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Desideratum	By : Ykarzel Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 6880 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Title: Desideratum: Denouement 2/9

Author: Ykarzel

Rating: NC-17

Pairing(s): eventual S/J

Beta: Shadow Laura, Sonja, Benniepoo

Spoilers: no

Disclaimer:
Seto and Joey are not mine, Mokuba is not mine, Jason and Ashton
are.
The Giving Tree - Copyright � 1964 by
Evil Eye Music, Inc.
No money is being made from the allusion
to this book.

Denouncement
n.: the
final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.

Jason was sitting at Joey�s desk when Seto walked in. Seto wondered mildly if Joey ever actually
sat in his own desk. He hesitated in the
doorway a minute, watching. Jason was
writing on a notepad on his knee.
Doodling, Seto guessed, by the way his hand moved sporadically.

�Joe?�

�Hmm?� came a Joey�s voice.
He was sitting in the chair against the wall beside Seto, blocking him
from view.

�Why are you so stuck on this Seto guy? I mean, I know you love to help people, but
you�ve never given somebody every afternoon for a whole week. Even emergency appointments only last for a
few hours. It�s just not like you.�

�I�m not allowed to talk about my patients, Jay, not even to
you.�

�I�m not asking about your patient, I�m asking about you.�

Joey paused at that.
�You�ve gathered we�ve know each other from childhood?�

�Based on the way his brother talks to you, yeah.�

�He was the first person I wanted to help. I can�t really give you details, but I
couldn�t help him. I�ve thought a lot
about it since. Now that I�m finally
getting the chance to do what I was inadequate at years ago, I don�t intend to
let it slip away.�

�Damn, Joe,� Jason said, looking up from his drawing at his
friend. �Are you getting attached?�

Seto heard Joey laugh.
�Come on, Jay, you know I always get attached in the beginning. That�s what makes me tick. Besides the fact that I knew him and what he
needed before he came in here, there�s nothing different.�

�If you say so,� Jay said, looking back down.

Seto chose that moment to walk in. His eyes went to Joey instantly. The blonde was spread out in a chair,
attempting to use it as a bed, and looking rather tired. �Hey Seto,� Joey said, pulling himself out of
his seat.

�Sorry I�m late, I came straight from work,� Seto
answered.

�Don�t worry about it.
We�ll be in room two today.�

Seto paused. �There�s
more than one?�

�The hallway you were in yesterday, all those rooms are
ours. There are eight in total. We�ll probably only use one, two, and
eight. The rooms are different in order
to accommodate different needs.�

Seto couldn�t think of a more intelligent answer than �Oh,�
so he stayed silent. Joey walked over to
his desk and took Jay�s notepad away from him.

�Stop doodling Ash�s name in hearts and get back to
work. If you aren�t doing anything for
me, you should at least be studying for your upcoming test.�

Jason whined. �But
Joe!� Joey whacked him on the top of the
head and Jason laughed. �Fine, fine,
fine. Be that way.�

Joey put a hand on the small of Seto�s back and led him into
the hallway. Every entrance way in this
place had doors, and Seto had yet to see another patient. Though, in light of the conversation he�d
just overheard, there was a reason for that.

�What were you and Jason talking about?� he asked. Maybe he could catch Joey in a lie, and prove
the blonde was full of shit.

Joey opened the second door in the hallway without
answering. The room was rather different
than the first. Though it had the same
window and curtains, it was decorated in soft blues and missing what would typically
be considered furniture. Instead, bean
bag chairs, blankets and two mattresses covered in sheets covered the
floor.

Only after Seto was inside and the door was shut did Joey
answer his question. �Jason was asking
me why I was making so many special exceptions for you. I was attempting to explain a little bit of
our history without telling him anything about you. Now stop testing me Seto, I�m not going to
lie to you.�

Seto probably should have been angry that the blonde had
caught him in his attempt, but instead he was mildly amused. He hoped it didn�t show on his face at all.

�Did you do your homework?� Joey asked, turning to face
him.

Seto nodded, reaching under his suit jacket and removing a
book. It had a tattered green
cover. He handed it to Joey.

�The Giving Tree?� the blonde asked. He had to admit, he hadn�t expected that from
Seto. Not that he doubted it was Seto�s
favorite book, but he doubted Seto would be honest enough to actually bring in
his favorite book. And he wouldn�t have
brought a children�s book if it wasn�t his favorite.

�I�ve liked it since childhood.�

�I�ve never read it.�

Seto looked at him as if he had turned orange and sprouted
mushrooms. �Never?�

Joey shrugged. �I
didn�t read as a kid.� He sat the book
down on the nearest bean bag chair.
�Please take off your jacket, you won�t be comfortable.�

Seto did as asked; it was stiflingly hot anyway.

