This is a Dragonshipping Roleplay between me and ofspiritsandpuzzles. I played Joey and she played Yami. Posted with her permission.
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Yami had never considered marriage as something in his future: as the spirit of a deceased pharaoh, the idea of having a relationship with anyone beyond simple friendship was something he could never even begin to hope for. However, he was not only blessed with a second chance at life in Domino City with Yugi and his friends, but he was also lucky enough to have his more-than-friendship feelings towards Joey returned, leading the two to begin dating fairly soon after their emotional reunion.
Even still, Yami couldn't bring himself to get his hopes up, trying to tell himself that he was already lucky enough as it was-but then came the offer from Joey upon graduating high school to move into an apartment together, which Yami was more than happy to accept (upon making sure that it was alright with Yugi and Grandpa first, of course, though both of them were very supportive of him and Joey deciding to take their relationship one step further); and now, here Yami was, three years later with a ring box tucked safely away in his pocket and feeling more nervous and uncertain about the future than when he first discovered his true origins as the Nameless Pharaoh.
It was a huge leap, going from dating to marriage, and part of him feared that Joey wouldn't be ready to make that sort of commitment-or worse, that Joey wouldn't want to make that sort of commitment with him-but beyond his fear lied the knowledge that nothing would change if he didn't take this risk, and as a professional duelist he knew better than most that the larger the risk taken, the larger the reward received. If all went as planned, Joey would have no idea that his plans to take the blond out for dinner for his birthday were more than just to celebrate the day of his birth: it would also (should Joey accept his proposal) be the day upon which Yami Muto and Joey Wheeler would officially agree to spend the rest of their lives together.
The dinner itself would be simple, and though Yugi and Tea both suggested proposing at the restaurant, Yami decided against the idea on the grounds that he would prefer the moment to be private and sentimental; and so Yami was forced to sit through the dinner with the ring box in his pocket and his nerves weighing him down until he left the restaurant alongside his boyfriend, nonchalantly leading the blond over to a secluded area in the nearby park.
The moonlight shone down, reflecting off of the nearby pond and creating the perfect backdrop as Yami faced his boyfriend and began to speak. "Joey... we've been together for a long time now; we've fought at each other's sides and had each other's backs when we needed it most. I honestly believed when I passed through that gate all those years ago that I would never be able to see you again, yet the fates granted me another chance at life, and I was eternally grateful-both to them, and to you for accepting me back into your life with open arms. Every day that I've spent with you has been a memory that I'll treasure for the rest of eternity, and I feel so honored that you chose to wait for me when there was no guarantee I would ever return, and that you chose to be with me when you could have had anyone else. There's no one in this world that I would trust more than you, that I could ever love more than you, and there's no one in this world that I would rather have by my side for the rest of my life." As he'd seen so many times in movies (and practiced so many times beforehand, to make sure he didn't mess anything up), Yami slipped the ring box out of his pocket and went down on one knee as he opened the box in front of him. "Joey, will you marry me?"
Joey was too stunned to reply at first. He was a little confused when Yami had taken him out to this park after dinner. It seemed a little random and out of place, but Joey was always up for whatever Yami wanted to do. So going on a little stroll in the park seemed like a great idea. Even though it was January and quite cold, just being with Yami made him feel warm inside. He'd never been good at doing anything romantic; he was awkward and a bit slow at even picking up on it sometimes. Secretly he'd wanted to propose to his boyfriend for some months now. He'd even saved up and bought a ring, but he had been too nervous to actually give it to Yami. For some reason that evening he had put the ring in his pocket before they had left. Joey blushed lightly as he accepted the ring from Yami and simply said, "Yes." He pulled his own ring out of his pocket and handed it to Yami without a word.
Yami wasn't sure whether to be relieved, awed, or overjoyed as Joey accepted his proposal-especially when the blond pulled out a ring of his own and handed it to him. "Oh, Joey..." He accepted the ring with a smile and a weak laugh. "I guess we really do make a good pair if we were both thinking of proposing to each other this whole time." He slipped the ring onto his finger before leaning up and draping his arms over Joey's shoulders to pull him into a passionate kiss.
