Author's Note: Obligatory Halloween Fic. :| THE SETTING IS SO VAGUE I DON'T EVEN. It's like a cross between Halloween Town from "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and Yu-Gi-Oh!. :| What.
Stitches
Seto jumped slightly as a hand was thrown onto his desk, then glanced up at the person that had thrown it. "I take it that
he couldn't manage to keep your hand on, either."
Joey glared at him and snatched his hand off of the desk, shaking it at him angrily. "Look, Kaiba, I understand you're busy and you're workin' on a lot of other projects, but in the time it takes for ya t' research everything and send me somewhere else for a stitch job, you could do a perfect job of sewin' me back together yourself!"
The brunet sighed and leaned his head in his hand, rubbing his temple slowly. "That may be, but I can't always drop everything and stitch you back together, Joey. I keep researching places so that if it ever happens again—with a foot, or your entire leg, or anything else—you can go there and stop bothering me."
"Maybe if ya scheduled me in around all your other bullshit—" the blond began heatedly, but cut himself off as the door to the brunet's office opened again.
Mokuba skipped in cheerfully. "Hi, Joey!" He frowned when he saw that the blond was holding his detached hand at his side. "It fell off again? …Maybe you should just give up on that hand, Joey."
"I need this hand," Joey replied shortly, but not unpleasantly. "I've tried using my other one. I'm crap with it."
"Hmm. Well, hopefully you'll find someone who can actually stitch it back on properly. Seto, I'm gonna go buy some candy spiders and chocolate crickets. Do you want me to pick up any rum bombs?"
Seto pulled out his wallet to grab some money and shoved it at the younger boy. "As many rum bombs as that can buy, please."
Mokuba raised his eyebrows and whistled. "Someone's trying to get hammered."
"Just go buy your candy," the brunet sighed. The two teens watched him go before Seto turned a glare back on the blond zombie. "Mokuba's right. Maybe you should just give up on that hand. If you use your other hand enough, you'll get used to it and use it just as you would the one that keeps falling off."
"I want to be
complete," Joey hissed, glaring back at him. "This may come as a shock t' ya, Kaiba, but I like havin' this hand. It makes me feel whole. Zombies are allowed that luxury, aren't they?"
The brunet grunted. He supposed they were. "Fine.
I'll call you with the address of the person who'll fix you after I finish this project," he gritted out.
"Project for what? What's more important than my hand?" the zombie exclaimed angrily.
"A better zombie than you," Seto snapped. "You were a failure. We're designing a zombie that is not only scarier than you but…" He glanced at the severed hand the blond was holding and sneered. "…But one that's also more durable."
Joey recoiled as if he'd been physically hit, then huffed and turned his back to him. "A failure. Right. Thanks." He stormed out of the office and slammed the door, then snarled angrily, finally allowing a tear to leak from his eye.
They'd managed to get his tear ducts connected properly. Why couldn't they do that with his fucking hand?
Snarling again, he threw his hand into the trash and stormed toward the elevator.
"Um-! Mr. Wheeler, you're going to need your hand to have it reattached!" the little blonde poltergeist that worked as Seto's secretary exclaimed. She pulled it out of the trash and stood to go return it to him.
Joey growled as the doors to the elevator slid open and stepped inside, turning to glare at her. "Tell that asshole t' shove it up his ass.
You care about it more than he does, and ya didn't even know I was being designed or built!" When she tried to follow him, he pushed the button to shut the doors. "No, just throw it in the trash. It's all that it's worth. I'm a
failure, ya know."
She stumbled to a stop in surprise, frowning. "But you're one of the scariest zombies we have at Hallo—"
"HAH!" the blond barked in disbelief, just before the doors clicked closed and the elevator began its descent.
The poltergeist stood awkwardly, clutching the hand to her chest. "…But you've won the company vote for the last three years," she whispered, ducking her head, then turned to trudge back to her seat.
Not that he knew anything about the company vote, which listed each design of zombie for that year and the winner from the previous year. The margin had been getting slimmer each year, but he still won, usually because while the newer zombies were designed to be scarier, they weren't as capable of moving as he was.
Placing the blond's severed hand into a box, she carefully labeled it so it wouldn't get thrown out and knocked on her boss's door. "Mr. Kaiba?"
"Come in, Karin."
She opened the door and peeked inside. "Are you busy, Mr. Kaiba?"
