A/N: Just a random little short story because I was bored and this was all that was coming to mind. I guess maybe it's a little out of season...but whatever. I'm not waiting five months to publish. So, here we go.

Black Tie Affair

"So, why am I wearin' a bowtie again?"

I sighed at the repeated question. There seemed to be nothing that could please Joseph, and I rolled my shoulders and pretended not to hear that question. It was in these instances that it was best to ignore him, just because there had to be a point where he would stop whining and begin to understand that I knew what I was doing.

All the while as he complained, my hands unconsciously worked at the strip of cloth that I was slowly transforming into a tie. This was such a commonplace movement for me that I hardly noticed what I was doing. I was reading papers in a file instead.

"Seto?"

"Because it suits you better than tie," I told him simple. It was the same answer that I had been giving him all night, yet it didn't seem to really appease him too well.

"I look like a damn penguin. What the hell is with the cummerbund anyways?"

"Because this is a black tie affair and I want you to make a good impression," I replied. He was fiddling with the cummerbund. "At least make it look like you have a little class in you."

"I'd look better in a tie."

"No you wouldn't. I can assure you," but I turned to him as I flattened my tied out and proceeded to pull on my vest and button it up. "All I can see is you looking like a used car salesman, which is not what I want to be seen with."

But he was still in disarray despite the nice tuxedo. I sighed and came up to him, undoing the bowtie. "Have you never done one of these?" I asked.

"Nah. Anytime it was nice I wore some kinda clip-on. Dad didn't really know much either."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Joey made a face, but I ignored him as I fiddled with the bowtie, beginning to retie it with force. "Hey, hey, hey! Stop stranglin' me there! Seriously!"

"When you learn to tie a bowtie correctly, I will stop doing it like I was your mother," I finished, running my fingers out it and pulling it one last time for good measure. When I moved away, he put his hand at his neck and acted as if I had tied a noose around it. I rolled my eyes and pulled on my jacket.

"Do you know where I put my coat?" Joey asked, departing from the kitchen and off elsewhere. I shook my head, both at his question and his behavior. It was a wonder that I put up with it at all.

I continued my reading, waiting for Joey to circle back around and complain either about the fact that he'd lost his jacket, or that he didn't understand why he was wearing the bowtie. Or both. Both was a possibility.

"Seto?"

"Hm?"

"Why aren't you wearin' a bowtie? I don't think I've ever seen ya wear one," he mentioned.

"Because like you wouldn't look good in a tie, I wouldn't look good in a bow." This pointless and incessant arguing was something that I almost couldn't put up with. At the same time, however, I was able to simmer myself down by thinking about how it all seemed the slightest bit endearing and that, at least, made the best impression upon me.

"Ya'd look like a present," he said, and I almost snorted a laugh before stopping myself and replaying the way that he said it in my mind. There was nothing all that funny about it. He was trying to be alluring. "It's near Christmas, maybe ya should put one on for the hell of it."

"This is an important event," I said, not wanting to downplay the foreplay, but there was no choice really. Not in my mind. "I'm not going to make a fool of myself."

I hadn't been watching him. I knew I should have, because he was always unpredictable. When I looked over my shoulder he had taken the bowtie off. "But yer Seto Kaiba. Ya can do whatever the hell you want. Like why not put on one of those white suits with a black tie? Still makes it black tie. Or switch with me, eh?"

"Joseph…"

"Now don't start gettin' your pants in a wad."

I closed the manila folder and tucked it away in my briefcase, closing it as well. In the least this was nothing but a formal event, no actual business needing to be conducted. That was why I was taking Joey with me. It seemed like an appropriate time to take him out of the house, though my relationship wasn't very private seeing as it was hard to keep anything private.

"Why don't you just let it lie and we can get through the night?" I asked as politely as I could which, in all honesty, was me talking to him with my teeth clenched firmly. I gave him a quick grin before turning away.

Next thing I know, he was pulling me back by putting his arms under mine. "Well, that means ya gotta retie my tie."

