AN: I haven't written anything fanfiction-y in ages, but recently I've fallen slightly in love with puppyshipping. The result is this fic. Hope you enjoy: it's merely a little (10 chapters) tale about how Kaiba and Joey meet again after the events of the anime series (English dub). And sorry to anyone who follows me for my thiefshipping – no sign of that here I'm afraid. This one is all about the puppyship, so if you don't like that, you probably shouldn't stick around~. If you do like puppyshipping, however, this fic should be for you! – Jem

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! but Kazuki Takahashi does. Go and support him. Also, I know nothing about computers.

It was a quiet day in the small back room where Joey worked. His colleagues were either locked away in their own, equally tiny, cubicles, or out working at the front desk for the rare few customers who actually bothered to enter the IT shop rather than just calling for help. It was a slow day, too. Joey didn't mind this too much. He was currently leaned almost horizontally in his revolving office chair, his feet up on the desk, with a bag of crisps tucked in at his side. One hovered half-way to his mouth as his gaze remained vacantly fixed on the computer screen. His earpiece was also hanging half-off his face, but he either hadn't noticed yet or couldn't be bothered to set it right. It wasn't like any customers were going to call this late, anyway.

Joey had been working as an IT consultant for almost a year now. He was one of the few members of his year at Domino High who had actually remained in the city, rather than going off to study in exciting places. Studying had never really suited Joey. He was much more comfortable here, lounging around in a tiny back room office doing a job he was half-decent at, than attempting to twist his brain around maths problems or staring dumbly at the laws of physics. Perhaps playing card games for the majority of your school career didn't lead to a decent education, after all.

"Hey, Joey?"

Joey jumped wildly, the bag of crisps slipping out from his fingers and spilling crumbs everywhere. His feet slid sideways off his desk, bringing with them a mug, several sheets of scribbled paper, and his keyboard and mouse along with all their dangling wires. The mug shattered against the sticky lino floor with a harsh crack.

Acting as if nothing had happened, Joey ran one hand through his unruly blond hair and summoned up his usual easy grin as he turned to the door. It was Karin, the brunette owner of the small IT shop. "Yeah, boss?"

The figure in the door raised an eyebrow at the mess, but declined to comment any further. "Have you sent me your record sheet yet?"

"…Record sheet…?"

"The one I asked you for over an hour ago." Karin leaned in the doorway and resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.

Joey continued to blink vacantly at her for several minutes. "Eh … you might have to help me out here…"

"You are actually hopeless." She strode over to his computer and immediately clicked off his tab, shaking her head.

"Hey, I blame my boss."

"Watch it." She sent him a glare over her shoulder, but his grin was impossible to remove from his face.

Joey sat up a bit straighter and sent her a mock-salute. "Gotcha. What report was I meant to send you?"

"Never mind; I'll just find it myself." Karin turned back to his computer and clicked open his files, scanning through them quickly.

Joey huffed a little. "I think this is invasion of my privacy."

"And I think that you should watch your words, or your boss might just get fed up of your bullshit."

Joey winced, placing one dramatic hand over his heart and tossing his head back theatrically. He sniffed. "Hey, you're wounding me here!"

"Good." She soon straightened up again, and when she turned to face him, there was a giant smirk plastered across her bright red lips.

Joey made a face back at her. He leaned forwards and gave her a good-natured shove towards his door. "There, you got your file, so get outta my office."

"I'm docking your wages." She smacked his hand away from her and stalked over to the door.

"That would bother me if you ever actually paid me."

She turned in the doorway and gave him another glittering smirk, blue eyes narrowing. "You're lucky I even give you a desk. Which is filthy, by the way."

Joey shrugged. "'S only me that uses it."

"Thank God." Karin gave a shudder. She cast a slightly disgusted glance around the tiny office, noting the many fast food containers littered about every available surface. "I'm not sure anyone else would survive."

"Alright, now really, get outta my office." Joey picked up his (now empty) crisp packet and aimed it threateningly at her.

Karin held both hands to her mouth. "Oh no! God forbid I get attacked by the dumb blond and his litter!"

The crisp packet hit the door just as she slammed it shut behind her.