"I'm always busy. Is there something you need?" Seto asked, not looking up from his computer.
"Um… Mr. Wheeler threw this in the trash. I thought he might like it for when you schedule his appointment for regular maintenance," she murmured, placing the box on the desk.
The brunet paused, staring at the box for a few moments, then used a pen to lift the lid up. He immediately scowled. "He would make his hand flip me off."
Karin blinked, then peered into the box as well. "…I swear it wasn't like that when I put it in, Mr. Kaiba!"
"Of course it wasn't, Karin," he sighed. "He knew what you'd do. He still has some sort of control of his hand, even if it's not attached."
.-.-.-.-.-.
Seto scowled as his phone rang and scooped it up immediately. "Kaiba."
"
Hello, Mr. Kaiba. My name is Inga from the Flesh Tailor's calling to tell you that your zombie has missed his appointment. We would like to know what you want done with this spare hand." Seto blinked. "He… didn't show up?"
"
No, Mr. Kaiba." "…He didn't show up…" He frowned and scratched the back of his head. "I guess, just keep it there until I come pick it up. What time do you close today?"
"
Six o'clock this evening, Mr. Kaiba." "…I'll pick it up at five-thirty, then. Thank you for holding it," Seto said, even though he knew that they were legally required to hold zombies' body parts until the zombie or the zombie's creator made arrangements to get them back.
Hanging up the phone, he frowned and leaned back in his chair. He'd known that Joey had been incredibly mad this last time, but he'd always gotten over it—had always secretly enjoyed throwing his hand at him so it punched him or slapped him in the face when it was detached from his body. Apparently, that hadn't been the case this time. He'd been more upset than the brunet had figured when he left.
Seto picked up his phone again and dialed Yugi's shop. "Damn it, I didn't want to talk to you…"
"
Thank you for calling the Turtle Game Shop! This is Yugi, how may I help you?" "Yugi, is Joey there?"
"
Kaiba-? Uh, no, he isn't. I haven't actually seen him for a while. His hand fell off when he was helping some customers and when they laughed, he asked me to take over for him. When I got finished, he was gone. I don't know where he is." Seto frowned, brows furrowing together in both frustration and confusion. "…I see. You don't even have an idea?"
"…
Sometimes he goes to the graveyard where his dad was buried. He hasn't been there whenever I've checked, but he's got to show up sometime, right?" The brunet sighed. "I guess. …Did you get that order of Razor Operation in yet?"
"
The one where you actually have to cut Cavity Sam open to operate on him? Yeah. …And yes, I have one set aside just for you." "…I'll pick it up tomorrow."
.-.-.-.-.-.
Seto raised an eyebrow as he saw his blond creation sitting in front of a grave, arms crossed over his knees. Tilting his head, he pondered how to approach the zombie, then shrugged and, grasping the hand he'd retrieved from the tailor's, smacked it roughly against the corner of a headstone.
Joey jerked where he sat, jolting upright as he released a keen of pain. "Mother fucker-!
What are they doin'?" he exclaimed, grasping his forearm, then sighed and hugged his arm to his chest. He sighed again and muttered, "…Guess it don't matter.
I don't matter, so it don't matter what happens t' my hand."
Seto frowned as the blond curled tight again, his handless arm pulled close to his chest. Why did he think he didn't matter? Grasping the blond's hand gently, he approached the zombie. "You're worrying Yugi, you know."
"…'course I am." The blond scowled and hugged his arm closer. "I can't do anything right, huh?"
"Well, you certainly can't show up for appointments," Seto agreed, offering him a hand up. "Come on. I'll sew your hand back on."
Joey huffed and jerked his head away. "Don't. It's just gonna fall off again anyway."
The brunet scowled, then sighed and knelt in front of him. "You said yourself that I'm better at sewing you back together than anyone else."
"It's still gonna fall off," the zombie argued, shooting a glare at him.
Seto sighed again. "You know you're going to have to—"
"Ya said so yourself, Kaiba. I'm a failure. Ya knew a zombie held together with stitches would be scary, but ya forgot how quickly the stitches would deteriorate. I'm gonna keep fallin' apart, Kaiba. I don't see a point t' puttin' me back together if I'm just gonna need t' be stitched back together again."
The brunet released an annoyed sigh through his nose. "So what do you want to do then, Joey? If you don't want to be put back together, what do you want?"
Joey glared at his shoes for a few minutes before looking up at him again. "Bust a cap through my skull."
