

"Yeah, I know, see ya then."

XxX

Jou withdrew the appropriate amount from his checking account with a grimace as he noticed his balance was now dangerously close to zero. It looked like that new car would have to wait even longer. That TV had better be the best goddamned thing he had ever laid eyes on, Jou thought as he began making the hike up to the Kaiba Corp offices.

The secretary in the front office let him into the elevator immediately; Kaiba had obviously informed her of his visit this time. It was nice not to have to go through the hassle of screaming and carrying on until he was allowed up, like he had done the last time. The secretary must have thought so too, as she shot Jou a wary look as though he were a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

"Yes, make sure you get those to me immediately…No I don't think so, just get it done!" Jou had walked in on what seemed to be a tiring conversation. While Seto was on the phone, the blonde made himself comfortable in an armchair while he waited. "I have to go, don't make me ask you again!" Seto snapped when he realized his guest had arrived, slamming down the phone in annoyance.

"Here's the money." Jou placed a wad of cash on the desktop, which Seto picked up and counted it before slipping it into a pocket.

"Alright, my driver should be downstairs by now; do you want a ride home?"

"Yeah, thanks." The brunette nodded and the two headed towards the elevator and into the awkward silence that awaited them. It was different from when they were back at the tattoo parlor, the silence had been comfortable then; now, it was just heavy. "So…was buying that gift for me some sort of twisted payback for me not letting you pay for dinner or something?" Jou finally asked, sure that he had figured out the method behind Seto's warped logic this time.

"What are you talking about? I could care less what you do with your money. If you want to spend it on a meal that I didn't even eat, that's your business," Seto spoke matter of factly, quickly checking his watch then picking his head back up when they reached the bottom floor. "Let's go, we'll be late."

"Huh? Late for what?" Jou asked as he tried to keep up with Seto's long stride, catching a glimpse of the sleek limousine waiting for them outside.

"Nothing, nevermind," Seto snapped before he shooed Jou into the limo, following right behind him and signaling to the driver with a snap of a finger to began driving. Jou yelped slightly from the brunette's forcefulness before he shook his head and made himself comfortable amidst the plush leather interior.

"How do you like the tat?" Seto shrugged at the blonde's unexpected question.

"I haven't looked at it yet."

"What, why not?" Jou asked, mystified. "Are you regretting it now or something?"

"In a way…yes," Seto smirked as if he had just indulged in a very amusing inside joke, one that Jou wasn't a part of. It was sort of like the look he got whenever he drew one of his prized blue eyes at just the right time. It always made Jou uneasy, even after all this time.

"Eh…whatever," Jou shrugged, not up to trying to figure out what the hell was going on in Seto's head. It always lead him nowhere and he only succeeded in making his own head hurt. The blonde turned to gaze out the window, resting his head on an arm, suddenly felling very tired; Seto had that effect on him sometimes. He noticed them going down some streets that he didn't recognize, but he didn't say anything. He assumed that over-paid limo drivers, like Kaiba's surely was, knew all sorts of nifty short-cuts around town.

"We're here."

"This isn't my house," Jou frowned, wondering just what the hell was going on.

"I know." There was that damned smirk again. Jou really did hate that smirk.