The Seven Year Itch

Title: The Seven Year Itch 1/3

Author: Velvetina

Rating: NC-17

Pairing(s): Seto/Jou, Jou/OC (Slight)

Beta: Daisey **Huggles**

Spoilers: None that I know about.

Disclaimer: As much as I would love too sadly none of this belongs
to me.

Summary: `if someone who is in a permanent relationship gets the
~seven year itch~, they become restless with their relationship
after about seven years and often want to start a sexual
relationship with another person'…Will Jou succumb to the itch?

****

Jounouchi Katsuya sat behind his desk staring blankly at his computer screen which, by some coincidence, happened to be blank too. He was supposed to be working on his latest article for the newspaper, but the words just wouldn't flow. His mind was centred on the events of the evening before; they'd unsettled him more than he'd cared to admit.

***
At eight in the evening Jou dove for his phone as it finally rang, "Where are you!?" he howled.

"Jou, I'm really sorry, but a crisis came up and this was the first chance that I've had to come and call you." His lover's voice held a soothing quality, but Jou wasn't in any mind to pay attention.

"Dammit, Seto, you know I'm normally understanding about this sort of thing, but today's our anniversary." Jou bit his lip as he thought of the food rapidly cooling on the dining room table.

"I know, but like I said, it was an emergency. At least it was only the seven year one, and not one of the bigger dates…right? Please, Love, you know I'd be there if I could."

"Not one of the…" Jou trailed off, momentarily speechless, "Are you saying that just because it isn't one of the typically celebrated numbers, this anniversary isn't important? That we shouldn't celebrate making it another year after our decidedly rocky start?"

"No, Jou. That's not what I'm saying!" Seto sighed on the other end of the phone, "I just meant that I'd rather miss this one than our ten year anniversary, for example. Of course I'm delighted that
we've made it another year, but I have a responsibility to my business that I cannot ignore."

"So what time ~are~ you going to get home?" Jou felt a drop of moisture start to roll down his cheek.

"I don't know, Jou. Things are a real mess here; I'd suggest not waiting up for me, though."

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow." The blonde said shortly and hung up. Damn that company of his, he thought viciously, I swear that, if he could, he'd shag that building rather than me. Now I'm left here sitting on my arse again, waiting for him.

Suddenly Jou's head rose. Who said that he had to sit and wait? He could go out and enjoy himself; he could go clubbing and be back before his errant lover even noticed that he was missing.

With his mind made up, Jou stood and dashed towards his bedroom. He hadn't been out clubbing an ages, mainly because Seto didn't enjoy it and complained if he went too often with his friends. Flipping through his wardrobe, the blonde considered his options. Whilst he wasn't looking to hook up with anyone tonight- he wasn't stupid enough to cheat on Seto- he also wanted to look as good as possible.

Once he'd made his selection, Jou carefully laid the items on the bed- a habit he'd picked up from Seto- before heading into the bathroom for a shower. While he waited for the water to heat up Jou stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were still red from the tears he had shed and the tracks showed clearly on his cheeks. With a shake of his head, Jou stepped under the cascading spray. He was going to have a good time tonight and that was that. He was going to forget about Seto and that stupid company and have a good time.

Soaping up, he gave a soft sigh. Deep down he knew that Seto loved him; it was just that recently he'd felt edgy about their whole relationship. They'd been together a long time and they almost seemed to have fallen into a rut- emotionally as well as sexually. Jou had found himself staring at other men while he was out, wondering what it would be like to bed them… whether it would be better with them than it was with Seto because it would have that spark which surrounded a new relationship. And what terrified him all the more was that he couldn't help wondering if Seto had those thoughts too. It was one of Jou's main insecurities. His lover was Seto Kaiba for God's sake- one of the most lusted after men in the entire world. And yet, he'd been chosen over all of those people. Even after all of this time Jou couldn't help but ask the question why. Whenever he posed this question to Seto, the brunette simply shrugged and stated, "You are the one my heart settled on." And whilst Jou appreciated the unusually romantic response from Seto, it didn't really answer his question.

Well, whatever was or wasn't going on, Jou wasn't going to let such melancholy thoughts stop him from enjoying himself tonight. Mentally he flicked through his options and settled upon visiting the club that had just opened- `Gravitation'. The name of it pulled Jou to it for some reason, and he smirked at his own pun before stepping out of the shower.

Grabbing a towel, Jou roughly rubbed himself down before sauntering back into the bedroom. Moving over to the bed, he pulled on a pairnof dark denim jeans with a white tiger motif embroidered up the left leg. As he tugged them on, they fitted to his long legs like a second skin. Next he slid on his black silk shirt, leaving the top three buttons undone, and then sat on the edge of the bed to yank on his large buckled combat boots- a fashion statement he'd picked up from Seto over the years. As a final touch Jou clipped his yin and yang necklace around his neck and then moved over to the mirror to assess his appearance.

The blonde gave a wide grin. "Not bad," he murmured. "It's a simple look, but not bad at all." Jou ran his fingers through his mostly dry hair, making the strands fall into the style he'd sported since he'd been a teenager. With a toss of his head, he walked out of the door and proceeded to leave the house.