Joey sank down into a bean bag chair, and gestured for Seto
to do the same on the mattress. �Go
ahead and lay down. This is just another
relaxation exercise.�

He sighed with relief as .
He�d been on his feet all day, attempting to run back and forth between
rooms and various idiots and wondering why he hadn�t hired somebody to do that
part for him. Somewhere along the line
he�d forgotten he wasn�t still sixteen.

�So, tell me why this is your favorite book.�

Seto pillowed his head on his arms. �I used to read it to Mokuba when he was
little. I found it while searching for a
book last night. I still remembered
every word. And, it made me think of
what you told me yesterday. So I figured
it was as close to a favorite as I would get.�

�The Giving Tree,� Joey read again. He opened it to the first page. The edges were no longer quite straight and
dirty little fingerprints decorated the page.
Somehow, knowing they belonged to Seto�s dirty little hands made him
feel strangely endeared to the man.

�There once was a tree�� began Joey.

�And she loved a little boy,� Seto finished. He sat up just enough so that his words were
clear. �And every day the boy would come
and he would gather her leaves and make them into crowns and play king of the
forest.� Seto paused in order to let
Joey turn the four pages in order to catch up.

Joey made no objection to Seto reciting it rather than him
reading it. He did, however, stand up,
and motion for Seto to move over. He lay
down beside him so they could both see the art work. Seto didn�t look, though. He turned his face away from Joey as he read,
but he knew when to pause and wait for Joey to turn the page.

Joey noted that Seto was used to speaking aloud. His voice was crystal clear and pleasant to
listen to. As the story grew sadder,
Seto�s words began to slow.

�And so the boy cut down her trunk and made a boat and
sailed away. And the tree was
happy...� Seto stopped.

Joey waited for Seto to continue, and when he didn�t,
stepped in. �But not really.�

�I always stop there,� Seto said. �I don�t read the end.�

�Why?� Jou asked, closing the book.

�The boy is happy without the tree, and she�s happy he�s
happy. We don�t need to know that she�s
not really happy. She�s happy. She�s a parent. You don�t make them come back, you let them
go and love them unconditionally and you�re happy for them.�

�Do you miss Mokuba while he�s away at law school?�

�Of course I miss him,� Seto said, standing up. He turned so he could look down at Joey. �But I�m still happy for him, and I don�t
want him to come back to me.�

It started with a wave of nausea, like always. Panicking, Seto spun around so that Joey
couldn�t see him and clamped his eyes and mouth shut. Why here and why now? He felt himself begin to sway and tried to
clamp down on that too, but it only caused him to shake rather violently.

Then came the wave of despair, coupled with loneliness. Tears pooled unbidden in his eyes and brimmed
past his clenched lids, but did not fall.
He was at war inside himself.
Part of him knew he wasn�t actually upset enough to warrant this behavior,
but the other part was irrational and at the moment had most of the
control. He was alone. For reasons he couldn�t remember, he knew he
had to stay still, to stay standing, but his shaking knees were about to give
out.

Arms surrounded him.
His knees did give out, but he didn�t fall to the floor. He was lowered slowly onto something
soft. A hand cupped his face.

�Shh, Seto, calm down.�

That was all it took for it to break. He was laying in Joey�s lap, nearly like an
infant. He could think clearly now, but
he was still shaking and he had to blink repeatedly in order to get the liquid
in his eyes to go away. He refused to
call them tears.

Joey was stroking Seto�s hair. �It�s over now.�

Seto flushed red. Not
that there was anything he could do about it yet, but this had to be the most
embarrassing position he�d ever been in.
Joey saw his distress and smiled, but not in an unkind way. �Seto, I�m your doctor.� He leaned down to kiss Seto�s forehead. �You don�t need to be embarrassed around
me. Besides,� he went on, continuing
stroke the brunette�s hair. �This type
of affection and proximity is our goal.
So don�t be embarrassed and don�t fight it, just close your eyes and
relax.�

Knowing he wouldn�t be able to speak without stuttering for
at least another minute, and he wouldn�t be able to walk without falling for at
least another five, Seto shut his eyes.
Not because he really wanted to relax, but because he wanted to wish
himself away from anywhere but here.

�Your book made me think, Seto,� Joey said. He stroked Seto�s cheek lightly. In reality, it was a lucky break Seto�d had a
mood swing in his presence. Otherwise it
probably would have taken them months to reach this point. Though it would probably take a week to get
back to this point again, it was still a huge amount of progress.

�It made me think that I should be more careful. I tend to give people stuff without
thinking. If I don�t watch it, I might
turn into a stump.�

Seto snuggled into Joey�s stomach, as if to protest him
turning into a stump, but Joey knew that the brunette was just already asleep.
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Desideratum