Joey's visit with his father went well. Not only had he completed his rehab treatment, but he was also in a support group for people with anger issues, particularly those who reacted with violence, and he was still participating in the local AA group for help with others who struggled like him. He had a steady job, a good apartment, and he was so much happier than he had been in years. There was something on his mind, though, that he shared with his son, and this idea started gnawing at Joey from the inside as he drove home.

"The people I've hurt the most is my family, and while I've apologized to you, you're not the only one I've done wrong," he'd said.

"Just don't expect her to come around too soon," Joey had advised with a look of concern. "I can't even talk to Mom anymore. She'd prefer to forget that we ever existed." Joey's voice was particularly bitter. Didn't he at least have a right to know his baby sister?

Joey's father had looked worried and apprehensive upon hearing that warning. Joey hoped that his father didn't expect too much from the female half of their family.

"You should try to catch some sleep during the flight," Kaiba advised Joey as he reclined his seat. "It's going to be long, and you'll probably get bored." He took out his headphones and plugged them into his phone. He would have used his wireless ones, except bluetooth couldn't be used on the airplane.

Meanwhile, Joey was scrolling through the current news and events happening in Vegas on his phone in the seat beside him. He came across a headline that made him frown and poke Seto in the side to get his attention. The brunette opened his eyes and took off his headphones.

"Did you know about this?" Joey asked suspiciously, holding up his phone so that Seto could see the screen.

"Yeah, I knew about it. So what?"

"Is it a coincidence that we're going to Vegas while there's a gaming convention in town?" Joey seemed on the verge of being ticked off.

"Yes, it's a coincidence, Joey," Seto answered with a sigh. "I knew about it because they asked me several months ago to join the QA panel, but I turned them down. Check the line-up if you don't believe me."

Joey began to do just that, wanting to be sure.

"Honestly, you should know me better by now. We're going on vacation, and that's all we're doing." Seto repositioned his headphones, closed his eyes, and crossed his arms, settling back into his seat with every intention of sleeping for the next several hours. Joey was satisfied with Seto's response and with the evidence he found online, so he tried to do the same. He didn't have nearly as much flight experience, however, and didn't have such an easy time falling asleep.

"I'm so hungry," Joey complained as he flopped onto the couch of their hotel suite.

"That's what room service is for," Seto answered, picking up the room service menu off the wooden desk and tossing it to Joey. "Here, knock yourself out."

"Thanks." Joey hummed happily as he perused the menu options while Seto began to unpack. After phoning the concierge and placing an order, Joey slipped off the bronze velvet couch and began to seek his boyfriend.

"Seto? Where'd you go?"

"I'm in here."

"Oh, there you are." Joey approached Seto and hugged him from behind just as Seto finished hanging up their clothes in the large chestnut armoir. "This place is huge!"

"Do you not like it?" Seto queried curiously.

"Don't get me wrong, I love it! I just didn't know that hotel rooms could even be this big!"

"It's not just a room, it's a suite," the brunette corrected with a smirk. "And why should I pay for anything less? We're here to have fun, aren't we?"

"Yes we are," Joey purred, sliding his hands down to his partner's thighs and caressing him dangerously close to his groan. Kaiba froze and swallowed hard, cheeks turning to crimson as Joey caught him off-guard.

"Isn't room-service on its way?"

Joey chuckled at the rasp in his voice as he started stroking Seto directly, applying just the right amount of pressure to torture his partner.

"They said they'd be here in twenty to thirty minutes," Joey whispered in Seto's ear, his tongue flicking across his unpierced earlobe. "We have time."

"Dammit, Joey." It took an incredible amount of willpower, but Kaiba took hold of Joey's hands and moved them away from his crotch, holding them together in one hand as he turned around. "I had a surprise planned for tonight. If you can just wait a little while, I promise it'll be worth it." He pecked Joey's cheek as the blond started to pout.

