Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Snowblind ❯ Snowblind ( One-Shot )

Yu-Gi-Oh is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi and Konami, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. No infringement or disrespect is intended by this fanfiction.
All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to Kazuki Takahashi are the intellectual property of "Animom".

Description: What if it's the last chance you'll ever get? KaiJou hurt-comfort 'blanket' fic. Rated "R" for language, trauma descriptions, sexual situations, character death(s).

Warning: This story contains somewhat graphic descriptions of post-crash trauma and physical interaction of a sexual nature between male characters.

The amphitheater lights were blinding, white suns cooking the neat rows of dueling platforms below. After the first day of the competition, most of the participants came dressed in shorts and summer shirts.

Jounouchi was wearing a camouflage tank and cutoffs. He had talked Yuugi into wearing a sleeveless shirt, but hadn't been able to convince him to wear shorts. I know why. Anzu's here. He doesn't want her to see his skinny legs. They're really not that bad.

"Draw." Alright! Just the card we need. "I play Deal of Phantom on Yuugi's Maha Vailo."

"Oh, shit," Ryuzaki muttered.

"And that means that Maha Vailo gains 100 attack points for every monster in our graveyard." Yuugi said calmly, fanning the graveyard stack. "it looks like we have 11."

"Nooooo!" Haga wailed.

Jounouchi knew that Yuugi knew exactly how many cards were in there, but of course he'd never gloat. You're a better man than I am, Yuugi Mutou, Jounouchi thought as he said, "And with 2650 attack points, the direct damage you're gonna take will Wipe. You. Out. Sure was nice playing with you guys again."

As Yuugi executed the final attack, Jounouchi looked over at the singles arenas, but the platforms were empty. I wonder who won? He glanced back at Yuugi as their win was officially recorded. Yuugi's head was down and he was gripping his podium. "Hey, you OK, Yug?"

Without raising his head Yuugi said quietly, "Yeah, it's just, it's just so cold in here. I'm glad we're done. Who won the individual?"

What's he talking about, cold? He must mean hot. Jounouchi pulled a face as he looked up at the round robin board. The name at the top, the individual duelist who hadn't lost a single match in 3 days, was of course Kaiba. Jounouchi scanned the area around the judges' table—and there he was. Black pants, long sleeved black turtleneck. His only concession to the sweltering heat had been to divest himself of his usual duster. Man, that guy must have an air conditioner in his underwear. Hey, maybe that's why his coat is always flappin'—from the exhaust ...

He looked back just as Yuugi started to collapse. It was like the movies, where stuff happened in slow motion: Jounouchi caught him just as Anzu started to scream. The shorter boy's face was pale, almost grayish, his eyes and mouth bunched in pain: his thin shirt was soaked with sweat but his skin was cold. Jounouchi held him, horrified. "Oh God, what is this, what are you doing? Yuugi! Talk to me, Yuugi!" Jounouchi pleaded over and over again until adult hands pulled him firmly away. "We'll take over son, just step back and let us take care of him."

The next few minutes were a blur of tournament personnel. Jounouchi, numb, stood at the edge of the crowd with Honda and Anzu, tears streaming down their faces. "You can't die. You just can't." Anzu whispered over and over again, her fists pressed against her face. 'No, no, no no..."

Jounouchi put his arm around her shoulders and spoke through the lump in his throat. "He won't. He won't. He'll be fine." He shook her slightly for emphasis, trying to convince himself too. He'd never seen anyone his age look that sick before. Even in the old days, like when Big Koko got hit by the truck, or when Boardbanger fell into the quarry and wound up with chunks of rock in his face, even then ... he'd never been so worried for anyone. Of course, Big Koko and Boardbanger hadn't been anything remotely like friends.

The three watched the paramedics place an oxygen mask over the small white face. A saline bag was suddenly held high.

"I never told him," whispered Anzu, "I never told him ..."

Jounouchi tightened his grip. "He knows, Anzu. He knows." He had almost said He knew.

"How could he know?" She looked up at the ceiling, and tears streamed past the corners of her mouth. "I had so many chances to say it, but I never did."

Honda swiped his hand roughly across his eyes and cleared his throat. "Well, you'll just tell him the next time you see him."

She nodded, then set her face resolutely and jumped off the platform, following the stretcher. She came back dejectedly a few minutes later. "They won't even tell me what hospital they're going to take him to."

The two boys looked down at her, unable to think of anything to say.

"Well, I guess I'd better go," she said dully, "or else I'm gonna miss my train. Call me if you find anything out?"

"You bet."

She walked away, looking as small and scared as they both felt.

Honda jumped down after her. Jounouchi, his ears ringing from the crowd noise, watched as Honda caught her shoulder, said something to which Anzu replied with a shrug, putting her hands to her face again. Honda said something else, nodding. Jounouchi sighed, and went down to see what they were up to.

"I, oh, I couldn't—" Anzu was saying as he walked up to them.

Honda shook his head firmly. "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer," he said in his immovable voice. "I always carry an extra helmet, since this loser never has train fare."

"Well, OK then, OK, I'll be right back." She hurried off.

As they watched her head off in the direction of the restrooms Jounouchi asked, "Giving her a ride home?"

"Yup."

"That's large of you."

"Yup."

"Come back for me after you drop her off? I got no money for the train."

"Yup."

"You're a champ."

Honda blushed slightly and shrugged, "Chump, you mean," he mumbled, then punched Jounouchi on the arm so hard the blond staggered. "Eh, what are friends for?" .

Since it would be an hour or so until Honda returned, Jounouchi wandered the halls killing time. He'd already made use of the bathroom (once) and a water fountain (twice) when he heard an arrogant, familiar voice echoing from a corridor ahead of him. He paused at the corner to eavesdrop, of course.

"You haven't been able to reach his grandfather?"

"No sir, We've called and sent a car to the address on his tournament registration, but no one answered."

"A game shop."

"Yes, sir, I think so."

"As soon as the hospital's finished their assessment, have him airlifted to whatever facility has the top-ranked specialists for whatever he's got. Keep me informed."

"Begging your pardon sir, but generally information like that is only released to the family... Sir."

"Until you can find his family, you'd better think about releasing the information to the person who's footing the bill. Or should I hold future tournaments elsewhere?"

"Well ... since we can't find his grandfather, ah, I suppose just this once ..."

"Go do your job. I'm not paying you to babble."

Rapid footsteps retreated. Jounouchi, puzzled, heard Kaiba dial his cell phone. "Whatever's fueled and closest to the tournament.." Kaiba abruptly said. "And the overnight — no, the weekend bag." A pause. "I don't know yet. Perhaps as far as Kyoto." Another pause, slightly longer. "No leave it all in there. Who's free to pilot?"

As soon as figured out what was happening Jounouchi whipped around the corner and sprinted toward the striding Kaiba, already halfway down the hall towards the exit, dialing his cell phone again, the ever-present silver briefcase in his other hand.

"Kaiba! You flying to where they took Yuugi?"

The brunet glanced at him disdainfully. "None of your business." Whoever he was calling answered and he spoke into the cell phone. "Something's come up and we'll have to go next weekend." He listened, then said. "Of course it is. Mutou collapsed."

"I'm going with you. He's my best friend." Jounouchi whispered fiercely.

Ignoring him, Kaiba continued, "I'll call as soon as soon as I know details." He closed the cell phone with a snap, then said without turning his head, "Get away from me."

"No way, Kaiba. I'm sticking to you like glue, 'cause if you're going to Yuugi I'm getting on that plane with you."