An hour later, Jou was sitting at the bar in Club Gravitation. The bouncer had recognized him as Seto Kaiba's partner and had let him skip the queue. Finally the flustered looking barman bounced up to him, "Hi there. What can I get ya?"

Jou didn't answer for a moment; he merely stared at the boy in front of him. He simply had to be one of the loveliest creatures Jou had ever seen. He had raven hair flowing down to the middle of his back in gentle waves, wide violet eyes that shone with an almost unearthly innocence, and the palest, most perfect skin; it was only the tight tank top that clung to the other's flat chest that convinced Jou that the person in front of him wasn't female.

"Uh, Sir?" A slim hand waved across his field of vision.

Jou shook his head, "Sorry about that; it's been one of those days. I'll just take a beer." The other nodded and quickly ducked below the bar, reappearing a second later, thumbing down the beer bottle.

"That'll be 175 yen please." Silently Jou handed over the money, and felt himself blush as the boy smiled at him before rushing off to serve the next customer. Idly Jou used his thumb to wipe away the condensation from the neck of the bottle as he watched the lad move up and down the bar skilfully avoiding bashing into the other barmen.

Jou nursed his beer for a whole half an hour before the barkeeper that had caught his eye finally made his way back to him. "Something wrong with the beer?"

Jou eyed the dregs still present at the bottom of the bottle, "Nope, just taking my time is all."

"If you drank any slower I'd think you were dead." White teeth flashed, "But it's your choice. Most people just knock their drink back before going to dance is all."

"Dancing is better when you've got a partner, and I'm on my own tonight. I just wanted to get out of the house." Jou shrugged, "I'm having a good time just watching the world go by."

"Seems a shame that someone like you is alone." Brown eyes narrowed as they looked at the raven haired man.

"What's your name?" Jou suddenly blurted out.

"Taisuke, age twenty one and yes, single." `Shit,' Jou mused. `This kid is younger than Mokuba. But the way he's looking at me isn't the way a kid would look.' And it was true; the innocent eyes had darkened, holding a mischievous glint.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Jou…"

"Oh I know who you are," Taisuke butted in. "Jounouchi Katsuya. Famous duelist extraordinaire at one point. Not to mention you were also splashed all over the media when your relationship with Kaiba came out." Jou winced at the reminder of Seto and firmly reminded himself to stay under control, but he let out a mental groan as the other continued. "Always did think you were as sexy as hell on TV. Though I have to say, nothing compares to the flesh and blood version."

"I'm eight years older than you, kid; don't you think that's a bit of a gap?"

Taisuke tilted his head in a cute manner, causing his long bangs to fall over one eye as he smirked. "No, I prefer the older ones. Their experience makes everything better." Jou's jaw dropped, and he barely heard what was said next, "If you wait here for another quarter of an hour, I'll be on my break, and then we can dance."

As he watched the other walk away, Jou told himself that he should just leave. He loved Seto. He didn't need some young, flirtatious boy to dance with him; it was just going to cause trouble. Yet, despite all of his sensible arguments, Jou found himself sitting on the same barstool fifteen minutes later.

"Hey, you're here. Have to say, I wasn't sure you would be." Taisuke's voice came loudly from behind him and Jou jumped. He turned to give the other a piece of his mind, but every coherent thought went out of his head as he stared at the sight before him. The cherry red tank top had been dampened by sweat and clung even closer to the other's well defined chest. The raven haired man also wore a tiny pair of red leather shorts that Jou swore didn't cover the legal amount of skin.

He finally managed to let out a strangled, "Guh…" sound.

Taisuke grinned, "Yeah, that was intelligent. Come on, let's dance." Jou could do little more than helplessly follow the swaying pert arse towards the mass of writhing bodies.

As soon as they reached the dance floor hands locked around Jou's waist, pulling him flush up against a smaller, lithe body. As the music began a low heavy beat around them, Taisuke matched every single pulse with a thrust of his body. Involuntarily, one of Jou's hands crept up to tangle in the mass of ebony hair whilst the other
came to rest on the leather clad butt. Closing his eyes, Jou grinded into the others body, his breath coming out in harsh pants. This was so wrong and yet he felt so good. His leg shifted so that Taisuke was straddling his thigh, and the other obligingly went with the movements.

Breathlessly Jou looked down into wide violet orbs, and he parted his lips to say something. But, before he could get the words out, there was a hot tongue slipping into his mouth and demanding lips pressing against his. Jou gave a low moan- Taisuke tasted nothing like Seto. He tasted like tangy cherries whereas his lover tasted like scotch. Jou closed his eyes and saw a pair of blue flames glaring at him before the look turned to sadness. The blonde felt his blood run cold. What was he doing? Yes he was angry at Seto, but he loved his boyfriend and wanted no other…did he?

Jou tore himself away from Taisuke and stuttered, "I…I'm sorry. I've got to…" Hurriedly turning away, he dashed out of the club.

***