Seto's jaw fell open in shock. "Are you suggesting that I…
kill you?"
"Why not? I was already killed once. Bein' shot in the head would be preferable t' bein' dismembered." The blond scowled. "I'm tired of bein' made fun of when my hand falls off or I lose my foot when I'm walkin'. I'm useful for one day of the year, and the rest I'm just a walkin' joke."
"And your solution to that is to
die?" the brunet asked in disbelief. "Joey, I understand that you're upset, but
really—"
"What does it
matter?" Joey snapped. "You're comin' up with scarier zombies all the time. You don't
need me. …Besides, my upkeep is expensive."
Seto rolled his eyes skyward in frustration and sighed. "…Just because it's expensive for you
doesn't mean it's expensive for me. It's pocket change. Now come on."
"No." The blond scowled and hid his face in his arms. He had to squeal, however, when the older boy reached down between his legs and grabbed his crotch. "What are you doing!"
"If you don't want your hand sewn back on, I can only assume that you won't want
this to tempt you
."
"FINE I'LL LET YOU SEW MY HAND BACK ON JESUS!" Joey roared, blushing, and shoved the brunet's hand away from his man-parts. "Gah! Stupid jerk! I think ya ripped some of the stitches down there…"
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to—"
"NO I'LL GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
.-.-.-.-.-.
"—And what material would you prefer for your sutures today?" the nurse asked, examining the blond's forearm. "We have a large selection, if you'd like me to show you a list."
"I'd like t' see the list, please." Joey took the piece of laminated paper he was handed and examined it carefully, fighting the urge to flinch as his eyes skimmed across the dotted lines to see how much each material would cost—Seto had firmly stated that he would be joining him to see what kept going wrong, and he didn't want the brunet to have the pleasure of seeing him squirm. "Uh, I guess this plain catgut suture is okay." He couldn't help an actual flinch when the brunet sputtered in disbelief.
She smiled at him sweetly. "Alright! I'll go get the tailor and bring the catgut and we'll get your hand fixed up!"
Joey had half a mind to ask her not to leave him when he saw the brunet's eyes glowing red in fury, but he knew it was inevitable, so he merely steeled himself for the storm he knew was coming. As soon as the door clicked closed, he received the full force of it.
"THE REASON YOUR FUCKING HAND KEEPS FUCKING FALLING OFF IS BECAUSE YOU KEEP GETTING FUCKING ABSORBABLE SUTURES!" the brunet roared, eyeteeth lengthening as he stood and snarled at the smaller man. "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!"
The zombie leaned back a little, frowning. "Your company only covers so many charges, Kaiba—"
"KAIBA CORPORATION HAS EXCELLENT COVERAGE FOR ITS ZOMBIES!"
Joey leaned back a little further, shoulders hunching a little as the brunet loomed over him. "N-not after you're let go," he murmured, frowning. "The coverage gets smaller once you're fired, and I've used my own money a few times when it was a big repair, but I don't make enough money anymore that I can afford it every time."
Seto was immediately flabbergasted by his statement; he had so many questions, but he didn't know which to ask first. "…You… fired…? I—wha—whe—ho—Why?"
"…Ya got a new design of zombies comin' out this fall," the blond answered quietly. "I'm not just a failure, Kaiba. I'm obsolete. Your zombies stay in one piece now, and they're more gruesome. I'm not scarin' people as much as I used to. I'm just a big joke now. It's just better that I get outta the way and let newer zombies take their rightful place."
He was surprised by the silence he received for his explanation; he'd quite expected to be thrown down and throttled for complaining. He relaxed a little as the brunet took a few steps back, then looked away, frowning, as he tried to ignore how embarrassed he felt.
"Alright, Mr. Wheeler, I hear you're in for some catgut stitches today!" the flesh-tailor stated cheerfully as he came into the room. "What sort of stitch would you like?"
Joey smiled awkwardly and opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the brunet, who had apparently decided to come out of his stupor. "There's been a change of plans. He wants mostly polypropylene stitches, but stainless steel sutures where it's better for them. Also, he wants a complete resuturing—horizontal mattress stitches, please."
The man blinked at him, stunned. "Complete restitching? That's quite expensive, sir, and—"
Seto's eyes flashed red for a moment. "You clearly have no idea who I am. I'm Seto Kaiba. I can afford for him to be restitched thousands of times."