Joey rolled his eyes good-naturedly, pulling his chair closer into his desk. He was pretty sure he heard the crunch of various weeks' mess under the wheels. Karin had a point – it was a bit of a tip in here – but Joey honestly didn't see much purpose in clearing up after himself. It wasn't like his home was any different. He did glance mournfully at the mass of crumbs covering his desk, though. That was a perfectly good snack gone to waste.

Leaning over, Joey rescued his keyboard and mouse and clicked back open the tab Karin had closed on him. He was half-way through watching his favourite player, and he reckoned he had just enough time before it hit 5pm to get through the remainder of this duel. It was getting close; the underdog had just pulled an incredible trap card manoeuvre on his opponent, and Joey had yet to see that player get beaten. He settled himself comfortably back in his seat, propped his legs back up on the desk, and clicked 'play'.

Seto Kaiba did not enjoy getting disturbed.

He had been mid-flow, fingers busily tapping away at his laptop's keyboard as the sun outside the vast glass walls of his office began to sink steadily towards the horizon. The air started to turn chilly, an unsettling quiet laying thickly through the building as his underlings began to go home for the evening, but none of this even registered within Kaiba's skull. His head was filled with numbers and symbols, profit margins and graphs and charts, and he didn't have time for the sun to be going down. Thankfully, his office lighting was wired to come on just as dusk began to creep into the large room, and just in time too. Having to squint at the light from his laptop was getting annoying.

Just as he clicked onto the next page of the current document, an unusual whirring sound came from the laptop's fan. He barely paused, merely flicking it an annoyed glance to shut up and stop bugging him before his fingers were back to their fast-paced typing. However, another few minutes later, the laptop gave a loud sputter.

Seto paused. He was fairly sure it wasn't supposed to do that.

After another moment or two, nothing else seemed to be going on, so he began scrolling through the document again, adding in the latest figures. He was halfway through inputting the data when the laptop screen suddenly went black.

"What?" Seto narrowed his eyes angrily before reaching for his mouse and clicking.

Nothing happened.

He waved the mouse around for a while.

Still nothing.

"You have got to be kidding me," Seto mumbled to himself. He pressed the power key and held it down, looking for some sort of response, but there was still no sign of life from the deadened-black screen. All he could see was his annoyed reflection glaring mockingly back at him.

He proceeded to press every key possible on the laptop, trying a few random combinations, but there was still no response. He shook it, and a worrying kind of rattle sounded from somewhere deep within the laptop's innards. Seto put it down after that, and decided he probably shouldn't touch it again.

Then, he sat back in his tall, black office chair, and glared at the black screen. Perhaps willing it to work would get his document back up.

After several more minutes, when it became clear to an ever-more-impatient Seto that his laptop was not going to miraculously turn back on by itself, he reached for his office phone. He punched in the number for his secretary and snapped angrily at him to get him a tech support number, merely praying that one would still be open at this time. He needed that document in time for a meeting the next day.

A few minutes later, his office's automatic door slid open and his secretary walked in with an outstretched piece of paper. Seto snatched it off him without bothering to murmur a 'thank you' and grabbed his phone again, using the code for an outside line before entering the tech support helpline. The office lights were blaring at full power now, the sun truly setting. It had to be almost 5pm, but that didn't strike Seto as particularly late. His office hours would continue much further on into the night. As he waited for the call to connect, he returned to his staring contest with the stubbornly black screen of his laptop. If he just glared hard enough…

"Lina Tech Support, how may we help?"

Seto cleared his throat. "My laptop isn't working."

"And what seems to be the problem with it?"

Seto's brows furrowed. "I have no idea, or I wouldn't be calling, would I?"

"Well, what isn't it doing?"

Seto shrugged before he realised that the other person couldn't see him. "Oh. The screen's gone black."

"Have you dropped it anywhere recently?"

"Of course not. What sort of idiot do you take me for?"

"Hold on." The person went quiet for a few moments before returning. "You're in luck – one of our consultants is still in the office. I'll just patch you through."

Seto didn't answer as the line gave a click and some bland music began echoing out of the phone. He held it a little away from his ear and resumed pressing every random button on his laptop that he could easily reach. It still stubbornly refused to acknowledge his existence, though, and the screen remained utterly black.

Finally, the music stopped, and a new voice answered. A new, weirdly familiar voice. A voice with that same stupid accent that Kaiba remembered from his school days. "You're through to a consultant, what seems to be the problem?"