Joey put the ring Yami had gave him on his own finger and returned the kiss. He pulled the shorter man a few inches off the ground so they were at a better height to kiss. After a few minutes of intimacy he set his now fiancé down. "But how are we going to afford the wedding? We do make some money dueling, but not enough for a wedding," Joey said, coming back to reality.
Yami laughed quietly. "I've already made plans, don't worry. As long as you're alright with a smaller wedding, then we should be able to get by." In truth, he'd been putting aside money since he first started earning it, and he had a separate account specifically for emergency savings-and while this wasn't necessarily an emergency, Yami believed that this was a more than worthy use of the savings. "The only thing we have to decide is when we'll have the wedding, and who you want to invite."
Joey lightly grasped Yami's hands. "May maybe? Spring at least so it's warmer. And I know who we're not inviting: Kaiba," he grimaced at the mere thought of inviting the giant asshole to his wedding
Yami smiled. "May sounds perfect." He couldn't help but laugh at his fiancé's ( fiancé, not boyfriend, fiancé ) firm statement and grimace. "Well, we'll see-it would be rude not to extend an invitation to him after all that we've been through together, though whether he'll actually accept the invitation or not is a whole other matter." Yami was sure that if he included an offer to duel him in the invitation, the CEO would probably be the first to arrive to the wedding, but he honestly wasn't that desperate to get his rival to come to his wedding (though the thought was amusing, at least).
"Yeah, maybe," Joey relented half-heartedly. "But we need to invite Tristan, and Téa, and Bakura, and Duke, and Yugi of course," he started to list off a long list of their friends and people they knew. "I wonder if Mai would want to come. Mokuba too."
Yami smiled as Joey listed off the names of all of their friends. "I'm sure they'd all love to come. Why don't we go home and start making plans right away?" Though they would be getting married in May, he knew that a few months would pass in no time at all, and preparing for a wedding would take time.
Joey shyly took Yami's hand is his. "Sounds like a plan," he said, blushing a little as they walked home together. He was both excited and just a little bit nervous about the whole thing, but what was important was that they were finally going to be official.
Yami hadn't thought that a wedding could be such a hectic and stressful thing to plan for: though they were only inviting their close friends (and Kaiba, regardless of Joey's griping), there was apparently still a lot more that went into preparing for a wedding than Yami had anticipated. Finding a location for the wedding, along with someone who would actually wed two men, was the first challenge; and after that came where to have the reception, and what everyone would wear; and then there was the music, and the food, and the wedding favors, and the pictures, and... well, suffice to say, it was both an exciting and exhausting experience that Yami would never want to go through again. (Thankfully, Kaiba had contributed greatly to the cause-much to Yami's surprise, until the caveat of a duel and an agreement that the CEO wouldn't be forced into the ceremony was revealed, which Yami accepted with clear amusement-and had taken care of the majority of arrangements that would have otherwise been difficult for the former pharaoh and his fiancé to arrange otherwise, including the finding of the aforementioned location for the wedding and pastor to wed the couple.)
So by the time Yami was finally standing across from Joey and reciting the vows that he'd written (a concept that he'd found interesting and romantic until he had to sit down and come up with them himself, though he managed to get by), there was nothing left of his initial nerves-instead, all he could feel was relief and joy as he heard the priest proclaim that he and Joey were now joined in matrimony and the two grooms could kiss, and he wasted no time in wrapping his arms around his now-husband and happily pressing their lips together to seal their marital vows.
Joey was in a state of shock. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that this would actually happen. Yami and he were actually, truly married. It was the happiest moment of his life. The blond was so happy he could even ignore that Kaiba was watching him and his now husband and glaring in a very Kaiba way. He passionately kissed Yami back, pulling him close. Joey couldn't help a few tears escape from how happy he was.
Yami eventually pulled back as he became aware of the teasing calls from their friends to get a room, his face flushed from both embarrassment and the sheer joy and giddiness he was feeling. His smile softened as he saw the tears in his husband's eyes (gods, it felt so good to think about Joey as his husband), and he reached up to dry the few stray tears that trailed down his cheeks as he pressed another, more chaste kiss to his lips. "It feels like a dream, doesn't it?" he remarked as he pulled back from the second kiss, taking his husband's hands in his own and giving them a light squeeze. "But it isn't, and I believe our friends will grow impatient if we stand here any longer. Come, let's get going so we can enjoy our reception."
