Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
Joey wrapped his arms around himself and hunched over in an attempt to drive away the cold as he stood on the front step. Two minutes had passed since he'd rung the door bell, and he suspected it was too late--it was after ten.
Another minute passed and he was beginning to wonder if the guards had been set on him when Kaiba opened the door. He resisted the urge to fidget under the other teen's appraising gaze. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here tonight; he was just hoping the other wouldn't send him away.
Not that he'd be surprised if it happened. He had been mapping out the warmest way to Tristan's even as he'd rung the bell.
Kaiba's eyes glanced over his face, took in the bruise that was forming, and brushed down to watch Joey attempt to control his shivering. Then he took a step back and opened the door further.
Joey stepped in and Kaiba closed the door behind him, shutting out the cold wind. Joey simply stood in the open hallway for a moment, waiting for the mansion's heating system to drive away the rest of the chill clinging to him. When feeling returned, he slowly uncrossed his arms and shook them out, trying to get the blood flowing again. Kaiba watched him with something that might have been amusement on his face.
"Cold?"
Joey glared.
Kaiba turned and motioned for the blond to follow him. They went up two staircases and down three hallways and Joey wondered if Seto deliberately kept his room this far away just so he would walk through the mansion occasionally. He didn't really see the point of living in a house that had about twenty rooms per person.
But then, he didn't really see the point of living in an apartment that had two rooms per person--if you counted the bathroom--so why was he talking?
Once they reached Kaiba's bedroom, the brunette spoke again. "You should shower before you freeze," he said, pointing across the room to a door in the far wall. "Fresh towels are in the cabinet to the right of the door."
"Thanks," Joey said, making his way across the oversized room. He wasn't sure if it really was oversized, or if he was just used to too small, or if it was the fact that there was nothing in here that just made it look so big. A desk, a bed, and a nightstand were all the room held.
As he passed the desk, he noted the stacks of papers and the computer that had what looked to be a spreadsheet on it. He wondered if Seto ever actually slept, or if he just ran on coffee and coldness.
Once he was in the bathroom, he blinked at the transition from gloom to overly white. Joey shrugged out of his coat and dropped it on the counter, feeling like the place would have to be sanitized after he left. He tossed the rest of his clothes on the floor and stepped into the shower, never feeling more awkward. The shower itself was almost the size of his bathroom; if he stood in the middle and stretched out his arms, he couldn't reach the sides.
Why the hell had he thought he'd be welcome here in the first place? He should have just gone to Tristan's. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd shown up at his house with bruises and nowhere else to sleep that night, though it had happened less since he'd left the gang.
With a shake of his head, Joey twisted the knobs until water sprayed out. Then he yelped, jumped out of the way, and turned the knobs the opposite direction until hot water came out.
"Gah," he muttered, standing under the steaming spray and rubbing his arms. He was about to turn around and warm his back when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist.
Joey jumped at the action and got a mouthful of water for his trouble. "Ya wanna warn me b'fore you do that?" he sputtered.
Seto simply chuckled and placed small biting kisses on his shoulder, saying, "Why would I?"
Joey tilted his neck slightly to let him have more room. "I thought you had work."
"I always have work," the brunette answered. He slid his hands down Joey's waist to his hips, pulling him closer. Joey arched his back slightly, deliberately pushing against the other teen, and was rewarded with Seto tightening his grip.
The brunette turned him around and pushed him against the wall, and Joey jerked at the cool tile on his back. When Seto leaned down to kiss him, he twisted his head out of the way, causing the brunette to glare at him. "Don't tease."
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked, twisting the other teen's words and tossing them back at him with a grin.
Seto narrowed his eyes and his gaze turned dark, taking up the challenge.
The second time, they managed to make it to the bed and Joey didn't think he'd ever get enough of the way Seto would say his name in that strangled moan.
He was sprawled out and taking up over half the bed, but it was so big it didn't matter. But as the time ticked away and he started to grow drowsy, Joey remembered why he'd had second thoughts about coming here in the first place. He'd never actually slept at Seto's--he always went home. So he wasn't entirely sure if he would be allowed to remain.
He wasn't sure about anything in this twisted relationship; nothing but the obvious, at least. If he was welcome was actually pretty low on the list in comparison.
Joey shifted on the bed, wondering if he should just cut out whenever Seto fell asleep.
