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"How does the suit feel, Mr. Wheeler?"
The blond man turned a bit pink. "Joey's fine," he said bashfully. He twisted around to look at himself in the mirror. "I like this one."
A haughty scoff to his right stopped him short. He turned to see Kaiba eyeing the suit with disdain.
"Of course you would."
"What's wrong with it?"
"For one, the cut. Second, the fabric," he explained, as if it were plainly obvious. "And you should also go with something less..." (Kaiba paused for a second before finding the word,) "... subdued," he finished, with an visible distaste for the fitting vocabulary.
"'Less subdued'?"
"You don't want to blend in with the rest of the congregation, do you?" the CEO accused. "You *are* walking her down the aisle."
Joey chortled. "Okay then. 'Less subdued'..." He grinned at Kaiba. "I guess in this case I should go with the fashion advice from the guy who hates being out of the limelight."
Kaiba barreled on as if he hadn't heard the cheeky remark. He turned to address the shop owner with a glare.
"Get him an Italian cut -- worsted wool, at *least* 110. Don't peddle this cotton crap on us," he snarled.
The old man nodded wiltingly and hastily retreated to bring another suit, leaving Joey to wonder what was so bad about the one he had on as Kaiba eyed him critically.
"Thanks for helping me out, Kaiba. I know the Best Man is supposed to help the groomsmen get their suits, but I guess I'm not really in that category..."
"Yes, well, I'd rather prefer not to have half of the wedding party look as if they just stepped out of their Junior prom."
"Really?" Joey asked incredulously. "Can we not do this?"
Kaiba's mouth squeezed into a tight line and Joey hoped to imagine him biting his tongue.
"We're not teenagers anymore."
Kaiba turned away stiffly. "I know that," he snapped.
Joey regarded him softly.
"Force of habit," Kaiba admitted quietly. It was much easier to keep him at a distance because if not--
The awkward silence that followed was broken by the return of the shop keeper. In his arms was a handsome wool suit (as requested) with an energetic herringbone pattern.
Kaiba gave it the barest of nods and the old man quickly bustled Joey into the fitting room.
The blond man emerged a few minutes later and Kaiba had clamp down on any inclination to say something cutting or to say something too approving but damn, he looked so good in a suit... even if it wasn't fitted properly.
"Excellent! I think it's a good fit already, I won't have to make many adjustments..."
Kaiba circled around Joey, trying to focus on searching for flaws instead of his other intruding thoughts.
"This side needs to be taken in a bit. The slacks are too long. And why is this sleeve breaking like this?" Kaiba shot off, leaving the shop keeper in a panic to agree with and assuage the shortcomings.
Joey on the other hand, stood there and considered his reflection. He didn't know what Kaiba was talking about, but he had to admit that this suit looked better than the one before.
"... With those adjustments, this one would be a good pick," Kaiba finished begrudgingly.
The shopkeeper beamed. "Very well." He pulled out a measuring tape and jotted down some numbers.
Stretching out his arms to see how they fit, Joey noticed a price tag on the end of the sleeve. He picked it up to read and whistled.
"If you have a budget, we can look at some others--" the shopkeeper began, but with a wary eye on Kaiba.
"Is it a problem?" Kaiba asked flatly.
"No, it's okay. It's just... man. I didn't realize how expensive suits could get."
Kaiba cleared his throat. "We bore the cost of the groomsmen's su--"
"Don't worry about it," Joey interrupted. He glared at an affronted Kaiba. "I saved up for it a long while ago. C'mon! It's my only baby sister!"
Kaiba looked away, looking sore from being snubbed.
"But this is a good one, right?"
"... Yes."
"Yes, I think so too," interrupted the shop keeper. "Shall I start the paperwork?"
"Paperwork?!"
The old man shuffled Joey to the counter as Kaiba watched him walk away, glad that this afternoon was almost over.