Stars, In Your Multitudes [It's always Rival, lbr. Space Station Hours!]

[firstrateduelist]

It's been a good half a year since his trip to the afterlife, and all that it entailed. Kaiba's recovered from the loss by now, and business is back how it was.

Which meant, of course, that he dealt with irritations from time to time. Today was truly a shitshow, with a stubborn negotiator who tried to walk all over him on a business deal. Pity's to them that they're from out of town, because they learned very quickly that the young scion of Kaiba Corporation was not to be tread upon.

They both left without a deal, which would certainly put development on some of Kaiba's interests back by several stages, at least...unless he did the work himself. Which was not so easy these days, when he was mired in the politics of actually being the president of the company.

It's annoying.

It's boring!

Worse still, today's encounter had left him suffering under the influence of alcohol! And for what?! For a deal that had been rescinded?! What's the point of drinking if he doesn't even get a benefit out of it?

Aggravated, he taps his bracer perhaps a little too hard, and begins dictating a text.

Have you ever been to space

It is well past 9:30 on a weekday. That is a weird question to be asking of one Yuugi Mutou, isn't it?

Seto Kaiba doesn't give a good goddamn if it is. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO SPACE YUUGI?

Comments

[firstrateduelist]

"...Do you get airsick? Don't you dare throw up in my jet."

Kaiba seems pretty irritated at the thought that Yuugi might vomit in the jet, this is his BABY!

...That is, it was a very expensive jet, and he had no interest in having to get it professionally cleaned!!! NOTHING ELSE!!!

[puzzleshounen]

"If I got airsick, Battle City would have gone much differently," he said, "just... went a bit fast for a minute, that's all."

He was okay.

Very okay.

Just thinking about being in an enclosed space with Seto Kaiba, his ridiculous driving, and now the autopilot for an undisclosed amount of time.

[firstrateduelist]

"That's true. It's not as if the blimp was a smoother flight."

To be fair, the autopilot is doing a lot better than Kaiba would be at this time, not that he'd admit that. But it's a short flight in the Jet anyway, so they might as well talk to each other.

"Tell me 'bout your game," he says, and he almost sounds sober. But he's really not.

[puzzleshounen]

"My game..."

Something else to think about... good. He needed that. Especially with the circumstances, the ASMR voice, Kaiba's sobriety...

...

Everything.

"Oh! It's uhhh. It's a strategy game that's built on a spherical grid; imagine two or more players summoning monsters and battling it out for supremacy.

There are different modes where the players can be as complex and simple as they like; you can either focus on the simple act of conquest, you can manage the granular details of every area and unit, or somewhere in between. I wanted to make it where it was accessible to everyone's play style. The primary prototype works on the more complex variant, which can be scaled back as development needs allow. I know feature creep is a problem in game development, so I wanted to solve that problem by making the most 'complete' system first."

[firstrateduelist]

"Strategy, huh..."

Kaiba uses the cockpit dome to his advantage, glancing at Yuugi in curiosity as he explains the general rules. Just from the simple explanation, it sounds intriguing. More than that, it seems well thought out, enough that he's surprised Yuugi's holding the idea even now.

"Too bad you don't have the files with you now. My space station's good for...that kind of thing."

Thinking. Tinkering. Working things out, really. Even though, y'know. He also used the supercomputer to solve the Millennium Puzzle in hours. They don't have to talk about that.

[puzzleshounen]

"I have them," Yuugi said. "I, uh. Always take my latest version with me... and barring that, I back up the latest commits on the KCHub Repository database."

KC servers were safer than any other; the repository was an industry standard. Even companies like Schroeder Corp used them in their games division.

They had to pay a premium, of course. Individual devs like Yuugi had access to the repository for free.

[firstrateduelist]

"Oh."

Oh? Even he realizes how silly that sounds, and so he adds, "Well, then you can show me. If you're using my tools then I have the right."

As always, it's about Seto Kaiba, and not Yuugi Mutou. But hey, at least he's showing interest right? That's a win, in some manner!

[puzzleshounen]

"You want to see it?" Yuugi asked.

This should.

