Adult-FanFiction.org : Yu-Gi-OH

100 Puppies and Dragons	By : ReizOokami Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 8453 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters and I make no money from the writing or posting of this story.

Chapter List
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Author's Note: I just finished power-reading The Help. It was so awesome, I cried. Multiple times. And this is the result of power-reading.

Enthusiasm

Seto tapped his pencil against the notebook in front of him, frowning, and wondered if the blank lines were mocking him or if he was finally going insane. "This is hopeless."

Atem scratched his head and sighed. "We can't go back to them with nothing, though. They'll think they were right, that we were wrong. We can't just give up."

"I know, it's just…" The brunet sighed. "Perhaps we should take a break. Neither of us is coming up with any decent ideas, and it's almost time for lunch." Seto opened his locket and smiled at the picture of his brother before he snapped it closed again. "I promised Mokuba we'd come eat with him today."

Atem blinked in surprise. "In the kitchen? With the help?"

"He hates eating in the dining room. Says it's so big it creeps him out," the brunet replied, standing from behind his desk. "Joey's not so bad. He makes excellent food, keeps the house clean."

"If you say so…" The younger man frowned.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"NYEEK!" Joey blushed as he felt a hand yank on his tail and turned, giving the younger boy a dangerous glare. "You let go of my tail this instant, Mokuba Kaiba."

The younger boy frowned and released it. "But why? You used to let me hold it all the time!"

"Only children or significant others are allowed to hold onto our tails," the blond explained, sighing, and rolled his eyes. "You're ten now. Once ya reach double digits, you're not t' touch a fiend's tail unless they invite ya to. It's like… holdin' hands."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"If you were really sorry, you'd stop doin' it," the blond began, but then the door opened and the raven-haired boy's older brother and cousin walked into the kitchen with them. He blushed and immediately turned back to the sandwiches he had grilling.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Sorry about doing what?" When the blond only continued staring at the sandwiches, he scowled and turned to look at his brother. "What did he tell you to stop doing?"

"I'm supposed to stop grabbing his tail," Mokuba muttered in embarrassment.

The brunet sighed, looking quite annoyed at the news. "You shouldn't be touching his tail anyway. You're ten. You know better. …Besides, you won't even let me hug you goodbye at school anymore. You don't get to grab his tail unless you're giving me hugs."

Joey covered his mouth to hide his smile and turned to begin chopping up some peppers and radishes to put in the salad.

The younger boy whined. "Seto, I'm too old to have to hug you goodbye before school!"

"Then you're too old to hold onto Joey's tail," the brunet replied shortly, sitting at the table. He saw a newspaper and pulled it toward him on instinct. He frowned when he saw it open to an article where a fiend had been beaten almost to death for accidentally using the wrong bathroom. He wondered if Joey knew the person or if he'd only been looking at it because it was another fiend.

He read through the article, vaguely acknowledging that Atem had begun conversing with his brother about school and how hugging wasn't necessarily embarrassing because girls would think he was sweet and caring. He grunted his agreement when his brother asked for his opinion and waved Atem away when he asked what he was doing. After a few minutes of studying the article, he was reminded of when Mokuba was younger—too young to understand the difference between humans and fiends—and had asked Joey what it was like to be a fiend.

Joey had laughed, told him it was like being a human with an extra arm because of his tail. Mokuba had reiterated that he hadn't meant physically, because he'd seen the way humans treated fiends, and he'd noticed that only fiends wearing uniforms showing they were working were allowed in the same grocery store as humans. Joey had faltered, then, smile fading, before finally replying that it was… different.

And that was all he'd mention on the subject.

Seto turned to look at Joey, watched him put a thick, toasted roast beef sandwich on each of three plates with some chips and a bowl of salad. He brought them to the table and placed them in front of each of them, smiled, then turned to shuffle over to the refrigerator where he'd put his own lunch this morning.

And suddenly it struck him, and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Joey, what's it like being a fiend and working for a human family?"

Joey froze, eyes wide and mouth falling open in shock. He turned to look at the brunet and frowned, brows furrowing together. "Sir, I don't think that's an appropriate question t' be askin'—"

"Is it difficult, knowing that one day the child you took care of will one day be your boss?" he continued, as if he hadn't heard him.

The blond grabbed his tail and began playing with the tuft of fur at the end of it in agitation. "It—It's not really somethin' that I—"

Seto tilted his head. "Do you hate humans, Joey?"

Joey opened his mouth, looking terrified and angry and embarrassed all at once. "I… I…" He swallowed, whined, then whispered, "I don't hate humans, sir. But I'm scared of them, because they hate me."

Mokuba immediately frowned. "I don't hate you, Joey!"

