Chapter 4

"He's a what?" Yami's expression was crossed between stunned and amused.

"It doesn't matter." Yugi said.

"An AV actor." Jou sighed. He'd known this conversation was coming.

'Hatman' had come into the store the following day and provisionally approved Laiko's edits. He took a copy of the raw footage with him. Two days later, 'BottomBoy' had shown up, claiming that Hatman wanted a second video because the first wasn't messy enough. Or rough enough. They tied BB over a chair and fucked him hard enough to leave bruises on his thighs and chest.

Two days after that, Hatman wanted a more extensive use of toys. Big toys.

It wasn't lost on anyone that all the real penis-in-anus sex was between Jou and BB only. Ichiro and occasionally Ken added an extra 'hand' when needed. Laiko spent most of her time editing the footage - always providing Hatman with a raw copy.

The sex was, of course, amazing. Jou even found himself enjoying some of Seto's weird fetishes. Watching Seto get off was too much fun, too erotic a turn on, and Jou was able to overcome his personal squicks in favor of seeing his usually unreadable lover so frequently in the throes of uncontrolled orgasmic bliss. As much as Jou was uneasy about Kaiba's impending marriage, he found himself unable to pull back. He was way too deep in love.

As a result, it hadn't taken long for Yugi and Yami to figure out that he was finally dating.

"An Adult Video 'actor'?" Yami added air quotes to the occupation.

"It doesn't matter!" Yugi insisted. "When do we meet him?"

"Oh, I don't think -"

"When do we meet him?" Yugi had that tone of his. That 'I'm never going to let this die' tone.

"I don't know." Jou sighed. "BB's schedule's kind of funny."

"Ok. We'll come to the shop one night while you're -"

"NO!" Jou physically jumped. "Dinner. Next week. I'll see if he can do dinner next week."

"Actually, it is an excellent idea." Kaiba said. It was one of their very rare moments alone. He was dressed as BB, but acting very Kaiba. "I was somewhat concerned about bringing the tapes to market. Your customer base is quite likely to recognize you - but that becomes a selling point here. I do fear, however, someone may recognize me."

"Trust me, nobody is gonna connect BB to you." Jou scoffed.

"It is possible." He shrugged. "The contacts and a few key prosthetics -"

"Prosthetics?" Jou hadn't noticed any changes of that size.

"KaibaChem has a cosmetics division." He explained. "The changes are subtle but key. Very effective for facial recognition software. Remember - you didn't recognize me at first." He waved the subject off. "Regardless, if I can pass undetected with the 'dynamic duo', I am confident that the measures should work in this limited distribution." He draped his arms around Jou's neck. "Now, no more discussion. I have thirty minutes and then I need to return to the office."

"Tonight? Dude, it's almost 3am!"

"I have a board presentation in the morning. I do have a company to run when I'm not keeping you satisfied."

"Hey, if I'm a problem, I can -"

"You can shut up and kiss me." Seto growled. "I have 29 minutes left."

"I am honored to meet you." Kaiba said as he bowed demurely. It was as deep as he could, while not letting go of Jou's arm.

"The honor is all ours, uh, BB." Yugi couldn't manage to call him BottomBoy - as Kaiba insisted his name was - but bowed just as deeply. His tug on his partner's shirt resulted in a smirk and a polite nod from Yami. "Thank you for joining us."

"Thank you for inviting me." 'BB' glanced around the restaurant. "I'm sorry I'm not better dressed. Jou said you all usually go somewhere casual."

Jou rolled his eyes. He had told Kaiba exactly where they were going, but BB had shown up wearing hip-hugger tiger-striped pants, a leopard-print silk shirt, and his trademarked collar and leash. The killers were the stiletto heels - tiger-striped and trimmed with fur.

"You look..." Yami seemed to search for the right word.

" ... Fine." Yugi supplied. "You look fine." The short man jumped. "Whoa! Shouldn't have put that in my back pocket! Come on; our table's ready."

"So, tell me, BottomBoy." Yami started as soon as the waiter left with their drink orders. "What do you do, when you're not, ahem, on the set?"

"Well, mostly, I wonder what Kat-chan is doing and why he's not doing it with me." BB was still clinging to Jou's arm.

"Kat-chan?" Yami didn't even hide his amusement.

"So you're a full time actor?" Yugi asked, after pinching his lover.

"I don't really like to talk about the business." BB frowned. Then he looked at Jou and smiled. "Of course, it is how I met you, so it's not all bad. Hatman-sama thinks the videos will be wildly popular! He wants to distribute them world wide."

"That is So Not gonna happen." Jou sipped his drink and desperately wished the night were over. Over-playing his part didn't even come close to describing what Kaiba was doing.

The whole meal was surreal. BB and Yugi stole bites from each other's plates. When BB wasn't feeding bites to Jou, of course. Or stealing a kiss. BB was affectionate, playful, bashful, and insufferably cloying.

Finally, Jou needed a break. "I gotta hit the can." He announced, getting up.