Kaiba said with a half-laugh. "Really?" He tucked the cell phone into a pocket inside his white duster.

"Why are you doing it anyhow? Since when do you care what happens to Yuugi?"

Kaiba said icily, "Losing a duelist of Mutou's caliber would be bad for the industry."

"Well, I'm going too. You need me."

"In what twisted universe is that true?" Kaiba asked with a snort as he slammed through the heavy exit doors.

"Because, because," Jounuchi ran through the doors after Kaiba into the cool dusk. "I know more about his medical history than anyone other than his Grandfather!" he blurted in a rush of inspiration.

Kaiba turned so suddenly that Jounouchi almost ran into him. "Is that so?”

Jounouchi looked up at the taller teen, blue eyes blazing behind the fringe of brown hair. Man, he's intense. "Yeah, that's so.”

Kaiba glared at him for a moment. “Stay out of my way. Speak only if you're spoken to. Do exactly as you're told or you're out. Understand?"

Jounouchi nodded and barked twice, then did his best imitation of a happy dog pant (complete with lolling tongue).

Instead of exploding, Kaiba did the unexpected: his free hand came up in a flash, gripping the front of Jouno's shirt and yanking him close. "Hn, what you lack in intelligence you make up for in balls. Sometimes it's entertaining," he muttered, his mouth curving in a slow, predatory smile.

The smile was scary. Jounouchi decided that he'd much rather see Kaiba frowning.

Kaiba let go of his shirt and stepped to the edge of the curb, set down his briefcase, and stood unmoving, arms folded, glaring at the pavement. As if materializing out of his impatience, the limo drove up a few moments later. .

From the conversation with the driver, Jounouchi gathered that Kaiba's plane — well, one of them, anyhow — was awaiting them at a nearby private airfield. The rest of the ride was silent, interrupted only by a single call to which Kaiba listened tersely, and said only, "Then take him there!"

Jounouchi opened his mouth several times — to ask how Yuugi was, to ask where they were going, to ask if he could borrow the phone to call Honda and let him know that he was, surrealistically, about to board a plane with Kaiba so that he could go sit at Yuugi's bedside in some unknown hospital — but, mindful of Kaiba's order not to speak unless spoken to (and afraid that Kaiba would toss him out of the limo for the smallest transgression) he kept silent.

And anyhow, Honda would just figure he'd got tired of waiting and hitchhiked home. He could call sometime tomorrow. And he'd know where they were going when they got there.

They parked on the tarmac. Jounouchi had to jog to keep up with Kaiba's long legs, swishing through the twilight ahead of him. Fortunately the white duster was easy to follow.

The plane was the size of a small bus: Jounouchi looked forward to wide seats and on board snacks. "In the back," Kaiba said as Jounouchi stumbled up the steps after him.

However, the inside of the plane, unlit except for the instrument panel, was a disappointment. Only two seats up front, and several large metal boxes and lumpy canvas bags at the back of the plane. Where the hell am I supposed to sit? Jounouchi wondered, then groped his way to one of the boxes and sat nervously as Kaiba folded himself into the right-hand front seat and began a terse, high speed dialog with the pilot about ceilings, airspeed, visibility, and flight plans.

During a pause in the conversation the pilot said to Kaiba, "The passenger?"

"Last minute addition," Kaiba said sternly, adjusting his headset. "Button it up, Nouri."

The pilot climbed out of his seat to pull the steps up and secure the door. Before he sat back down he pulled on a faint rectangular outline in the wall behind Kaiba's seat. Something like a bench came down and he said to Jounouchi, "Strap in."

Jounouchi hurriedly moved to the plastic seat (which was even colder than the metal box had been) and fumbled with the harness silently, determined not to annoy Kaiba by asking for some light. I'll be safe once we take off, he thought. Even Kaiba won't throw me out of the plane once we're in the air.

Well, he probably won't.

Finally the radio crackled and a tired voice announced, "KA-1510, your flight plan has been approved and you are clear for taxi."

"Roger control," Nouri said. Then he flipped some switches, the engines rose from low hum to high-pitched whine, and within moments they sprang into the night sky. .

Jounouchi dozed, startled awake every time the small plane hit an air pocket and dropped. After a dozen or so jolts, he gave up on sleep and stared at what he could see of Nouri's instrument panel. After a while, he figured that the gauge that dipped every time the plane dropped was their altitude. It was really the only one that changed at all.

He had just started to doze off again when there was a loud thunk somewhere on his side of the plane. Nouri said "What was that?" then, a few seconds later, the engine noise suddenly changed. Jounouchi sat up: several lights were blinking on the instrument panel and he heard Kaiba murmuring to Nouri.

What's going on?

The altitude gauge was dropping. A flash of fear ran through him: the next instant, Kaiba was shouting, the cabin seemed to be spinning, and then there was a huge jerk, incredible pain, a scream ...

... Yuugi ...

and then blackness.

It was very very very cold.

He was floating, his arms and legs hanging down.

His left shoulder hurt. A lot.

There was a bony thing pressing his chest. Someone was holding him around the waist, too tight.

Where was he?

Jounouchi opened his eyes a crack. Bad idea. The gray light pouring in from his right was blinding. He closed them and tried to drift back to the sleeping-dreaming place, but the pain in his shoulder interfered with his mental travel plans.

Where the hell am I?

He opened his eyes again. In front of him, a curved gray wall met a metal floor. The weird part was that his arms and legs were being being sucked toward the wall by some invisible force. He blinked, and then he got it. Tournament. Yuugi. Kaiba. Airplane. The airplane had crashed. It was rolled partly over on its left side, nose slightly down. The seat he was strapped into, that faced the airplane's door, was now halfway to the ceiling. He was hanging forward, suspended from the straps.

He turned his head. He could see the pilot - Nari? no, Nouri — sitting motionless, holding what looked like a broom handle and using it to push something on the instrument panel. Jounouchi turned more and could just see the top of Kaiba's head. Neither was making a sound.

"Nouri? Kaiba?" His voice was raspy. We crashed at nighttime. It's light now, so if they haven't moved yet —

"Nouri! Kaiba!"

He stared at Nouri for several minutes before he finally comprehended what he was seeing. The other end of the "broom handle" came out of the back of Nouri's seat. ... he was "holding" it because he had been ... it, it, went through him ... and the dark red stuff on the window, and the brown spatters on the wall —

Jounouchi heaved a thin watery vomit until his stomach hurt, then panted, puffing clouds of frozen breath. This has to be a nightmare. Shit like this doesn't actually happen in real life. C'mon body, wake up now.

It was very quiet in this nightmare, but dreams were like that. He couldn't ever remember feeling so cold in a dream before, though. A puff of icy wind gusted in his face, the susurrus of ice crystals on his cheek like being sprinkled with sugar. The windshield must be gone. All he could see out the window was white. Snow and mist. So we're in the mountains. No wonder it's so cold.

He had to get down. After unbuckling his lap belt, he braced a foot on the back of Kaiba's seat, pressed the release on the chest buckle, pulled his sore arm out of the harness, and then dropped gingerly to the floor. It was angled at about 20 degrees, which made walking difficult but not impossible. Squeezing between the front seats, he braced his back against Nouri's shoulder and got his first look at Kaiba.

The brunet was bent forward, his clothes speckled with an abstract embroidery of blood, glass and frost. The backs of his hands — the left one still gripping a joystick-looking thing — were lacerated and bloody. Jounouchi put a hand on top of Kaiba's head — the hair was stiff with dried blood — and fearfully pushed him upright.