Joey blinked a few times as he came back to reality. "Yes, of course." He took Yami's hand in his and gently tugged him off the podium. "I need to go punch Kaiba for making faces at us," he said jokingly.
"No violence on our wedding day," Yami reprimanded the blond as they moved off the podium, before adding with a mischievous expression, "However, if a plate full of cake just happens to meet with Kaiba's face, I suppose I can turn a blind eye to that."
Joey smirked at the thought of hitting Kaiba with a cake and starting a full-blown food fight, but thought better of it. Starting a food fight on his wedding day was probably not a good idea. "I'll keep that in mind." What Joey really wanted to do was get Yami alone and never stop kissing him, but he knew that he had to at least last through the reception, which was definitely more for their guests than for them. Heck, he'd have been happy just going to the courthouse and signing some papers. He knew how awkward Yami could be at social gatherings that didn't involve games and saving the world from evil, but Téa and the guys had insisted that they have a full blown wedding after they heard the news.
Yami wanted to spend some alone time with Joey as well, and would have very much preferred spending a quiet evening with him over being the center of attention in a party, but their friends had insisted that the reception was just as important as the wedding itself-and it wasn't that he minded the attention so much as he just didn't know what to do with himself if there weren't games involved.
He wasn't much of a dancer, so it wasn't like he was going to be on the dance floor, and though he enjoyed good food and drinks, he would grow tired of them after so long... but he'd lived through worse than a couple of hours of watching his friends have a good time, so he would get through it, and then he and Joey would be able to spend their first night together as a wedded couple.
It was with that thought in mind that he and Joey made their way with their wedding party to the reception hall, where they were seated at the head table after walking in to more applause and cheers. "This is going to be a long night...," Yami muttered with a sigh belied by a wry smile as he sat back in his seat, a wine glass in hand as he watched his friends chattering and joking around over the sound of the music.
Joey squeezed Yami's hand reassuringly before sitting down next to him. "Don't worry, we'll survive," he said before spotting a particularly tasty looking cake that he began to devour. While Joey wasn't much for fancy things, the food sure was good here. He started eating basically everything within reach.
Yami chuckled as he watched his husband begin to inhale anything edible within his reach, his amusement growing as the blond was immediately reprimanded by Téa and Mai for touching the cake that was supposed to be saved for after dinner. (Thankfully, they had expected Joey's ravenous appetite to make an appearance and had a second cake prepared and kept in the back to be brought out later, but Joey could have at least had the decency to behave and curb his appetite a bit at his own wedding.)
Yami took a sip of wine as he leaned back, content with watching everyone enjoy themselves-until the music shifted and the dance floor cleared, the former pharaoh's expression shifting from confusion to red-faced embarrassment as the DJ announced that it was time for the newlywed couple's first dance. Of course, he knew that he and Joey would probably end up getting dragged onto the dance floor at some point or another, but he hadn't exactly realized that it would be this big of a deal, with their entire group of friends standing around watching them-despite the fact that he was used to large crowds watching his every move (both as a pharaoh and as a duelist), it was still embarrassing. Yami rose to his feet regardless, locking eyes with Joey and giving him a smile as he held out his hand to him. "I suppose that's our cue. Shall we dance, then?"
Joey stopped stuffing his face and took Yami's proffered hand, "Yes, of course." The blond was slightly nervous since he didn't have a lot of experience dancing. Téa had instructed them a week ago on how to do some basic dances, but the whole thing had kind of gone over his head. He really hoped he didn't trip or step on Yami's toes in front of all his friends (and Kaiba) during the dance.
Yami, though almost as inexperienced as Joey, had enough confidence to carry him through the dance regardless of whether or not he knew what he was doing. That's not to say he was a graceful dancer-dueling was his forte, and dancing was unfortunately nothing like dueling in the least bit-but he was at least able to make it through their dance with his head held high (though one could say that his head was also held high so he could see his much taller husband's face, not that Yami would admit such a thing), his steps a bit stiff but otherwise just as Téa had instructed. He gave Joey's hand a light squeeze to try and ease the blond's nervousness as they moved in time with the music, and after what felt like the longest few minutes of his life, the song finally came to an end and the newlywed couple was allowed to escape back to their table-for the time being, anyway.