"I'll go with you." BB offered.

"I'm a big boy," Jou stopped him. "I can handle it."

BB openly leered at him. "Yes, you are a big boy. A very big boy. And you can definitely handle it."

"BB!" Yugi admonished, laughing. "Not over dinner!"

Yami rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh. "I think I could use a walk as well."

In the men's room, Yami cleared his throat. "Is he clean?"

"What? Yeah!" The health issues hadn't even occurred to Jou, but he didn't doubt it. Not with Kaiba. "Totally."

"Do you know his real name?"

"Uh, yeah." Jou hesitated, but Yami stopped him.

"Clearly he's not ready to share that. I'm just guessing that your staff don't know that BB is Hatman?"

Jou nearly fell over. "How the hell do you know?"

Yami smiled. "A few things he let slip. Things you told us that BB probably would know, but Hatman might. And he knows too much about what Hatman is planning."

"I tried to get him to shut up." Jou shook his head.

"There is one other thing I noticed." Yami said thoughtfully. "You need to be careful. I think this one is more in love with you than you are with him."

"We absolutely have to do this again!" Yugi enthused as they walked to their cars. "Jou, are you bringing BB to the class reunion next month?"

"Oh. Uh..." Jou had completely forgotten about the event. Hell no, he thought.

"Next month?" BB asked. "When? Tell me not the weekend of the 14th! I have to go out of town the 14th!"

"Oh no!" Yugi looked crestfallen. "It's the 15th!"

"Oh no!" BB sounded crestfallen.

"Well, call as soon as you get back, ok?" Yugi gave BB a hug. "We'll plan something."

"Yes, let's!" The two exchanged phone numbers.

BB glanced at Yami, and then grinned as if he'd just thought of something clever. For Jou, the look was positively unnerving. "Be right back." BB turned and practically skipped over to whisper something in the former Pharaoh's ear.

Yugi gave Jou an unexpected a hug. "He's wonderful, Katsuya! I'm so glad you finally found someone who loves you!"

"Yeah, Yugi. Me too."

Yugi pulled back and looked at Jou. "And I'm just presuming that you haven't given him your debit card number or keys to your apartment or anything like that yet, right?"

Jou laughed. Yugi was never as naive as people thought. "Yeah, I'm not setting up housekeeping yet."

"Good. I think you both need to go slow with this."

"I think I can handle this."

"Come along, koi." Yami called out. "BB has just given me a suggestion that I believe merits some investigation. We're going to need to stop at the grocery store."

"Now what?" But Yugi was grinning. "And I know you can handle it; I've heard you're a big boy."

"Yug!"

Kaiba gave the keynote address at the class reunion. Another surreal moment in Jou's life.

Twelve hours before, BB had been tied down to a table, and was being used as the tool and drop cloth under four other couples. When they were finished with him, BB had been literally soaked with nearly every bodily fluid possible from the couples and himself. Now, immaculately cleaned and pressed, he was standing with barely masked distain in front of his former classmates telling them to continue to pursue the dreams of their youth.

"Same old asshole, huh?" Honda remarked as they all applauded. "So glad you finally got over him."

"Yeah." Jou muttered.

"Come on guys," Yugi coaxed. "We really should speak to him. We're the only ones who knew him personally."

"That's a little like saying we should be firemen because we've already been burned." Otogi snarked. Honda and Yami laughed.

Jou sighed. "Come on guys. Let's just say hi and keep moving." In truth, Jou didn't want to even get that close. Seeing Seto and not being able to touch him was hell. Plus Jou hated keeping secrets.

Kaiba was standing alone, looking out at the soccer field, scowling.

"Kaiba-san?" Yugi greeted as they approached. "I don't know if you remember -"

"Of course I remember you, Mutuo. I seem to trip over you at events whether I will or no. I trust your Grandfather is well?"

"Oh yes! He's great, in fact -"

"Fine. I see the rest of your friendship brigade is in order. Wasn't there a girl with you at one point - or was she merely a beard to take the curse off?" Jou had forgotten how cold those blue eyes could be as they turned on him. "I see you've kept that flea-bitten stray dog of yours. So mutt, are you between prison stays, or did the warden let you out for a day on good behavior?"

Was this an act? Or was this the true Kaiba and BB a game? Around him, he could hear Honda and Yami both yelling at Old Moneybags, but he couldn't say anything. He just stared into those eyes and tried to see the truth in them.

There was a single chime and Kaiba put his glass down. "Finally." He sighed, rolling his eyes and ignoring the group. "You ... gentlemen will excuse me; I have a far more pressing engagement." He swept out of the room.

"What a dick!" Otogi spat.

"Jou?" Yugi touched his arm. "Are you... ?"

It shouldn't bother me, Jou thought. It's not as if I thought he was going to be nice to me here. I should call him. Call him and ask what the hell that was.

"Jou, no one likes to be treated like that," Yami observed. "But that just proves why it's so good that you were able to let him go. BB is so much better for you."