Daggers of glass had hit Kaiba's face, each impact marked by a trickle of blood. The worst was that a piece as wide as a finger had skewered Kaiba's left eye right through the eyelid.

Jounouchi let go of Kaiba's head and gagged, but he had nothing left to vomit up. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit." There is no fucking way this can be happening. Kaiba's dead? How can someone like him die? No, he can't be dead. He's Kaiba.

Shivering, Jounouchi reached for Kaiba's wrist. No pulse. He put his hand to his own neck and located the pounding pulse-spot just under the ear, then timidly put his fingers on the same place on Kaiba's neck. Nothing. "Hey, moneybags, work with me here." He slipped his hand inside the turtleneck to the base of the throat, below the Adam's apple. It didn't seem like there was a pulse there either. "C'mon, Kaiba, wake up and insult me. Please." He slid his hand down, hoping to feel a heartbeat under his palm, and even though he couldn't find one he did notice that Kaiba's chest seemed warmer than his hands and neck had been.

“OK, so dead guys get cold. How cold?” He sighed; he was gonna have to touch Nouri's corpse and find out. Which really sucked, because dead people were his second least favorite thing in the world (dead people that moved being his least favorite). "Oh man, I do not want to be alone up here touching dead people."

Closing his eyes to slits to blur the sight, he twisted around and forced himself to put his hand on the pilot's throat. Definitely colder than Kaiba, a lot colder. That might mean that Kaiba was still alive.

He needed to call the emergency number. Someone could send — well not an ambulance, but a rescue plane or something. Kaiba had used a cell phone at the convention center, and he had put it, where? ... inside his coat.  Jounouchi reached in (there was a chime-like sound as bits of glass fell to the floor) and found the cell phone.

"Hey! Our plane crashed." Maybe this would be easier than he thought.

"Stay calm, sir. Can you give me your approximate location?"

"I have no idea. We're in some mountains maybe. Kaiba and Nouri were flying a Kaiba Corporation plane."

"What's your flight number? Are there fatalities? Is any one injured?"

"KA-15-something. The pilot, Nouri, I'm pretty sure he's dead, he feels really cold and there's a — " he gagged briefly, then forced the words out, "pole through him. I don't think Kaiba's dead, he's warmer, but he's not moving and I can't find a pulse. He has glass in his eyes, a lot of cuts. I was the only other person on the plane, and I think I'm OK. So what should I do?"

There was no response. "Ah, hello?" He looked at the face of the cell phone. It was dark. The battery was dead.

"Shit!"

Think think … what do they do in the movies when stuff like this happens? “Don't move em, keep 'em warm, do First Aid stuff.” It seemed pointless to move Kaiba anyhow, he didn't see any blankets (and speaking of warm, he was freezing himself), and there was no helpfully-labeled "First Aid" box hanging on the wall anywhere. Too bad this wasn't a computer game with a cursor that changed when you pointed it at stuff you needed. Maybe those boxes at the back of the plane? they were big and hadn't slid around in the crash, so they must be bolted down. Which might mean that they had important stuff in 'em.

Apparently they did contain important stuff ... stuff so important that it was protected by heavy-duty padlocks. He turned his attention to the jumble of dark green canvas sacks banked against the airplane door (which was now halfway a floor). If they held nothing useful, he could at least use 'em as blankets. As he rifled through the sack he uncovered a small, well worn leather satchel. Kaiba's weekend bag? Might as well check for a spare battery.

No luck. Inside were two black shirts and a pair of black pants. Underneath those was a dark blue kit bag with razor and toothbrush, and next to it a small mesh bag containing neatly-folded white items. Socks and underwear. Kaiba wears briefs? ... Oh shit, I have a picture now.

The fabled Jounouchi Good Luck finally kicked in: the other canvas sacks were full of camping stuff. One held a nylon tent and some sleeping bags (which he tossed up onto the locked steel boxes), another one (marked with a dim red cross) contained both a first aid box and an emergency kit (complete with flares and a silver thermal blanket). A third had dried food and camping utensils. The fourth held clothes — flannel shirts, lightly quilted thermal pants, and expensive polar fleece jackets (store tags still attached) in two different sizes — clearly Mokuba-sized and Seto-sized. Jounouchi gratefully pulled one of the larger pants over his shorts and put on a flannel shirt and jacket on over his tank top.

"That's the stuff."

He took the first aid kit, the silver thermal blanket, and two empty canvas sacks over to Kaiba. Well, at least strapped in the seat he won't fall over. He tucked the blanket (silver side in) around Kaiba, then laid the canvas bags on top of it. Standing back for a minute, he felt a swelling sense of accomplishment. OK, so he'll stay warm now. It was weird taking care of someone who had never even been barely civil to him, but even weirder was that it wasn't even weirder. "Heh. I'll show you, Kaiba. I'm gonna be nice to ya, you asshole."

Jounouchi tapped his teeth. "Now, let's see ... if I was an extra battery for Kaiba's cell phone, where would I be?" The briefcase! It wasn't near Kaiba's seat, and he hadn't seen it in the back, which meant there was only one place to look ... and sure enough, it had slid to Nouri's side of the plane, to the left of Nouri's seat.

It was funny, Jounouchi thought as he edged around the back of the seat (I will not look at the stick, I will not look at the stick) — he and Honda always talked enthusiastically about realistic blood and gore in video games, but actual blood was so — unreal — it made him gag. He had to sit on the floor and tug with both hands to pull the briefcase from the frozen red puddle. The blood looked like melted garnets on the silver metal.

Of course, the briefcase was locked. I wonder if I could bash it open? He swung the briefcase hard against the metal floor, two, three four times. And then some more. Even after a dozen hits, however, neither briefcase nor plane showed a dent. His cold hands, however, were aching from the impacts.

Jounouchi huddled on the tilted floor then, the dead pilot to his left, the probably soon-to-be dead Kaiba on his right, hundreds of miles from anyone who could help them, put his hands over his eyes, and did the only thing that made sense to him at that moment.

He cursed. Every word he knew, every expression. He'd been in the gang long enough that he knew at least five times more colorful expressions than any two of his current friends put together, including Honda: And that was the only — only — disadvantage of being friends with Yuugi. Yuugi didn't curse or use vulgar language at all, and he had little tolerance for those who did. Jounouchi had learned this the hard way at the very beginning of their friendship, when he'd almost ruined everything one weekend by making the offhand comment that Anzu would spend her evening "flicking the switch" after she saw Yuugi in a snug pair of pants. Yuugi asked him what he meant: Jounouchi realized his mistake and tried to brush it off: But Yuugi insisted on an explanation, and by the time he explained it enough that Yuugi finally got it, the shorter boy had gone from puzzled though embarrassed to furious and said stonily. "Never talk that way about any girl again." Jounouchi had kept it clean ever since.

So, he had a lot of bottled up words. He uncorked them all. Repeats didn't matter. When he ran out of curses, he switched to insults, body parts, bodily functions, sexual activities, and criminal activities.