"You can stay here tonight," came a voice, low and cool and cutting through the last of his haze. Joey blinked and looked over at Seto, who had draped the sheet over his waist. The brunette was lying on his back and his eyes were closed; making Joey wonder if he'd really heard right. He blinked and paused, not sure what to do.
Seto opened his eyes and tilted his head. "You can stay here tonight," he repeated.
Joey gave him a questioning look for a second, then decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and reached down for the blanket. He bundled up and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
He woke up when he heard someone tossing around. His first thought was that his dad had drunk too much and was throwing up again, but then he realized that the mattress springs weren't jamming into his side and therefore this couldn't possibly be his bed.
He poked his head out of the covers and saw Seto curled up with his back towards him, twitching slightly in his sleep. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he glanced at the clock over Seto's shoulder and saw that it was almost three am.
Joey was about to mutter something under his breath when he heard Seto whimper. Creasing his brow, he focused back on the other teen. The only time he'd heard Seto whimper was when Joey's mouth found that sensitive spot on the inside of his knee, and since his head was on the pillow, there was something very wrong here.
He pushed the covers down and leaned on an elbow, staring at Seto's back. He was about to reach out a hand, but he stopped.
He'd never touched the scars on Seto's back--another thing that he didn't know if it was allowed. Seto never said anything about the marks, and Joey didn't need to ask. Gozaburo Kaiba's death and the subsequent trial had been in all the news.
Seto jerked awake with a cry and lay still, breathing shallowly.
Once the other teen had calmed down slightly, Joey said quietly, "Seto?"
The brunette tensed again. "Yes?" came his voice a moment later.
"You alright?" Joey asked.
Seto made a twitch with his shoulder that was probably supposed to be a shrug. "Just the nightmare."
Joey blinked. "The nightmare? What, ya only have one?" The words came out before he realized how they sounded.
"Yes," Seto answered, throwing him off for a second. "Yugi's." The brunette untangled himself from the sheet and pulled it up over his shoulder.
Joey blinked, trying to figure out what the brunette was talking about. Why would he be having a nightmare of Yugi's? Then Joey paused, and remembered.
Over a year ago, when Kaiba had stolen the Blue Eyes White Dragon from Yugi's grandpa, the other Yugi'd beaten him at Duel Monsters and given him nightmares of being killed by the monsters. But....
"That wasn't suppos'd ta be permanent," Joey said, fully awake.
Seto shrugged again. "It comes back," he said in his usual calm, cool voice, like he wasn't talking about dying every night.
Joey blinked at him, then scooted forward and wrapped an arm around the teen's chest. Seto tensed up even more at the motion, but Joey ignored it.
"I'll fix it," he said.
Seto made a derogatory noise. "You can't."
"I will."
Seto didn't say anything for a long while. Then he asked "Why?" quietly, as though he didn't want to hear the answer.
Which was okay, because Joey didn't really want to say it. But he did anyway. "Because it's wrong," he said. "Even after what ya did, I still think it's wrong--you've changed." He paused, then added, "And, okay, yeah, every time ya call me 'dog' I still wanna break yer face."
Seto chuckled, and Joey gritted his teeth. However, he ignored the bait. "But...I like you." He shrugged and pulled Seto closer. "So I'll fix it."
Seto was silent for a long time. Then, finally, so quite that Joey almost missed it, he said, "Thank you." Then the other teen finally relaxed.
That was all he needed to hear. All he wanted to hear, really. Anything more would be too much. He wouldn't trust a confession of love from a guy who hated him in the day; but attraction and gratitude were things he could handle.
Joey wasn't one to lie to himself. He knew this wasn't permanent. Seto was going to go to college and continue running his company, and he...was going to get out. He wasn't sure how, but that was his only goal at the moment.
And then there were their friends. Joey knew that if Mokuba disapproved of him, he'd be gone. And seeing that the kid still had a tendency to refer to him as "that bastard," he figured the likelihood was high. But that was okay, because he wouldn't trade off the certainties of his friendships for this weird mutual lust thing he and Seto had. It might not be a big deal; Yugi would probably see it as a chance to be friends, but Tristan might not handle it that well. And if his dad found out, it would result in a screaming match to entertain the whole block, probably followed by Joey having to find a new place to live.
But that was later. A year, a month, maybe even tomorrow if he didn't sneak out without Mokuba seeing him; but all the same, it wasn't now. And right now, he wasn't lying to himself by admitting that he liked being here, in this bed, next to Seto. He pulled the blanket over them both, before draping his arm back over Seto's waist and drifting back to sleep.