* * *
Sundae
by Edmondia Dantes

Disclaimer: Not mine

AN: Very random gift-ficlet, written at 3:30 in the morning for Ash. Because she likes Jou/Mai and I do too.

* * *

"Behold the banana!"

"..." She stared at the banana, at him, then smacked him upside his pretty blond head.

Jounouchi scowled in mock outrage and clutched the fruit to his chest (and why were there visions of Pegasus floating through her brain?) and pouted at her. "You asked for the banana!"

Palm, meet face.

"You did! You said that the only thing that could make your low-fat ice cream sundae more decadent was to add bananas for a banana split!"

She really should just stop talking around him. It always wound up being... odd. He huffed and promptly started peeling it while she willed down visions of Freud and his damnable cigar.

"You stole that banana."

"I borrowed it!"

Mai raised an eyebrow. "You're going to return it after you put it in my sundae?"

"Yes! Er - no. Something."

"Something," she repeated blandly, deliberately not looking when he leaned over her shoulder to triumphantly drop the banana-chunks (ripped apart with rough teenage-boy hands, not neatly sliced) onto her sundae.

"Yeah, something. I'll give 'em an apple or something." He wasn't so close anymore, so she rested her chin on her palm and still didn't look at him.

"You traumatized that poor boy."

He snorted and turned back to her, and she noted with appreciation that he'd grabbed the right can of whipped cream. "That poor boy's like three years older than me."

True enough. "Doesn't make him any less traumatized."

It shouldn't be this interesting to watch him playing with whipped cream, but it was, and she cursed her mind, which was quite gleefully romping about in the gutter. "Keh. Idiot needs a spine."

"His posture could use a little work," she admitted, and most certainly wasn't oogling a younger man. Boy. Person. Thing. Especially not when he was bending over in such nicely ratty denim shorts.

"A little work?" Another boy-snort. Not a pretty sound. Jounouchi popped up again, triumphantly wielding a bottle of chocolate syrup. (Low-fat. Quick learner, this boy-man-thing.) "Could use a kick in the balls or eighteen."

She hid her smile behind her daiquiri. "I take it he saw Shizuka."

Eyebrow twitch, but he bared his teeth in a not-smile instead of hitting something. "Briefly. Very briefly."

"I didn't want my sundae drowned," she said mildly, rewarded with a slight flush on his cheeks and a mumbled apology. She restrained a smirk and the urge to ruffle his already-tousled hair - that certainly would raise a few more eyebrows than she cared to think about. A playful slap might be one thing, but softer touches made for more malicious gossip.

He peeked up at her and pinked even more. He was adorable, standing there with her sundae in his hands and that cute little-boy blush.

She plucked it out of his hands. His fingers were sticky and he wouldn't meet her gaze. Was anyone looking? He'd be jumpier if so, so she was safe for the moment. She dug the spoon into the dessert and pressed the treat to his lips.

The pink flush was shading into crimson, and his eyes were wide and nervous. But he took the ice cream with a flick of pink kitten-tongue (not puppy, slobbering everywhere, neat and swift and she should not be thinking these thoughts in a public venue) and a nearly-imperceptible shiver.

He was, she decided, the prettiest man-boy-thing she had ever seen, especially all shy and flustered and looking as gut-wrenchingly young as he really was.

And they were in a public space, under the afternoon sun, and he was working behind the counter of an ice-cream stand in a shredded t-shirt and shorts and his skin was faintly glazed with sweat and she should stop staring before someone noticed. Stupid to think of him being beautiful, beautiful men had thrown themselves at her for ages now, and this boy was - a child.

But when she finally dug the spoon in and took a bite of her treat, she knew he was staring. A little gently, a little hungrily, and very, very, very patiently.

They both knew he wouldn't be a child forever.

* * *

Feedback?

Back to YGO Fanfic
Back to Fanfic
Back Home