When he was done he felt better. OK, so the lock on this fucking high-tech briefcase needed four numbers. He started with 0000, then tried 0001, 0002, 0003 .... (It was a good thing that he didn't think through what he was doing, since there are 10,000 4-digit numbers.) After he'd got up to 0030 he decided to try numbers like 1234, 5678, all sevens ... In desperation he tried his birthday, 0125. He heard the lock go click-click-click-click, and the latches popped up. Inside, as well as the usual cards and small Dueling items, there was a stack of papers and a small leather folding frame with pictures of Mokuba. Under the papers was a black notebook (filled with line after line of tiny writing he couldn't make sense of, apparently written backwards), a small blue box like the kind rings come in — and next to it, the thing he was happiest to see, a cell phone battery. He blew on his fingers to warm them, then swapped the batteries and punched the tiny buttons.

As soon as the emergency service picked up he spoke in a rush. "Hi. I'm the Kaiba plane crash guy. Sorry, the battery ran out. Didja get my description?"

"Please stay calm, sir. Can you state the nature of your emergency?"

"Yeah, this is Jounouchi Katsuya. I was talking to you guys before, our plane crashed, KA-15 something, the pilot's dead, Kaiba's got glass in his eyes. So what should I do? When people get glass in their eyes don't you have to get all of it out or else they'll be blind?"

"No sir. Please don't attempt to remove anything from his eyes. If he's awake and can move, have him lie down with his feet a little higher than his head. If he's not awake, or if he can't move, just keep him warm until we can get to you. And most important, he shouldn't touch his eyes. We'll track — "

The phone was dead again.

"Already? Aw, fuck! Kaiba! Can't you keep your fuckin' batteries charged?" He really really felt like throwing the dead phone out the window, but instead tossed it and the other battery into Kaiba's briefcase. He stared at the open briefcase for a minute then, pissed off, gave in to curiosity and picked up the ring box. Inside were two identical plain silvery bands. "Hmmph." Jounouchi shut the box with a snap, put it back in the briefcase, closed the briefcase, and slid it under Kaiba's seat.

"OK, Doctor Katsuya, you're on your own I guess." He took a deep breath, then opened up the first aid kit. Gauze, tape, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic. He wished he could do something about the eye, but the emergency lady had said not to, so he decided to at least get the glass out of Kaiba's face and hands. His fingers were so cold he didn't realize how much he was getting sliced up until he saw the fresh drops of blood on his patient's skin.

"Shit!" He wiped his fingertips off, put strips of tape on them, and then stuck his hands in his armpits to warm them. "I hope you appreciate this, Moneybags," he muttered, "But ya won't of course," he went on, dabbing antibiotic on the cuts. “Cause you're a dickhead.”

They said not to try to take the glass out of the eye, but wouldn't it be a good idea to make sure nothing bumped the glass in deeper? … Jounouchi knew that he was digging for an excuse to cover the eye because he didn't want to look at it. But still ... protecting it seemed like a good idea. The trouble was, how was he gonna do that, with the glass sticking up? Bandaging would push on it. "Shit, where's a force field when you need one?" He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Think, think. If I fuck this up ... if I fuck this up he'll be blind forever.

He had a sudden inspiration. "A ping-pong ball would be perfect." He skittered to the back and rummaged through the remaining bags, realizing with a falling feeling that people rarely took ping pong balls on camping trips. Still, it was a good idea: he'd just have to make do with something else. After staring at the camping equipment for a few minutes, he reached for a small box containing a battery-powered lantern. Taking the lantern out, he carefully tore out a small square of cardboard, testing the size against his own eye. Satisfied, he then made a hole in the center of the square and enlarged it to make a frame of cardboard. He held the frame over his eye and poked his finger in against his eyelid. As it twitched something struck him: if Kaiba tried to open his eyes ... "Poor friggin bastard." He made an additional dozen frames, took a deep breath, then went over to Kaiba.

His face was freaking unreal looking. Like a monster mask.

Just do it. And hope he doesn't wake up in the middle.

He cleaned the dried blood from Kaiba's eyelid and then carefully taped it shut, shuddering. Stay shut. He centered a cardboard frame over the glass, taped the frame down so it wouldn't shift, then repeated until the stack was well above the tip of the shard. Gradually it became like doing a model kit, instead of scary first aid, and by the time he was done his hands had stopped shaking.

"Pretty stupid looking for a force field, but it ought to do the job." He pressed down on the edges of the stack, checking the height (flashback to shop class) then reached for the roll of gauze. He wound the gauze snugly around Kaiba's head a few times, then taped it down securely at the temples and across the forehead.

"Now what?" Since he had gauze left (and was feeling kinda nursey), he decided to bandage Kaiba's hands. He folded back the blanket and smiled to feel a slight current of warmer air rise. "Yup, Mr Blanket's doing a good job." As he wrapped each hand in gauze he thought No wonder he can hold all them cards. He's got big hands.

OK, so the emergency lady had said not to let Kaiba touch his eyes. But Jounouchi figured that grabbing at the bandages would be Kaiba's natural reaction if he woke up — when he wakes up, Jounouchi corrected himself — so what if he just tied Kaiba's hands together? ... no, that was no good. In back was better, but if he had broken ribs or something ... He absently knocked a chunk of glass from Kaiba's shirt sleeve and his fingers brushed the rough decorative straps buckled around Kaiba's upper arms. "Hey, maybe ..." He removed all four straps. If he could just tie Kaiba's wrists to his legs ... it would kinda work. It wouldn't hold for long, but it didn't need to.

He buckled two of the straps together to make a longer strap, then slid it under Kaiba's thigh. His legs were surprisingly light — probably because they were so skinny. Like a skeleton with muscles. Jounouchi pulled an arm, limp as a rag doll, into place and as he tightened the strap he said, "Sorry man, I don't mean to get so personal here." As he worked on the second arm a chant ran though his head: PLEASE don't wake up while I'm bent over your crotch. PLEASE don't wake up while I'm bent over your crotch. Then it was done. He replaced the blanket and the empty sacks.

"OK, what's next?" He knew it was silly to be constantly talking out loud, but silence really got to him. "I think setting up the tent for me and the Princess is next." He chuckled at the image of Kaiba in a ball gown and tiara. "Blue, it would have to be blue," he muttered as he picked up the long narrow sleeve containing the tent. The product information and price tags were still attached (Jounouchi's eyes bugged when he saw the latter — "Man, you could buy a motorcycle for that!"). The bright orange, pop-open, two-man tent was rated to 50 below, with a waterproof and thermal floor. It was cool, he had to admit.

There was just enough space between the airplanes seats and the metal boxes to set up the tent with its back to the airplane door. The EMT had said that Kaiba would have to lay with his feet elevated, so it was actually a good thing that the floor of the plane wasn't level in either direction. Jounouchi tested laying down with his feet by the tent flap, but quickly decided that the medical people probably hadn't meant this elevated: within 30 seconds so much blood had rushed to his head that it was as bad as being hung upside down - not to mention that the metal floor was hungrily cold.

He crawled out and unpacked everything in the sacks, moved the tent — "With one hand! I'm Superman!" — then, setting aside a set of the larger thermal pants and the two thickest shirts, he spread all the extra clothes on the floor to lessen the incline, laid the empty sacks on top, and replaced the tent.

"Much better. Not as good as a futon, but not too bad," he muttered as he felt the floor. "What next?" He was feeling almost supercharged. Strange that he felt more sure of himself in a bizarre situation like this than he did in boring real life. And of course, it was so much easier to be around Kaiba when he was unconscious.

He unrolled and shook out the sleeping bags, and was arranging some food and water bottles in the tent when Kaiba woke up and began to scream. .

Witnessing another person's terror is a frightening voyeurism. It's even worse when they're blind, tied down, and in pain — and you can't do anything for them.