Joey let out a sigh of relief. "I'm sure glad that is over with." He picked up more food from the table, even though he had already devoured a large amount. "Give me a fight or a duel any day and I'm your man; but I don't know much about dancing. Think we can get away with not doing that again?" He took a bite of his third plate of food.
Yami chuckles. "I agree; dancing isn't my forte either, though I don't believe that we did too badly at least." He takes a sip of wine, his expression amused. "There shouldn't be any reason for us to have to do that again, but I suppose we'll have to see if we can get through the night without someone dragging us back out there." Yami leans over and steals a bite of food off of Joey's fork before leaning back in his seat with a satisfied smile. "All in all, though, this is turning out to be at least slightly more enjoyable than I was expecting. I suppose it helps that I'm sitting with you for the night."
Joey took Yami's hand in his. "Of course you're with me; you'll be with me for the long haul." He knew it sounded cheesy; but it was exactly what he felt and meant. He would stick with this man through thick and thin.
Yami couldn't help how his expression softened at Joey's words, and he gave Joey's hand a light squeeze. "That I will, Joey, as I know you will be for me."
His attention was diverted away from his husband by the sight of the backup wedding cake being rolled out to the center of the room and cut into pieces for all the guests, and he smiled unsuspectingly as Yugi and Tristan approached the head table with a plate of cake in each of their hands, failing to notice Duke off to the side with his phone's camera aimed at them.
"Congrats again on your big day, guys!" Yugi started with an innocent smile. "We've just got one last gift to give you two," Tristan added with a grin, him and Yugi meeting each other's eyes briefly. Before Yami could assure them that he didn't need any more gifts and was more than grateful just to be sharing this day with them, he found himself with a face-full of cake, and he couldn't for the life of him understand what was going on or why there was a mixture of laughter and annoyed groans coming from everyone.
Joey was quick to retaliate and pulled a fistful of cake off his own face and threw it at Tristan. His friend ducked just in time and the cake hit Kaiba square in the face. The CEO had been standing silently in the corner, not interacting with anyone. He sent a death glare in Joey's direction as he wiped the offending dessert off his face. "Wheeler I-" he started to say, before Mokuba snuck up beside him and planted a whole piece of cake in his face.
Yami wiped the cake off of his face, catching sight of Joey throwing his cake and quickly realizing what was happening. With a smirk, he shoved his handful of cake into Yugi's face, who laughed in response before going to grab another piece of cake. Yami got up to follow him, and as if a switch had been flipped, cake was suddenly flying from all directions and laughter filled the air as everyone joined in on the impromptu cake fight.
Even Téa, who Yami saw shaking her head in a mixture of annoyance and amusement, had joined in and smashed a slice of cake in Mai's face, who retaliated by throwing a piece of cake that ended up hitting Ryou as Téa quickly moved out of the way. The white-haired boy laughed it off good-naturedly, until another piece of cake hit him from behind courtesy of an innocently-smiling Yugi, at which point even Ryou couldn't help but retaliate in good fun.
Yami looked around at the rest of his friends, watching them all with a fondly amused smile that didn't even fade as another piece of cake came flying and hit him in his hair-this was the kind of life he'd always wanted but never dreamed he could have (minus all the flying cake, of course): being able to share a room with the people he cared about, watching their carefree smiles and listening to their infectious laughter as they all acted like the young adults that they really were instead of a bunch of kids weighed down by the responsibilities of saving the world. Yami's gaze shifted over to his husband, his expression softening as he saw the fun-loving, energetic young man that he fell in love with completely in his element, full of boisterous laughter and grinning from ear to ear, and he knew without a doubt that this wedding would be one of his most cherished memories for years to come.
Joey paused in his cake warfare for a moment to lean in and give Yami a deep, cake-covered, kiss on the lips. "You did say I could throw cake," he said before launching a piece of cake, this time intentionally, at Kaiba.
The End