…It couldn't be…

"Hello? What's ya problem?" The voice sounded again, and now Seto was sure. No one else's tone so easily grated against him, and this one sounded just as vacant as it ever had.

Seto leaned back in his chair and allowed a slow smirk to tug at his lips. He was going to enjoy this. It wasn't often one of his favourite verbal punching bags just wandered back into his life, and this opportunity was too good to pass up. "Well, if it isn't the mutt come back to serve his master."

There was a long pause before the voice answered again, and this time Seto could swear it crackled a little. "…Kaiba?!"

"Well done, you identified one of the most well-known voices in Domino."

"Wait … what?!" Wheeler actually sounded shocked. "How in the hell are you calling me?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "It's really very simple. I picked up my phone, put in the numbers, and miraculously here we are."

"I know that, ya great lump. I mean why me?"

"It isn't like I wanted to, believe me, Wheeler." Seto allowed as much disdain to drip into his monotone as he could.

"Then what the hell are ya playing at?"

"My laptop broke." Seto sent it another cursory glare. "But if I'd known all I'd get was you, I wouldn't have bothered calling."

"Watch it, moneybags." Wheeler sounded irritated. "What's wrong with your laptop?"

"I'm not going to bother explaining. I don't want to hurt your head."

"You rang the tech support line. So just tell me what the matter is."

Seto snorted. "Are you trying to tell me you actually understand technology?"

"This is my job, idiot." Seto could practically hear Wheeler puffing himself up with pride. He bet his chest was sticking out in just that annoying way it always did when he got falsely arrogant. "So what's the problem?"

"Isn't there somebody else?" Seto's nostrils flared, his tone irritated.

"Naa, they've all gone home for the night. You're lucky I'm still here."

"I wouldn't class this as lucky." Seto growled. "But I suppose you'll have to do. The screen's gone black."

"The screen of your laptop?"

"No, of my giant winged pony."

There was a pause. "…I'm detecting some sarcasm there, rich boy."

"Oh really?" Seto sneered.

There was a slight strain in Wheeler's voice when he replied. He better not be laughing. "Alright, have you tried pressing the power button?"

"That's the one with the red flashing light, right?"

"…Ah…" Wheeler's tone shifted slightly. "What red flashing light?"

"The one over the power button."

"…Ah…" There was a pause. "Kaiba, you'd better bring that laptop into me."

Seto's voice went flat. "Excuse me?"

"I'm gonna need to look at it."

"There's no way I'm entrusting my laptop to the likes of you," Seto growled. "I'd sooner have a monkey poking at it."

"Hey, I know an insult when I hear one." Wheeler's voice was growing louder. "And that was definitely an insult."

"Your intellectual prowess never ceases to amaze me."

"Just shut up and bring me the laptop, rich boy."

Seto glared before he realised that Wheeler couldn't actually see him. "If this is some sort of trick…"

"Oh trust me, there's a lotta better stuff I could be doing with my time."

Seto paused for another few moments, considering. He loathed the thought of having anything to do with any of Yugi's dumb friends again, especially Wheeler, but he needed his laptop for the meeting the next day. He doubted anywhere else would be open at this time, due to the unreasonably short hours most people on this lazy planet seemed to work.

"Kaiba?"

"Alright, fine," Seto snapped. "Tell me the address."

Once Kaiba had hung up, Joey sat staring dumbfounded at his computer screen for a few more moments. He had logged the call in, but it was still really disconcerting to see the name Seto Kaiba flashing back at him, typed out neatly in black and white. That wasn't a name he thought he would ever have to come back into personal contact with again. Sure, Kaiba's name was still everywhere around Domino – Kaiba Corp. was only growing in size, it seemed – but Joey usually made a point of flicking off the TV or swearing at the news whenever his stupid pointy face showed up. He had never quite got over all the insults Kaiba had flung at him over the years. For some stupid reason, it still grated at Joey that he'd never actually won a duel against the man.

Except now, it seemed that Kaiba needed something off Joey. And boy, was Joey going to play it out for as much as he could get.

Pushing his chair back quickly, Joey got to his feet and exited his tiny office, moving out behind the front desk. The rest of the IT shop opened before him, the various displays of all the latest gadgets flashing invitingly up at him. There were no customers left, only Karin leaning over the till.