I wanted so badly to say that this was all okay; say that we didn't have to go; say that we could just go upstairs and strip each other like there was no tomorrow, but I sighed instead and wormed my way out of his grip. "It's easier to just let you go without it. Obviously you don't care enough about my business to wear it." I wasn't giving up, but I wondered how he would react.

"Aw, Seto, don't play that card."

I pulled on my sleeves, turning my cufflinks the slightest bit. I wanted to listen as the guilt ate him up. I could almost hear him simmering inside of the suit. It made me smile the slightest bit. When I turned around, I found him looking in a mirror hanging on the wall, his hands working the bowtie despite the fact that he had no idea how to do it.

"Keep trying Joey, you might get it," I chuckled. He rolled his eyes. "Come here, I'll do it again."

When Joey turned around, he pressed his lips against mine, nibbling my lower lip the slightest. It was when I heard: "Ugh…Nii-sama…do that in your room." I rolled my eyes at Mokuba's comment, especially since I felt Joey's hands groping my behind.

"The dog is just thanking me for doing what he could if he had opposable thumbs," I said, tugging on the bowtie (again) working it quickly.

"We're going to be late," Mokuba said as a secondary comment. I nodded and pulled Joey's jacket from the front, helping him put it on and straightening it.

"Moki, wouldn't your brother look sharp in a bowtie?"

Mokuba started laughing. "Joey…add glasses and a pocket protector and you'd make him a nerd." Joey rolled his eyes.

"Aw, c'mon, I think he'd look good."

This argument continued all the way to the gala, and once we were there, I watched as Mokuba got out and I lingered for a moment, maneuvering my hand to pinch Joey tightly against his breast, grabbing the nipple. "We will discontinue this conversation and you will be cordial while we are here."

"Yeah, yeah…"

I nodded, satisfied.

Unlike most people, my Christmas' were never left to myself. I didn't limit myself in the world of work despite the fact that Mokuba had always been with me (it was mostly in benefit for him, to tell the truth) or the fact that I now had someone else that was waiting for me too. Joseph had an interesting way of being faithful. I knew that I strained a relationship to its breaking points, but he always had a way of holding on. He always found a way to cool down, to not let my incessantness get to him. He dealt with me. I had plainly told him when everything came to late that he would have to deal with everything that I came with, all of the baggage that I had. I put it all out on the table for him; take it or leave it. He just smiled at me and told me that it would be no big deal. I suppose he was flexible.

I had a feeling that our first Christmas would be a little more push that he could take. I found myself especially busy, though there were few employees that were lingering around the corporate building. It made it easier for me to concentrate as the late hour dawned upon me. I looked to the clock realizing that Christmas Eve had almost passed and that I was moving into the joyful time of year. I clenched my teeth and forced myself away from my desk hoping to be home before the clock struck twelve.

As I pulled up, I noticed that there were only two lights on in the house. I sighed and pulled a small gift from my glove compartment. It was a last minute gift, nothing too important to tell but something that Joey would appreciate. I went inside and looked around the deadened foyer and onward. Silence filled the house. I made my way up the stairs, the light coming from my bedroom.

I gently pushed the door open, the present at the forefront. I was expecting a full frontal assault from him. A barrage of expletives because I had gotten home so late and didn't cherish the holiday. Instead, I found my hand falling to my side and my lips twitching upward. There he was, splayed on his side, his head against his shoulder. He was initially stark naked but partially covered up in the comforter, comfortable. The only thing that I could pay attention to was the black bowtie around his neck, a little sloppy but altogether well done.

"Joey…"I shook my head and come up to him, setting the gift down next to him just before I settled on the edge of the bed. I leaned in, craning my neck to try and get a quick kiss to wake him.

"Seto! Seto! It twelve! I'm opening presents with or without you," which this was a yearly occurrence and it surprised me little, but I was a little downtrodden as I saw Joey's eyes fluttered open, looking to me. He immediately moved his hands to the bowtie and straightened it. I smirked.

"Told you that it looked good on you."

He smiled.

A/N: Boredom always has a cool effect. So, I hope you enjoyed.