Kaiba had gone from unconscious to frantic in seconds."Let me go!" he raged, his body rigid and straining against the various seat belts and straps that held him. "Let me go! Let me go!" His feet slid on the angled floor as he twisted in the chair, dislodging the blanket.

Jounouchi scrambled out of the tent calling, "Kaiba! Kaiba! Kaiba! It's OK!"

Kaiba, lost in a private hell, whipped his head from side to side and kicked at the instrument panel. "Stay away from me! Don't touch me! STAY AWAY FROM MOKUBA! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH HIM! I'LL KILL YOU!" Cords in his neck strained, and the gashes on his face opened and began to bleed.

"KAIBA!" Jounouchi shouted. "Stop! It's Jounouchi! I won't hurt you!" He scrambled across the plane and grabbed Kaiba's head from behind with both hands.

Kaiba froze. "Who?" His voice was hoarse, puzzled.

"We were at a tournament? Remember? Yuugi got sick? And you got a plane?" He let go of Kaiba's head.

"Y-yes," Kaiba said slowly, then, suspiciously, "Why can't I move? Why can't I see?"

"The plane crashed. You got glass from the windshield in your eyes. I bandaged them. That's why you can't see. And you're buckled in your seat, with your hands strapped down to your legs because I had to keep you from touching your eyes when you woke up."

"The floor — the plane's not level."

"Yeah, the plane is kinda on its side."

To Jounouchi's amazement, Kaiba was gathering himself. When he spoke next all traces of terror were gone. "I'm blind now." It was a statement, not a question.

"The lady on the phone said, maybe not. If — "

"Paramedics? Why haven't they taken us out of the plane?"

"No, no one's here here. We're like, in the mountains. I talked to people on your cell phone. Until both batteries went dead. Your backup battery had hardly any charge."

"My backup — you went in my briefcase? Who the fuck gave you permission?"

That's our Kaiba, Jounouchi thought, back to full asshole mode. "Well, it was kinda an emergency, what with you bleeding to death and all. And for your information, I didn't hafta break in. Your briefcase combination's the same as my birthday."

Kaiba was silent. Jounouchi continued, "Yeah, 0-1-2-5. January 25th."

"It's a mistake," Kaiba said curtly. "It was supposed to be set to 1-0-2-5. October 25."

"What, is that Mokuba's birthday?"

"Mine," he snapped. "Untie me."

""Oh sorry." Jounouchi hurriedly began undoing the straps, made tighter by Kaiba's struggles. "Now you gotta promise not to touch your eyes!"

"Of course."

As soon as Kaiba's hands were free he popped the releases on his seat belts. "You wrapped up my hands."

Jounouchi shrugged, then, realizing that Kaiba couldn't see him, said, "Yeah, but they aren't as bad as your eye."

Kaiba's hands went to his face, then to his temples. "Oh, this feels professional."

"Kaiba!" Jounouchi warned. "Put your hands down, or I'll have to tie you up again."

"You'd like that, eh?" he said with a snarl. “Kinky bondage fun with the blind guy.” Before Jounouchi could do more than sputter he asked, "You taped my lids shut. This is the eye?” He was gingerly feeling the taped cardboard stack. “What's all this? You did this?”

"Yeah, I made some spacers outta cardboard. Not fancy, but I figure it'd keep the bandage up high so it won't bump the piece of glass."

"Lexan, not glass." Kaiba said. "Airplane windshields are made of Lexan."

"OK, Lexan. " Man. Always showing off. And gee, you're welcome.

"Jounouchi," Kaiba put his hands down and spoke more quietly, "you — " He didn't finish the sentence though, but turned and started feeling the instrument panel instead. "Nouri?"

"He's dead."

"What happened? What did you do with — ?"

"With the body? Nothing. He's — there's a piece of metal from the windshield. Through him. And his chair." Jounouchi paused. "It's a good thing you don't have to look at him."

"Yeah, a good thing," Kaiba laughed bitterly.

Oh shit. Way to go Katsuya!

"Did you try the radio?"

"Which one is the radio?"

Kaiba gave an impatient sigh, and moved his fingers from dial to dial, murmuring the names of the gauges and switches as he went. Finally he said, "Radio." He twisted a knob. "Is anything happening?"

"No, no lights, no sound, nothing." He realized that of course Kaiba could hear that there was no sound, so he hurriedly added, "It looks kind of broken. Can you fix it, or talk me through fixing it? You're a tech whiz, right?"

"I invent. I don't repair."

"So we can't radio for help?"

"No."

"Well, I did call the emergency number twice. So I'm sure they've got someone on the way already anyhow."

"And you gave them our exact location," Kaiba said acidly.

"Wh-what?"

"Because you carry a GPS locator. And know how to read co-ordinates."

Jounouchi was silent. Fuck. Why does he have to be right all the time? Even though he knew that Kaiba's usual sarcasm was being cranked up by pain, he was still stung enough to say, "Won't hundreds of people come looking for the great Seto Kaiba? After all, you're so important."

"Yes, I am," Kaiba said with his usual arrogance.

"You should get in the tent and lie down until they get here to rescue you then, Princess," Jounouchi shot back.

"Tent? You set up the tent?"

"Yeah, I went though the bags in back and took out anything that I thought might come in handy." He resisted the urge to add See I'm not a total moron. "There was good stuff back there — tent, sleeping bags, warm clothes ... oh, and I kept some extra out for you."

Kaiba reached out and grabbed Jounouchi's leg, slid his hand down. "Hn, my good thermal pants." He slid his hand up. "And my shirt. The jacket?"

"It was in with the other camping clothes." He looked down at Kaiba, who, with his face and hands almost completely covered by bandages, looked kinda like the Invisible Man. Or, with the bandaged lump over his eye, The Fly. Despite his anger he felt a twinge of pity, too. "Since you can move, you ought to get into the tent. You'll be a lot warmer in your sleeping bag."

Kaiba grunted, then stood slowly. "Where is it?"

"Behind the pilot's seat, right against the door. The flap is facing the right side of the airplane, if you can picture that."

"Of course I can," Kaiba snapped. He took a step, his hands splayed in front of him, but when his feet crunched and slid on the tilted, debris littered floor he flailed a little and then and sat back down.

After a pause, Jounouchi said, "Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you could use my help to get over there."

Kaiba clenched his teeth, and said, "There's another problem I have to take care of first."

"What's that?" Jounouchi asked.

"I have to – urinate."

Jounouchi joked automatically, "Aw, I told you to go potty before we left," before he remembered that Kaiba had no sense of humor.

Silence.

"OK, well either you climb out the windshield — which I would not advise, it looks like a big drop, not to mention climbing back in could be impossible — or we could use a gamer's toilet."

Kaiba huffed derisively.

Jou went to the food supply pile. "This'll do," he said as he saw a medium-sized plastic jar filled with trail mix. He poured the mix out into a folding pan, then crunched back across the floor and held the jar out to Kaiba. "So, you and Mokuba like to go camping, huh?"

"Did you find anything suitable yet?" Kaiba asked irritably.

Man, I'm a moron. I'm lookin' right at the bandages and it still ain't sunk in that he can't see. "Yeah here's a jar." He put it into Kaiba's hand. "Do you want me to hold it? The jar, I mean. Might be easier if you had an extra hand."

Kaiba's jaw clenched.

"Hey, we're both guys, it's no big deal. I'm gonna take a whiz when you're done."