As the tailor continued to gape, his nurse merely smiled and took his orders in stride. "Alright then, sweetie, let's get you into a gown."
"But—" Joey began, confused.
"Honey, he's paying for an entire body-restitching. Shut up and come with me before he changes his mind," she hissed, grabbing his still-disembodied hand and shoving him out the door.
Seto pulled his checkbook out. "Who do I make it out to? You or the company?"
The tailor could only continue to gape in response.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Stepping off of the elevator, Joey frowned, unconsciously wringing his hands together. He looked at Karin nervously. "He's not gonna chop me t' bits again, is he?"
The poltergeist frowned and tilted her head, giving his question some serious thought. "I don't think so. He's not in the murdering mood, and you know demons—they have to be in the right mood."
The younger boy flinched. "Uh… I…" He paused. "Uh, well, I…" He took a deep breath, then began toward the door. "I guess I'll go in then…" He thought about knocking, then decided it would be best if he just got it over with and face his maker as quickly as possible.
Seto looked up as the doors slammed open and raised an eyebrow, then motioned to the chair he'd had pulled up in front of his desk. "Have a seat."
Joey gulped but sank into the seat nonetheless. "Ya called for me t' meet ya up here, Kaiba…?"
"Yes. I thought I'd explain something to you when I realized how… badly I made something sound to you." The brunet paused thoughtfully, then nodded to himself. "It was pretty awful of me to put it that way—saying that you were a failure and all." He paused, frowning, as he tried to figure out how to explain. "…I meant in a business sense of the word.
"I was young and inexperienced when I pieced you back together and brought you back to life. It wasn't a bad idea, of course. You were quite a scary zombie and you're a hard worker. The only thing I didn't foresee was that you'd be such a success, and I'll admit I was unprepared." He sighed. "One thing about business that you can always count on is demand for a good product. I didn't realize you'd be so good for my first project, so I was unprepared for the amount of demand for you. Another thing I hadn't taken into account was the fact that I couldn't make more of you if you
were a success.
"I could bring back hundreds of zombies, but they'd still have the same personality they'd had before they died. There wasn't a guarantee that they'd all be as scary or hardworking as you, and I have to admit, you were a learning experience… And I learned that I had to use a different system to make zombies for Halloween. You're not a failure because you're not better than the other zombies." He glanced the blond over, pleased to see firm stitches made of a material that wouldn't be absorbed. "You're a failure because you had so much potential and I had no way of seeing it realized."
Joey blushed a little and looked down at arm, picking gently at one of the ends of the stitches. "Oh. I thought—Well. Um… Thanks. I guess." He jumped as the brunet's hand gently grabbed his own, looking up at him in surprise. "Uh-!"
"I didn't pay for you to rip your own stitches out," Seto stated quietly, then took the blond's hand between each of his own. "You really didn't like having these stitches, do you, Joey?"
"Of course not." The zombie frowned and curled his fingers a few times. "…I didn't wanna die, but I didn't wanna come back and be some freak that falls apart because his stitches come loose. Thanks for payin' for me, Kaiba, but I don't wanna depend on ya every time I need t' get my sutures redone."
The demon hummed and licked his lips thoughtfully, then snarled and jerked the blond's head to the side, sinking his fangs into the zombie's firm but warm flesh. He snarled again as the former-human screamed, shuddering with pleasure as the younger boy's agony nearly vibrated through his teeth. Reaching down for the blond's arm—the one that his hand never seemed to want to reattach to—he dug his sharp nails into the smooth skin between the sutures, smearing the blood there to cover the two halves of skin forcibly attached together.
Joey screamed again, trying to jerk away, but the brunet only turned and slammed him down on his desk, sweeping his papers and various office items aside quickly. "Kaiba sto-!" He gasped raggedly as the brunet's teeth sunk deeper, tearing his skin into bloody ribbons as the hand gripping his forearm suddenly burned with hellfire. He choked on the next scream of desperation as he felt his stitches being burned away, sobbing quietly as the demon on top of him ripped away from his neck with a slurp. "Why-!
Why?"
Seto licked the blood from his lips carelessly and lifted the blond's arm to examine it. "…Well, you won't be losing
this hand again."
"Ha… Wha…" The zombie hiccupped quietly, confused and terrified as the demon stroked the skin where his hand had been severed from his arm. "Kaiba, why-!"