Not excite him. This should not make him excited, he wasn't ready he wasn't ready the game wasn't ready it was still in prototype and he wasn't ready to do the pitch yet he'd wanted to wait until it was far more polished to pitch it to KC AAAAAAAAAA

"I'd love to show you! The only person I've been playing is myself, and the AI is still being worked on, so having a live player for a playtest would be perfect! Especially if that player is you! After all, I designed the game specifically for Kaib--"

He coughed.

Ahem.

Maybe he shouldn't have said that part out loud.

[firstrateduelist]

Good thing Kaiba's not steering the jet at the moment, because something about Yuugi laying praise upon him like that while showing excitement about presenting his idea to Kaiba personally was doing something to him.

The warmth of the alcohol was already something he couldn't ignore, but the pride that seems to catch him alight from the inside out? Even more potent. He can't stop himself from grinning, really.

"Of course you designed it with my systems in mind, who else would you have run to? There's no company that can match what KaibaCorp does!"

He's practically preening.

[puzzleshounen]

The positive response, in turn, bolstered Yuugi's confidence. Because of course it did! Having Seto Kaiba not think he was being cringe or clingy for wanting to make his game for his company was something of a relief!

"Exactly!" Yuugi practically bounced on his feet, "KaibaCorp's infrastructure is the best in the business, and who better to work with me on my game than my favorite person to play with?! I wouldn't even enter tournaments if you weren't in them!"

Aha. What a thing to admit.

The most normal thing to admit.

Yup.

[firstrateduelist]

"...What?"

Okay, that one he couldn't quite let go. Like, go off Yuugi, of course that's legitimate, Seto Kaiba's the only real challenge in your life! But also: to just out and say it like that, it's a little much, isn't it?

"You mustn't play in too many tournaments then. Because I'm busy lately," he says, kind of circling around the awkwardness of the statement while still accepting the compliment.

[puzzleshounen]

Shit. That was weird, wasn't it?

Okay, okay.

Play it cool.

"Yup," he said, "No tournaments lately. No reason to go."

Because he wasn't there.

[firstrateduelist]

"You could be usin' them to stay sharp," Kaiba answers back blandly. In truth, he knows he'd be jealous of his inability to participate. It isn't as if he doesn't wholeheartedly devote himself to his work because he wants to, but even if he wants to do something else, the needs of his business have grown to be more important than the cards themselves.

It's not like he can just take a vacation, that'd be ridiculous. Everything with purpose, nothing frivolous.

Except...you know. This.

"Tch."

He prods at one of his screens in annoyance, and then lets out a sigh, before quietly murmuring:

"I miss the game."

[puzzleshounen]

"I could..." He agreed.

He could go, but he had other things to think about. He had the shop to look after, his grandfather to care for as he went up in years. He had his own game to think about, and the future that he was building for himself.

He didn't have time to play in the way he wanted, but...

He wanted to.

"And I...miss it, too."

I miss you.

"I've been busy, too. My game, the shop, and everything. Don't have as much time on my hands as I used to."

[firstrateduelist]

Kaiba thinks to himself, as he considers Yuugi's words, how he never walked with them during graduation. How it was Yuugi who gave the speech to their class, and not him.

Of course it would have been ridiculous. It didn't matter that he was the smartest one in their class and was tapped to give that speech himself, which he declined. It didn't matter that he was still a teenager. He didn't have time for the regular lifestyle of the high school student. His diploma was mailed to him.

Graduation day? He was elbows deep in negotiating a deal for upgraded circuitry for his Duel Disks.

Mokuba had been upset with him, of course. They had both always pushed each other to try and live a normal existence. Both had failed each other in those respects, but at the very least, Seto managed to keep Mokuba in school far longer than he kept himself.

Ugh. Why is he thinking of this now? It's never mattered! It wasn't important!

"Right..." he finally responds, too late though. Yuugi probably knows something's up. Damn it.

"We can play a game up there. In space. Almost there anyway, we should plan accordingly."

Schedules. Meeting. Planning. Nothing to chance. That's his way.

[puzzleshounen]

It did matter, though.

It mattered to Yuugi, though he never said it. It mattered to Yuugi that Seto wasn't there standing next to them at graduation, because he deserved to stand there, too. He deserved to make that final speech -- probably something about KaibaCorp, he'd joked, even as he tried not to let the disappointment show -- instead of Yuugi.

But he did his due diligence and gave the speech to the best of his ability, hoping that he'd at least see Kaiba once in the crowd, to hear him. To give him his silent approval (or even disdain) or something.