"Hey, don't close up yet." Joey leaned his elbows on the counter with a dramatic sigh.

Karin barely spared him a glance. "What?"

"Last minute customer."

"Oh." She pressed one last button before turning to face him properly, tucking an escaped strand of brown hair behind her ear. "Want me to handle it?"

"Naa, I've got this one." Joey's eyes gleamed and he grinned savagely.

Karin arched a questioning brow at him. "…Should I ask?"

"Oh, it's only an old school rival." Joey rubbed his hands together with a slightly gleeful chuckle. "Haven't seen him in years."

"Well, try not to murder him in my shop. I don't want to clean up the carpet again." Karin turned back to the till, pulling out the stock markups.

"Hey, no promises, man." Joey leaned his chin on his palm, entertaining himself by blowing the strands of blond hair out of his eyes and watching them fall back into place. It was silent apart from the few quiet whirrings of technology, and the occasional flashing lights of the display items disturbing the dim space of the small tech shop. Joey allowed his thoughts to drift back to Kaiba. It had been really quite a shock to hear his voice from the other end of the line, so much so that Joey had accidentally knocked the contents of his desk onto the ground again. Kaiba sounded exactly the same as he had when they left school over two years ago. The insults were the same, and so was that old familiar sarcastic tone, somehow so expressive despite Kaiba's apparent inability to speak in anything other than a monotone. It brought back memories of endless scraps, constant bickering, and playground fights. It also reminded Joey of a slightly happier time, back when all his friends were only a short walk away.

Not that Kaiba had ever counted as a friend.

The tinkle of the bell above the shop door made Joey lift his head, and sure enough, Seto Kaiba was standing in the doorway. He looked just the same as he had at school – still wearing that stupid long coat, his brown hair still cut short and styled to perfection, but Joey didn't remember his eyes being quite that piercing shade of blue, or his stare being quite so sharp. The years must have dulled his memory. And had Kaiba always been that tall?

The CEO cast a disinterested look around the shop, his nose wrinkling slightly. "Is this dump honestly where you work?"

"Hey!" Joey glared, and he felt Karin tense a little beside him.

She picked up her lists and glared over the counter. "Excuse me? What did you just call my – OH!" With a startled exclamation, the lists clattered out of Karin's hands and scattered sheets of paper went flying across the floor. Her eyebrows shot up. "Is that Seto Kaiba?!"

Kaiba just barely spared her a glance, but Joey snorted before he could say anything. "Yeah, the one and only. Richest bastard I've ever had the misfortune to meet."

"Joey!" Karin's tone sounded vaguely incredulous.

Kaiba's attention instantly snapped back to Joey and his intense blue eyes narrowed. "I could say the same for you, Wheeler, only I could hardly call you rich."

"Why you-" Joey leaned forwards, his grip tightening on the counter.

"No closer, please. I don't want to get mutt germs."

"Don't you dare call me that again, moneybags!"

"Why? Judging by your behaviour it's just as fitting as it always was."

"That does it!" Joey made to vault over the desk, his palms pressing flat, but an annoying grip on his arm stopped him. He snarled, keeping his angry glare trained straight on Kaiba's stupid, arrogant face. "Let me go, Karin!"

"Not until I'm sure you aren't going to maul the customer." Karin's tone was surprisingly calm. She glanced between the two of them, keeping a tight grip on Joey's arm. The tension between them was palpable; it practically sizzled in the air.

Kaiba, of course, didn't look at her. Rather, his attention was focused solely on Joey. "Keep the mutt restrained."

Karin tugged Joey away with a nod; she still couldn't quite believe that the Seto Kaiba was currently standing in her shop.

"Kaiba!" Joey growled, and his accented pronunciation of Seto's name annoyed him just as much as it always had. "If I were you, I'd be careful, or you're never gonna get your stupid computer fixed."

Seto bit back the automatic sharp retort that rose to his lips. As much as he hated to admit it, Wheeler had a point. He honestly did need his laptop to be up and running as per usual by the morning, and he couldn't afford to wound Wheeler to the point where he would no longer be able to fix it. Instead, Seto gave a resigned sigh. "Fine. But I still don't trust you to touch my belongings."