Kaiba tucked the jar under his arm, slid forward to the edge of the chair, and unzipped his pants. Even though he was a little bit curious, it didn't seem right with Kaiba being blind and all, so Jounouchi turned away until he heard re-zip and then silence. When he looked back Kaiba was holding the steaming jar out stiffly.

Jounouchi took it carefully. "OK then. One flush, coming up." He edged as close to the instrument panel as he could, then tossed the contents of the jar out of the plane. After quickly doing his own business (and even though he knew Kaiba couldn't see him, he turned his back anyhow), then upended the empty jar over a large switch.

"Now let's get you into the tent." He put his hand on Kaiba's wrist. Kaiba immediately whipped his hand away, but after a tense moment angrily gripped Jounouchi's upper arm. They made their way slowly, shuffling across the tilted floor like sailors on the deck of a ship frozen in mid-roll.

As Kaiba's hands touched and then traced the outline of the tent, he asked. "Why is it facing this way?"

"So when you crawl in and lay down your feet will be elevated."

Kaiba moved around to the tent opening, squatted slowly, then crawled inside.

"On your left, " Jounouchi said jauntily in his best tour guide voice as he held the tent flap out of the way, "is a very warm-looking sleeping bag with your name on it, and straight ahead are some useful things a guy waiting to be rescued might want, including Pocky, beef jerky, trail mix, and fine bottled water." He crawled in the tent and sat on his heels watching Kaiba, who had his hand on his bag but was making no move to climb into it.

"Kaiba? Something wrong?"

"You know," Kaiba said in an odd, flat tone, "it'd be much more efficient to zip the two bags together. If we were both in one bag — "

"What? Together?" Jounouchi sputtered. His stomach did a flip-flop that was only partly disgust.

Kaiba continued, nonplussed, " — it would effectively reduce the surface area of each body by at least a third, and close to half. That would conserve heat."

"And why do we need to do that?" Jounouchi squawked.

"Because that way we might last longer before we freeze to death."

Jounouchi clutched his head. "No no, don't say shit like that!"

'It's unlikely we'll be found before third-stage hypothermia sets in." Kaiba said matter-of-factly. "This cozy nest you made is worthless.”

"Hey, I did the best I could," Jounouchi snapped. Yeah, I'm sure you would have done so much better. "So if you don't like it, you can eat me."

"Interesting invitation," Kaiba said smoothly. "You'll expose enough flesh to die quickly from heat loss, and then I can use that ice planet trick."

"What the hell — ?"

"Slice your carcass open, dump out the guts, and crawl inside. If I can stand the stink."

"Kaiba, you are a total prick." Even kneeling, bandaged, and battered, Kaiba's posture and faint smile broadcast superiority. Jounouchi had an urge to tackle and pummel him. So fucking smug. All the fucking time. Instead, he unzipped Kaiba's sleeping bag completely, then opened it out. "Lay down and shut up, Princess," he said. "Feet towards the door."

Kaiba touched the edge of the bag, then moved to the center and stretched out his back as ordered.

Jounouchi unzipped the second bag, then remembered something. "Hang on." He slipped out of the tent — shit, it did already feel much colder outside — grabbed the extra pants and flannel shirts, and crawled quickly back inside. "Don't forget to put these on. For extra warmth." He tossed the clothes at Kaiba, who felt them, then sat up.

"Hn, a unexpectedly good idea," he said as he shrugged out of his thin white duster.

Jounouchi bristled. "Thanks for acting so shocked. Does wonders for my ego." If you weren't blind, and if we weren't trapped in a plane in the mountains, and you didn't know aikido, I'd ask you to step outside so that I could throw a few punches at you before you kicked my ass.

Kaiba slipped the shirt on, then said, "Face facts, Jounouchi. Your style is to rush in without thinking." He took off his shoes, pulled the thermals on as far as his thighs, then grunted slightly as he lay back, lifted his hips and back off the floor, and pulled them up the rest of the way.

"No, I don't use fancy computers to analyze stuff to death, I just go with my gut feelings. They ain't been wrong yet." Kaiba's hips had been at just the right angle, and the light coming through the tent from the front of the plane had shone on the tight black pants just so ... nah, he musta've been imagining things. Kaiba was more the kinda guy to have a gun in his pants than a boner.

"You're putting your shoes back on?" Jounouchi asked as he watched Kaiba grope for his boots.

"Extra insulation for the feet. Toes, fingers, and nose are the first to go. Did you find any hats while you were rummaging through my camping equipment?"

"No, I didn't see any." Wait a minute, if Kaiba is supposed to stay on his back, the best way to minimize area is if ... oh, shit. "Er, look, Kaiba, the lady said you need to stay on your back, but, ah, since we have to do this save body heat thing, that means I'm gonna have ta — "

" — lay on top of me?" Kaiba snorted. "Don't get too excited."

Jounouchi frowned. He's making it sound like I'm being a big pussy about it. He spread the second sleeping bag over Kaiba and knelt to zip the two bags together at the bottom. Pulling the zippers out to the bottom corners of the bag, he then crawled over Kaiba to zip up the side of the bag closest to the wall.

The entire time Kaiba was completely still: hands at his sides, the top of the sleeping bag lapping his chin. His expression was unreadable.

Cozy nest, here I come, Jounouchi thought. He folded back the unzipped side, knelt astride Kaiba's knees, and started to zip up the third side of the bag. He gradually lowered himself into a one-handed pushup as he pulled the zipper up the rest of the way. When he was done he supported his weight on his knees and elbows, his eyes closed and his nose just brushing Kaiba's shoulder. Man, if I fall asleep, I'm gonna wind up laying on his chest like a girl ... And where the hell are his hands anyhow?

"Jounouchi," Kaiba said drily after a while. "It doesn't minimize surface area if there's air space between us." After a moment he added, "Just tell yourself you're just doing what you need to do to stay alive. I know I am."

Jounouchi, his muscles beginning to quiver, held out a few minutes longer just on principle, but finally lowered his weight slowly and gratefully onto the taller boy. Nope, definitely not a gun, he thought, unsuccessfully trying to ignore what he could feel through a coat, four shirts, three pairs of pants, a pair of shorts and two sets of underwear.

He was OK with physical contact, he'd been hugged a lot by his sister and Honda, and a few times by Yuugi, but laying on Kaiba was different. Being Kaiba's human blanket in a life and death situation was kinda appropriate and oddly reassuring: such a tough bastard wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Fun to snuggle eh?" Kaiba's bandaged hand patted his hip.

"Not especially. Laying on you is like laying on a piece of wood, or cement, or something. You got, like, no body fat at all."

"Well, if I was soft and out of shape like you I'd survive longer without food, that's true."

"I'm not out of shape!" Jounouchi said indignantly. "I work out! My body's not soft at all!"

He realized too late he'd given Kaiba a perfect opening — which the brunet took, raising one leg slightly as he murmured, "Yes, I can feel. Didn't know you cared."

Shit. When did that happen? "Hey, well, you're 'caring' too, moneybags, so get off my case. It doesn't mean I like ya. Maybe something happened to us in the crash, or maybe being in the mountains is doing something to us. Low air pressure or something."

"Oh, right, that must be it." Kaiba sounded almost on the verge of laughter.

What the hell? "Is being delirious was a sign of that hypo-thing? Cause you're sounding pretty strange."

Kaiba looked as though he was going to say something, then thought better of it. He closed his mouth with a small sound, half groan, half sigh.