Joey smiled, suddenly looking tired. "No one hates their own help, Mokuba. They just hate the idea of them."

Seto leaned his head on his hand, elbow on the table. "So your opinion of humans is—Gah!" He jerked back, holding his arm in surprise and confusion as he felt the stinging throb from being smacked.

"Elbows on the table aren't becomin' for humans, sir," Joey stated, not looking sorry at all for hurting him. He smiled, grabbed his lunch, and walked out to eat his lunch on the steps that led to the kitchen door.

Seto continued to gape.

Mokuba smiled. "Yeah, it hurt the first few times he smacked me with his tail, too. But look! My elbows aren't on the table!" he added, motioning toward the table.

"…Do fiends get to put their elbows on the table?" Atem asked after a moment.

"Of course not. But Joey has told me he didn't understand why people needed to put their elbows on the table anyway. We have spines to hold us up, not tables." Mokuba giggled. "He said if the Creator had intended us to use tables to hold ourselves up, he'd have made us with tables attached."

Seto scowled at the red welt forming on his arm. "This is going to bruise."

"You bruise like a peach, anyway."

Atem turned to raise an eyebrow at him. "What was that all about, anyway?"

"…There are a lot of peace marches and sit-ins going on," Seto replied after a few minutes. "The topics of integration and equality are big news right now." He looked at Atem and shrugged. "I thought, what if we could write a book from the point of view of fiends that actually work close with humans. We hear about the humans that hate the fiends, and the fiends that hate the humans, but what about the fiends and humans that are in close quarters? I only ever hear what humans think about them, never what fiends think about their employers." He looked down at his sandwich. "…It was just a thought."

"…What a thought," Atem murmured, appearing to lose himself in his own thoughts.

Mokuba marveled as his brother ignored one of his favorite sandwiches and Atem dipped his chips in his soda before he ate them because they were so deep in thought and decided if that was what grown-ups were like, he wanted to stay ten years old forever.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Joey."

Joey screeched and jumped, nearly dropping his jug of oil. His dirty rag fell to the floor as he turned to the brunet, brows furrowing together. "You Kaibas and your silent feet, gonna give me a heart attack one of these days. Hope you're happy when ya scare ten years off my life!"

Seto blinked. "…This is my office. You should have expected me to come in."

"Well ya got so many bookshelves I get distracted!" the blond huffed, snatching up the rag with his tail and placing it back in his hand. He sighed, then ducked his head a little. "Is there somethin' I can help ya with, sir?"

"…You know that Atem and I are trying to write a book to get out of our trusts, don't you?" Seto asked after a moment, crossing his arms. "So that we can take control of our fortunes. It's stupid, really, but that's what we get for inheriting a publishing company."

"I know," the blond replied carefully. "And I heard what you were sayin' about a book the other day. But I don't understand how writin' somethin' that people would hate ya for would make it any easier for you t' get outta trust."

"Pegasus said that something hard-hitting was the only way he'd publish our book," the brunet explained carefully. "Any old book would never be good for him. I believe that he would publish this book for us if we wrote it and help us if the lawyers tried to fight it. Besides, I'm honestly intrigued. You've taken care of Mokuba and me for several years, and I'd like to know what you think of me—of us."

Joey tilted his head, blinked suspiciously. He pursed his lips and sighed, then turned to resume oiling the bookcase. After a few minutes, he abruptly dropped his arms to his side and turned to look at him. "Just my story from workin' for you? I hafta say, it's not that interesting. You're good t' me and treat me like a person. Ya couldn't make a story out of that."

Seto looked down at his feet for a moment, then looked back up to meet his gaze. "It's only just now occurred to me that I don't know how old you are, Joey. I don't know how many families you've worked for or how they've treated you."

The blond looked down at his feet, face void of all emotion. "…I'm seventeen and I've been workin' since I was ten. I've had three other human families. You're the longest job I've had." He looked back up at him, frowning. "Those other families might be worth a story, but not a long one. Certainly not a book."

The brunet stared at him for a few minutes, thinking over what he'd said, then asked, "Do you know anyone else that would agree to interviews with us?"

At that, the fiend was immediately offended. "I never said I would do an interview. I just said it wouldn't be a very long or interestin' one."

Seto tilted his head. "So you're saying no?"

"Of course I'm sayin' no! Don't ya know what people would do t' me? T' anyone else that spoke out?" Joey hissed angrily. "They beat that boy in the paper blind. And they're lettin' his attackers go with a slap on the wrist!"

The brunet pulled his sleeve up to show the dark bruise still on his flesh; it still throbbed when he moved his arm too fast. "Considering how Mokuba told me that was agentle slap, the fiends are more dangerous than we give them credit for. If a fiend slapped his wrist, it would break, wouldn't it?"