But...

He was clearly thinking about something. Was it work? What was it...?

He knew better than to ask, but he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow for a moment before schooling his face in his usual friendly smile.

"Yeah. Honestly...I can't wait to play with you. It's been too long."

[firstrateduelist]

"At least it'll be a proper challenge," Kaiba agrees, before letting out a hum of approval. He can see the ground station now, and so he reaches to the controls.

"I'm taking over again. The landing might not be as smooth as I'd like."

His head's a bit fuzzy, but he's still more than capable of landing. Just watch. There's a shudder as he cuts the autopilot and tries to even out the flight under his control. That's definitely not frightening at all, he's sure!

[puzzleshounen]

Noooope. Not frightening in the least!

See, this is normal! Look at Yuugi's hands, turning white on the armrests as he leans back in the seat, eyes jammed shut!

That is the face of a man who is definitely fine and not nervous at all.

[firstrateduelist]

Nice.

Isn't Yuugi supposed to have faith in people? Seriously...but Kaiba ignores him, because he's too busy landing a jet, and he doesn't have time to worry about a coward's fears.

Anyone should know by now that Seto Kaiba will not harm his prized jet. Case in point, despite the turbulence, his landing isn't much more terrible than landing a plane in shitty weather. Sure, it's a bit jolting...but also, he could have done worse.

At least they're on the ground again. Right?

"There. Now get out," he says plainly, opening the cockpit to let Yuugi do just that.

They're now located on the ground station island that leads to his space station, which yes. Has a tube leading to space. How is that possible? Because Kaiba.

[puzzleshounen]

Look, don't blame him. He's been on a private jet flown by the most simultaneously icy and bombastic man he's ever met a grand total of a few times in his life, and when the man's drunk you couldn't help but be nervous, all right?!

With a hard swallow, Yuugi started to climb out of the jet.

Deep breath.

Okay.

...

He was just going to go to space! With Seto Kaiba! In that giant elevator!

...

Great, Yuugi nearly fell out of the plane. Wonderful clumsy landing; cats would be envious.

[firstrateduelist]

It might be of some consolation that even though Kaiba lithely exits his own seat with a quick jump, it's not one of his most gossamer landings as one foot slides out slightly, causing him to very nearly take a knee.

"Tch."

He straightens up quickly, then leads the way towards the station door. His pathing is a little bit, uh.

It's not...straight. Seriously, he should not have been driving a jet.

[puzzleshounen]

The fact that he had been able to? And get them here safely?

Strangely impressive.

(Of course it was, he wasn't in the jet anymore--)

Terrifying, but impressive.

Yuugi scurried behind him, making sure to keep a bit of space so he didn't crowd him so far in. Would this be okay, being in confined space with a guy who was this drunk?

Yeah. Should be fine.

Would be fine.

Yup.

[firstrateduelist]

Oh, if he thinks that's bad, just wait until he sees how they get to space in the first place, because here's the kicker--there's only one seat.

One.

Kaiba approaches the door, slaps his hand on the biometric scanner, and then reveals this very truth to Yuugi. Even more audaciously, he takes a seat in the chair at the center of the room and stares at Yuugi expectantly.

"Come on. Let's get this over with," he says flatly. "And try not to vomit in the chamber. You said you wanted to go t'space, right?"

Kaiba...what the fuck?

[puzzleshounen]

....

There was only one chair.

There was only one chair. Was he crazy?! Did he...Did he really expect Yuugi to just...sit on his lap? What if things got awkward? What if Kaiba got really into it and ended up poking him in the butt without him being able to move?

What if Kaiba hated it and threw him off while they were going up the space elevator with literally only one chair?

What if...

"You want me." He said after a moment. "To sit in your lap."

You know. Just making sure he's seeing this correctly.

[firstrateduelist]

Kaiba lets out an annoyed sigh.

"I'm not lettin' you run my very expensive space elevator alone, no matter if the trip is short or long, so I'll tolerate you here--"

And at that, he spreads his legs wider, so as to give Yuugi ample room away from between them as possible, which is, in his opinion, VERY FAIR, because look at All That Space.

"--for as long as it takes to get up there. Is this not satisfactory for you? Sometimes, Yuugi, sacrifice must be made."