Jounouchi, looking for any excuse to change position, said quickly, "Hey, here I am laying on ya, and you probably got internal injuries, broken ribs or something. I should lay underneath you, like a mattress. I'm sure I can take it, you don't weigh hardly nothing."

Kaiba shook his head. "Not necessary." After a moment he said, "You and Mutou won the doubles finals at my tournament."

"Yeah. It was tough, but we drew some great cards just when we needed 'em — United We Stand, Power of Magicians ... on top of which, Yuugi and Yami are great dueling partners."

"You enjoy dueling as a team."

"Oh yeah, You ought to try it — it's more fun than being by yourself all the time." He added, "I'll bet Yuugi'd enjoy having you as a partner," then, "I would too, probably. Not like you'd ever offer, though."

"Partner?"

"Sure, anytime. Though, you have to adjust your tactics. Stop that "I can do it all myself" attitude. Yami told me all about when you and him dueled those two Rare Hunters on that building with the glass roof. See, when you duel in tandem, it's cool, it's almost like sex, you get in sync, there's a rhythm, you know what your partner's thinking, you can anticipate what they're gonna do, what they need, and when it works you feel such a rush, it's almost like com — "

Kaiba gave a sudden odd growl and rolled them over, sleeping bag and all. "Enough," he said hoarsely, his icy lips brushing Jounouchi's forehead.

... What is he doing?

Then he slid down,

... oh fuck, he's going to ...

and kissed him.

There really wasn't room in the twisted-up sleeping bag to struggle – and even if there had, he was spending all his energy trying to get his mind around the fact that he was in a tent inside a wrecked plane in the mountains being kissed by someone who supposedly couldn't stand him. He closed his eyes and for a moment tried to imagined that he was a camping trip with one of his friends: when he felt the tongue flick lightly over his closed lips he parted them, trying to picture one of their faces above the mouth … It didn't work, of course. Yuugi would never have kissed him ... given the chance, Yuugi might kiss Anzu, and for a split-second Jounouchi imagined that, but it felt wrong and pervy and disloyal, so he stopped. Honda had only kissed him once, a drunken bodyslam of teeth and tongue, followed by complete amnesia. Mai ... would Mai? or Yami? Maybe ... But no, this was Seto freaking Kaiba kissing him. So, even though a part of him knew there'd be a catch (or at least a dog insult) – and since they were gonna die anyhow – he figured he might as well not fight it.

Which was pretty easy, because the ruthless bastard was a great kisser, sucking on his mouth as if it was a juicy peach, then pressing so hungrily it seemed like his teeth would cut through his lips. Jounouchi got the impression that Kaiba wasn't doing it in an "I'm doing this just to harass you, you worthless loser dog," way, but an "I'm totally enjoying this" way. Jounouchi wasn't sure why he thought this, he just did. He brought his hands up and around Kaiba's waist as far as the bulky jackets would allow and, despite the bandages and the general grossness of Kaiba's cut up face, kissed back like he meant it, because the longer it went on, the more he realized that he probably did. (Or maybe it was just that the lump grinding against him was making him hornier and hornier.) A hot, good feeling was blooming in him, not at all like what he felt for Shizuka, or Yuugi, or Honda, or Mai, but something different, a feeling like hearing the last note of a song, or putting the last piece into a jigsaw puzzle, or eating a really great meal.

Finally Kaiba pulled away to murmur, "So the most effective way to shut you up is to give your mouth something else to do?" He rolled to the side, then reached out to squeeze the blond's left shoulder lightly. When Jounouchi gasped in pain Kaiba, apparently mistaking the sound as encouragement, put his hand down and started to rub Jounouchi's crotch.

"Gah, what are you doing?"

"Creating heat through friction," said Kaiba archly. "You really should have paid more attention in physics class, Jounouchi Katsuya."

"I think this is more like biology class, Kaiba Seto." Jounouchi was still struggling to accept what was going on: Kaiba had used his given name?  "Isn't this the wrong thing to be doing now? Shouldn't we be sending up flares or something instead of, you know, making out?"

"Flares would be pointless. But we can stop," Kaiba said, "or you can keep your eyes closed and keep imagining I'm someone else. Who is it? Mai?" He added maliciously, "or Yuugi ... or his Dark, maybe?"

Jounouchi bit back the automatic denial — after all, he had been technically guilty as charged — and asked instead, "Who are you imagining as you're dry-humping me?"

"An unimaginative word." He stopped rubbing and squeezed.

"Keep that up," Jounouchi gasped, "if that's how you want them to find us."

Kaiba stopped. "How?"

"Frozen solid, stuck together by a big puddle of come."

Kaiba snorted. "Not enough fluid for that to happen."

Jounouchi noticed that the bandages and cardboard over Kaiba's eye were damp. "Kaiba, you're supposed to be on your back, so that the juice in your eyes doesn't leak out." He added mischievously, "which is probably a good idea, 'cause it looks like the glue didn't hold."

"Glue?" Kaiba's hand stopped.

"Yeah, the medic told me to glue your eyelids shut." Jounouchi added, as though talking to himself, "Hmmm, it should have worked. Maybe I just did a sloppy job?" He tried hard to stifle his laugh, but couldn't as he watched what he could see of Kaiba's expression: first puzzlement bordering on fear, then comprehension, then faint amusement.

"Ah, you must want to crawl on top of me pretty badly to dish out a lame story like that. Anything interesting planned while you're up there?"

"Nah, I'm just tired of you being on top," Jounouchi volleyed back.

"Well, we'll compromise, then Jounouchi, by staying warm with neither of us on top. Lay with your back to me. Or does the right shoulder hurt as well as the left?"

How the hell did he notice that? "No, the right side is fine." Jounouchi inched his body around until his back was to Kaiba.

"Good." Kaiba pulled him back firmly, pushed down the waistband of the blond's thermal pants, and started pulling on the snap of his shorts.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Since you suggested it ..."

"Oh, I don't want them to find us like that," Jounouchi squawked, "with your hand down my pants!"

"Fine. We'll switch positions, then — I don't mind them finding us with your hand down my pants."

Jounouchi groaned, then rolled back over to face him.

"Now you're lying on your sore shoulder. Don't be stupid."

"Shut up, Kaiba." He shivered.

"You just don't understand surface area, do you?"

They lay silently; the only sound came from a slight breeze thwopping the wall of the tent ... all in all, it was kind of peaceful. Jounouchi blinked slowly: he sort of wished they'd kiss again, Maybe they would, after a nap. He was half-dozing when Kaiba suddenly spoke. "Why did you insist on coming along?"

"Because you were the one who decided to fly my best friend — " Jounouchi suddenly stopped. Fly my best friend. After a minute, Jounouchi said slowly, "I never realized you were such a big stinking pile of shit."

"What?"

"You're a coward." He could feel Kaiba's shock. Must have hit the target.

"Oh?" Kaiba asked with forced carelessness.

"The problem is, you waited too long."

Kaiba made no reply.

Jounouchi pressed. "Those rings."

A long silence. "A whim."

"You getting ready to pop the question to someone?" Jounouchi prompted. When Kaiba didn't answer, Jounouchi asked, "That's why they're in your briefcase?"

"I like looking at them." Kaiba was speaking quietly, as if more to himself than to Jounouchi. "They represent the possibility that I could ask, if the time is ever right."

They lay quietly again. Jounouchi watched the bandages long enough to confirm that fluid was soaking through them again, near the nose.

"Kaiba, you need to lie completely on your back."

"Why?"

"Stuff is still leaking out of your eyes."

"It's nothing," he said.