"You mentioned how tired you were of having to be stitched back together again and again. Now, you won't have to worry about it." The brunet held up his arm so he could see where he'd burned away the stitches and—for lack of a better word—cauterized the two halves of his limb back together. "It'll scar, and the process will hurt for every part of your body that I do this to, but I can make your body whole again."
Joey lifted a hand to cup his bleeding neck, tears still trickling down his cheeks as he felt the mess that had been made of his throat. "But… but why did ya… Kaiba… it hurts!"
"I thought blood was in this year," the brunet teased.
The zombie huffed awkwardly. "No, blood was in last year. Scars are in this year, ya moron. Don't ya pay attention to the designs of the zombies you create?"
Seto paused, blinking at him in surprise, then turned, kicking aside some papers until he found a folder holding the designs for this year's line of zombies. Opening it, he peeked inside at the designs and frowned when he examined the pictures. The flesh of the zombies was rotted and scarred to hell and back—no pun intended. There wasn't even the smallest fraction of unblemished skin.
He turned his gaze to the younger boy's body and raised an eyebrow. The blond's body, mostly unblemished except for the stitching and a few scars, still somehow managed to exhibit how beautiful it had been before it had been chopped to pieces. …He didn't like the entire-body scarring the new zombies had going on.
"…I believe the scarring will look more attractive on you…"
"Really?" The zombie looked himself over again. "…Maybe you're right. But can we wait until another time t' do another part? That really hurt and I'm tired and I'm gettin' blood everywhere."
Seto glanced at the blond's throat and hummed proudly when he saw the damage he'd done. Leaning back to grab his hand and help him stand up straight, he purred, "Well, I suppose next time I'll just have to distract you with something more… pleasurable."
Joey blinked up at him innocently. "Like what?"
"…Just…" The demon sighed and rolled his eyes, then shook his head and turned to walk toward the door. "Never mind. Come on—let's go get your neck sewn up."
"Ya didn't hafta rip my neck open, ya jerk," the zombie mumbled, but followed him nonetheless. "And can we just leave out the bitin' next time?"
Seto snorted. "I require a blood offering for my powers. Just because your blood is old and stagnant does not mean it is not acceptable."
"Ya needed my blood t' make
fire?" Joey asked skeptically.
The brunet glared at him. "It was
hellfire, not just fire!"
"…Right." Clearly still unconvinced, the younger boy continued to follow him. "Can we just use the absorbable stuff then, if you're just going to rip my neck open again?"
"No, I'm going to use silk," Seto replied, dragging him into the nearest lab/infirmary and forcing him to sit down. "It'll be easier for my teeth to tear through than plastic or wire." He smacked the blond's hand away from his throat. "Now sit still. Oh—I was going to give you full coverage for any repairs you might need, but since I'm burning you back together, there's no point. However, I am giving you back full coverage for any other cosmetic needs you have."
Joey frowned awkwardly. "Uh, could ya give me a little coverage for repairs?" When the brunet gave him a deadpanned look, he blushed a little and glanced away. "…I don't wanna have that fire anywhere near my dick."
"…It would only last a minute—"
"KAIBA, I MAY BE A ZOMBIE, BUT I HAVE THE RIGHT T' PROTECT MY GENITALS."
Seto frowned. With what he had planned for the blond, if he kept the stitches, they'd be restitching his groin every other day. No, it was best to cauterize those back on too, even if he did have to deal with the initial pain. …Perhaps he could do it while the blond was sleeping, and when he was jolted awake, he could soothe him with a blowjob…
The blond scowled at him. "…I don't like the look on your face. What are ya thinkin' about?"
"…Do you like blowjobs?"
"What the hell kind of question is that!"
Seto raised an eyebrow. "A pertinent one." When the zombie glared at him, he hurriedly added, "Execution wise, I don't see how it would work. You have stitches down there."
Joey jerked his head away, trying to hide the blush he felt burning his cheeks. "…They're okay, I guess. But people don't really like givin' em' t' me. They don't like the feel of stitches in their mouths, and one time a girl cut her lip on them. It was really embarrassing…" He scowled again. "BUT YOU'RE NOT DOIN' ANYTHING T' ME DOWN THERE!"
Seto hummed, smirking. "Even if I was willing to give you a—OW!"
"GET THE FUCK AWAY!" the blond roared, kicking him in the stomach.
The demon spent the next few minutes on the floor, wondering how a zombie could be so strong. It would make him more difficult to seduce.