"Oh, please." Joey glared, shaking his arm out of Karin's grip. "Just hand it over."

Seto ignored him. Instead, he directed a glare towards the woman. "Can't you do it?"

"Hmm?" Karin stared at him for a moment before snorting and shaking her head. "Sorry, no can do."

Seto's eyes narrowed.

Joey grinned cheerily. "Sorry, Kaiba, but she's the boss around here. It's me or nothing."

"…I'm almost tempted to walk away."

Joey's grin instantly dropped again and he pointed towards the door. "Go ahead. I'm not gonna stop ya."

Karin elbowed him sharply in the ribs, ignoring Joey's pained yelp, and turned to direct a sunny smile at Kaiba. "What he means is, he's more than happy to take your custom, Mr. Kaiba, sir."

"I've no doubt." Kaiba's voice was rough, but he still slammed his same-as-ever silver briefcase down onto the counter top. He clicked open the clasps and lifted the lid.

Joey instantly perked up again, and he jumped up onto the counter to lean over Kaiba's shoulder. "Hey, is that still full of duel monsters' cards?"

"Get out of my space."

"Heh, alright, spoilsport." Joey leaned back just a tiny amount.

Seto sent him an irritated glare before extracting his laptop from the case and handing it, with great and apparent reluctance, to Joey. Joey took it off him immediately, his hand just brushing Kaiba's in the process, and flipped the lid open. The screen was still an unpromising shade of black.

"Alrighty then, let's have a look at ya." Joey cracked his knuckles expertly before he pressed the power button. Predictably, nothing happened. Joey remained unfazed, however, and moved on to press every key combination he knew in an attempt to get some response out of the thing.

Seto leaned against the counter and watched his every move like a hawk. A tall, thin, long-nosed, pointy-faced hawk. His eyes never left Joey's hands, and his long body remained almost uncomfortably close. Joey hardly seemed to notice him, however.

"Geez, Kaiba, what did you do to this thing?" Joey shook his head and tutted loudly.

"None of your business," Seto snapped.

"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna take a while to put right." Joey shook his head and closed the laptop's lid. "Hard drive's busted."

"Excuse me?"

"And not just that – it isn't waking up at all. You didn't spill coffee on it or something, did'ya?"

Seto's lips drew into a thin line. He decided not to deign that question with a response; instead he chose merely to glare.

Joey barely noticed. "It'll take a week, minimum."

"What?" Seto leaned forwards again, his fingers digging into the counter-top.

Joey shrugged. "Sorry, man, but you should take better care of your technology. This thing's been way overused."

"Impossible. I need it by the morning."

Joey snorted. "Then you'll need a new laptop."

Karin immediately perked up again, dropping the papers she was in the process of collecting. She sent Kaiba a bright-eyed stare. "Well, if that's the case, we happen to have several models…"

"No," Kaiba responded flatly.

Joey rolled his eyes and hefted Kaiba's laptop under one arm. "Then you're gonna have to do without for a bit."

"I don't think you understand the meaning of the word impossible, Wheeler."

"And I don't think you get that it will take a week, Kaiba. Want me to spell it out for ya, real slow?"

Seto's nostrils flared. "Don't patronise me."

"Makes a change, doesn't it?" Joey gave him a jaunty grin.

Seto twitched.

"I'll have it back to ya in a week, don't worry." Joey hefted Seto's pride and joy easily under one arm, turning to head back into the shop. "You can come back for it then."

"No." Seto was still watching Joey's every movement. His heart lurched a little every time the laptop so much as wobbled. "I'm coming back tomorrow."

Joey rolled his eyes. "It won't be ready."

"I don't care. I'm coming back tomorrow." Before Wheeler – or anyone else, for that matter – could question the logic behind Seto's stubborn statement, he turned on his heel and exited the shop, coat tails flaring out behind him. The door swung firmly shut behind him.

Joey stood for a few moments, glancing between the laptop in his hands and the door of the shop, before a jovial grin lit his lips. This was going to be fun.

Before anyone hits me, I don't know anything about computers. All the technology stuff is made up jargon. Please don't use this as a guide to fix your laptop. (Or, indeed, to break it). Should be another update soon, and please, let me know what you think so far~ - Jem