"But they said — "

"Blind and dead won't matter. Blind and alive will be pathetic."

Jounouchi pulled and pushed him flat nevertheless, then lay on top of him. He didn't feel sorry for Kaiba, he felt furious at him. It was his own fault if he was lonely! if just one question — never answered because never asked — separated him from happiness.

He made a sudden decision. "I'll be right back." He pulled himself out of the sleeping bag — Damn, those were good bags, it was getting COLD outside the tent now that it was afternoon — scrambled in clouds of vapor breath to Kaiba's suitcase, and pulled out the ring box.

After he slid, shivering and goosebumped, back into the bag he pressed one of the rings into Kaiba's hand. "I'll bet you paid a lot for this fancy silver ring. Stupid to never wear it."

Kaiba took the ring and slipped it on his index finger. "It's platinum, not silver. Where's the other one?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?"

"Tell me," Kaiba said.

"In my pocket."

"In your pocket," he said flatly.

"I'm keeping it warm. It would have been lonely all by itself in the box."

Kaiba swallowed. "Hn. Lonely."

They lay listening to the wind.

"Mokuba," Kaiba said suddenly, with real anguish.

"Don't think about it — " Jounouchi's throat closed up for a moment, then he continued, "he knows how much you love him, and he won't ever forget that. His whole life. Just like my sister won't forget me."  He stopped talking then. Way to go! I'm probably the only person on earth who knows how to make dying even more depressing. Shit, well, we can't die all sad. "So, the hell with heat loss?" He wriggled his hips a little.

"A pity fuck?" Kaiba said bitterly.

"Who said anything about a pity fuck? It's just – the last time either us will get to do it." His mouth felt numb, and it made his words sound slurry. “I'm not drunk!' he said, irritated with himself.

"Two unappealing options. Losing body heat and dying fast, or conserving heat and delaying the inevitable."

Jounouchi gasped, pretending to be indignant. "Are you calling me an unappealing option?" When Kaiba turned his head away Jounouchi went on, "Like you said, the snow is white, the plane is white, the crash is probably invisible from the air ... no one's gonna find us. Let's go out with a bang." He laughed. “A bang.”

"This is your gut feeling?"

"Well, not exactly my gut, but yeah. Anyhow, you won't lose that much heat."

"You obviously know how these things are done," Kaiba said.

Jounouchi could have sworn he saw the little light bulb click on over his head. Had Kaiba really never – but then, who would have been good enough for His Highness?  Or was he just too proud to admit that he's not the best at something? I guess I can do this one last thing for him, whether he deserves it or not. He dug in his shorts pocket until he found his army knife, then said as he searched for the right blade with his numb fingertips, "OK, we start with this." Once he had the knife open he unsnapped his coat, unbuttoned his flannel shirt, and used the knife to slit open his tank top.

"What are you doing?" Kaiba asked.

In reply Jounouchi quickly but carefully made a hole just below the collar of Kaiba's turtleneck, then ripped the shirt open down the front, pushed the halves aside, and lay back down half-atop him, pressing chest to chest. "Now, that's body heat!" His hand borrowed down between them until his fingers found a zipper, though he wasn't sure whose; and at any rate he was having trouble remembering if he knew how zippers worked. “Next on the menu, rubbing two dicks together. When they find us frozen together by a big puddle of come? It'll give 'em something to talk about!”

Kaiba gave a strangled laugh, coughed, then said softly:

        When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,

"Huh?"

"A first line."

"Is there more?"

"I don't remember," Kaiba lied.

"Heh," Jounouchi gave up on the zipper, and instead just wormed his cold fingers inside cloth until he found skin. "If I'd known this trip involved a quiz, I woulda studied." He yawned. "I woulda taken a crash course. Get it? Crash."

Kaiba moved a bandaged hand and laid it on Jounouchi's head. "Idiot."

They lay there then, without speaking. And light and warmth spread between them ...  . . 

        &nbs p; ... while outside ….

 .

 .        & nbsp;           &nbs p; … darkness fell.

  The end.
(maybe: see Challenge)  

I've had the last line of this story ever since its inception. Although in my own mind it's clear what both Kaiba's and Jounouchi's true feelings are, I deliberately made things somewhat ambiguous for the story, hoping that would torment - er, I mean be fun, for the reader. The same is true of the very ending - it's somewhat open ended as neither is dead when the story closes. However ...

If you don't like it ending here, or don't like that everything isn't completely spelled out, I issue you a fic challenge! Write a "chapter 4" to this story. What happens next? Do they both die or get rescued? What happens to Yuugi? What is everyone else's reaction to the events of the story? Who does Kaiba "really" like? Who does Jouno think he likes? Who does Jouno really like? who does Kaiba think he likes? ... you get the idea (evil cackle). .

The genesis of this fic was in a chat Akaiblush and I had in April 2003. After she explained that a particularly trivial fic that we were analyzing was technically a "hurt/comfort" fic, I said:

          *sn ort!* Hurt/comfort should involve airplanes crashing in snowy mountains.

and, well, there it was. As always I am grateful to her for being an inadvertent Muse, a source of information on an amazing array of topics, and the type of beta that can tell me a chapter's perfect in such a way that I'm motivated to go off and try to make it even better.

This fic is also a challenge I posed to myself. After reading one author's boast that he/she spends no more than "30 minutes a chapter" I decided to see if I could post a completed fic - with less than 3 revisions. (Just so you realize how much of a challenge that is for me, Chapter 5 of my fic "Coming Clean" went through 36 revisions before posting and 12 within two days of posting.)

Thanks for Fran, Undomiel and lost of Kyokou Geemu for providing dueling expertise and card suggestions, to Elf, my "grievous bodily harm" expert, and to my long-time opthamologist, who raised an eyebrow to my strange questions about eye injuries but nevertheless patiently answered my questions and told me all about Korean War pilots and glass vs. Lexan. Please note that the "first aid" I describe here is not from him, however, but is entirely my own invention: it is in no way an approved medical technique. (His comment on the sort of eye injury described in this story: "In real life, never ever touch anything until the paramedics arrive.")

I have no idea if any of the plane stuff is accurate: as far as I know, I made it all up. Any similarities to real planes is completely coincidental, and entirely amazing.

Oh, and re: "gamer's toilet" - this was like BigFoot at first: most people I asked understood it but no one admitted to doing or witnessing. (I was reminded of it by a post in a topic on "What's the longest you've ever watched anime straight?" on GameFAQs's Manga and Other Anime forum.) Thank you to Jacq for confirming the existence of this rare and legendary beast.

Jounouchi's birthday is given in the character guide as January 25, and Kaiba's as October 25. How could I NOT use that?

The poem is Sonnet 29, by William Shakespeare. If you're not familiar with it, you might want to look it up. (hint, hint.)

The characterization of Kaiba is inspired by the doujinshi of Miki Kujyou of the circle DreamWorks. Her frosty, imperious seme!Kaiba almost always has a lovely brief-but-tender moment at the end of the story with sweet-puppy uke!Jouno. The "Fun to snuggle, eh Jounouchi?" line of this fic was directly inspired by the line "Tonight will be fun, eh Jounouchi?" from the DreamWorks doujinshi Monsters, Inc perfect. Although my translator for that work has preferred to be anonymous, she knows she has my sincere gratitude for unlocking the delights of Dreamworks.

Mention of the camping trip is a tribute to Cody's lovely YuuJou fic "Best Friends."

(015) 22 Feb 2010 stupid FF.net