Joey blushed when he saw the bruise and hugged his tail to his chest awkwardly. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought… You're so much older and bigger, I thought just a little more—You didn't bleed, did ya?"

"As long as we're in trust, our lawyers have the ability to fire you, whether Mokuba and I fight or not," Seto stated, pulling his sleeve down. "If you agree with me, I'll draw up a contract that we can both sign that I won't ever fire you after we get out of trust, but you're free to quit whenever you like."

The blond frowned and looked down at his feet again. "…Job security? For a fiend? Ya really like havin' me around that much?"

"I'm used to you. And Mokuba would throw a fit if anyone fired you, including me." The human smirked in amusement. "Besides, there's something about the way you dust with your tail tuft that's endearing."

Instead of getting offended or laughing at his joke, the blond merely tilted his head. After a few minutes, he looked up at him and raised his eyebrows skeptically. "…I'll think about it."

"Your enthusiasm is completely overwhelming," the brunet replied, rolling his eyes slightly. He yelped as the fiend grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him down to be eye-level with him. "Gah-!"

"If anyone finds out about me spillin' my guts t' ya about my past jobs, they'll lynch me," he hissed, scowling. "They won't hurt you. You're human. Ya just made a mistake—hell, you're an orphan, so clearly ya weren't raised t' treat fiends as what they are. But people will think I took advantage of ya because ya didn't know better.They'll cut out my tongue. They will beat me until all my bones are mulch. They will cut off my tail. If that was what would happen t' you, would ya just agree, or would ya need t' think about it?"

Seto swallowed thickly. "I'd probably need to think about it."

"You're damn right," Joey hissed, looking livid, before his face smoothed into a calm mask and he released him, placing the rag he'd been using to spread oil on his tail and reaching up to smooth his shirt. "Damn, I got oil on ya. Hope that comes out in the wash." He looked up at the brunet and scowled. "I'll think about it. But you gotta think about it too. Think about what would happen t' you and Mokuba and Atem if someone tried t' hurt ya, tried t' split ya up because you're talkin' t' fiends like they're equal instead of less."

The brunet blinked as the blond began unbuttoning his shirt, then immediately shrank back, startled. "I can do that myself!"

"Well hurry up and put it in the sink t' dry, then," the fiend replied, looking annoyed. "I don't wanna hafta pay for ruinin' your shirt!"

"…I have seven more just like this."

"Seven's unlucky. It's an odd number," Joey replied. "I'd still need t' buy ya another one."

"Or we could get rid of another one."

The blond looked up at him, appearing baffled by the idea. "Get… rid of one?"

Seto nodded quickly. "I don't even really like this shirt."

"…Then why do ya have eight of 'em?"

"…Birthday presents. From the same person. Every year."

Joey blinked. "…Have ya ever thought of tellin' 'em that ya don't like the shirts?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever told a woman that you didn't like her gifts?"

The blond immediately blanched. "Oh-! Never mind then!"

Seto watched him scamper back over to the bookcase in embarrassment, frowning as he mulled over what he'd been told. He hadn't realized things were so dicey for fiends. But now that he'd heard what would happen to the fiends if they tried to speak up, it just made him more determined to bring it into the spotlight.

He'd been raised by a fiend, had seen his cousin and brother raised by fiends. He couldn't remember when he'd started seeing fiends as different from humans, but he hated that it had happened. He hated that he knew he was human, and that the fiends were different because they weren't.

He hated remembering that he'd thought as a child that he was just a fiend with round ears instead of pointy ones that had had his tail chopped off in the same tragic accident that had killed his parents. He hated the moment the lawyers had fired the fiend that had raised him and Mokuba and had hired Joey instead, because he wasn't old enough to take a parental role but old enough to do all the things necessary of a maid.

He hated that fiends weren't allowed to be close to humans. He wanted to show that it was unfair, that it wasn't okay that humans and fiends were kept apart. He especially wanted to show that fiends had feelings and shouldn't be treated the way they were.

He'd seen Joey playing videogames with Mokuba, had heard Joey sneak a phone call to his ill sister. He'd watched Joey struggle through a normal day after hearing his friend had been slapped around by his employer and he'd wanted to go to him in the hospital but couldn't afford missing work. He'd heard Joey whisper prayers under his breath as he read through the paper and saw other fiends hurt or taken advantage of.

And he was tired of Joey swinging between haughty and meek because he was naturally feisty but kept trying to stamp it down because he didn't want to be fired for being a smart-mouthed servant. He wanted to see Joey acting like himself, whoever that was, and he felt that perhaps interviewing him for a book like this would help with that.

He just hoped that Joey said yes.
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100 Puppies and Dragons