"What am I supposed to do while I wait for my food?"

"Read a book, take a nap, watch TV." Seto shrugged. "The options are endless, really."

"Oh, TV sounds good." Joey departed for the sitting area, where a large flatscreen TV awaited him, just begging to be displaying ESPN in HD.

Seto discretely closed the door behind him, not wanting Joey to see his surprise prematurely. He returned to the suitcase he'd previously been unpacking and unzipped one of its many compartments in order to access and divulge their collection of sex toys.

Cosplay and role-play had never sounded sexually appealling to him, but that was before last Halloween, when Joey had dressed himself as a puppy. Or, rather, Joey had undressed himself, then donned a headband with dog ears and inserted an anal plug with a shaggy blond tail attached, so it looked as if the tail were protruding directly from Joey's own rear. The red collar and nametags had been a nice touch, but they'd bothered him for personal reasons. Kaiba had never held any secret fantasies of bestiality, but when he'd walked into their bedroom and seen Joey dressed like that, crouching on all fours, chest lowered to the bedspread, rear facing defiantly skyward, grinning ear to ear as he winked and crooned for "Master" to show him some love, Seto had been as aroused as he had been flustered.

Joey always picked the role-plays, and Seto noticed that he tended to pick the underdog roles for himself (pun intended): master and pet, pharaoh and slave, pirate and captive, dragons (that had been more role-play than cosplay), prince and pauper, cowboy and Indian. It was Seto's turn to pick this time, though, and he supposed that Joey would have no problem fitting the role of a sub.

Seto was just extracting the pair of handcuffs he'd secretly ordered when he heard Joey getting upset in the other room.

"No! Come on, please don't do this to me!"

Seto concealed their hoard of X-rated goodies in the nightstand before leaving the room to check on his partner.

"Something wrong, Joe?"

"I just want my sports," Joey whined as he flopped onto the couch and covered his face with one velvety pillow. Kaiba studied the screen.

"What is this, and why is the American president speaking on ESPN?" Seto furrowed his brow in befuddlement as he stared at the screen.

"It's called the ESPYS," Joey grumbled. "And it's the biggest load of bullshit this side of the Pacific."

"Delightful."

"I can't watch this anymore," Joey groaned. "Seto, make it stop."

The brunette picked up the remote and obliged by turning the TV off.

"The only other sports on right now are golf. Golf's not even a sport!"

Joey continued bemoaning his current plight of sportslessness and Seto pat him on the head to comfort him.

"I'll go finish unpacking, then I'll come back and sit with you. Maybe we can make some plans for the week. Does that sound good?"

"Mhm."

Seto left and returned shortly, sitting with Joey as they talked over ideas for what to do during their vacation.

"You've already been everywhere, haven't you?" Joey accused after ten minutes of discussion. Seto rolled his eyes.

"Joey, do you even know how many businesses there are in this city alone? It's impossible for me to have visited all of them."

"You've been to all the good places," Joey grumbled, casting a sidelong glance at the brunette to see how he reacted.

"No fewer than a dozen new high end restaurants have opened since I was last here, Joey. Between the casinos, the clubs, and the shows, there are literally hundreds of places here that I've never been."

"I know, babe, I'm just teasing you." Joey nuzzled his head against Seto's affectionately, and he returned the favor, relaxing a little.

When the food arrived, Kaiba picked off it while Joey ate, the blond consuming much more than the brunette. When Joey was almost done with his food, he turned the TV back on to see if the ESPYS were over.

"Come on, are people really this stupid?!" he exclaimed, and Seto's answer, though he didn't yet know what Joey was talking about, was both confident and immediate.

"Yes."

"You've got to be kidding me," Joey continued as if Seto hadn't said anything. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the transgender woman on screen, "If he's got a dick, he ain't a chick!" Then he turned to Seto and smirked. "I came up with that myself."

"Congratulations," Seto retorted dryly. "I'll alert the media."

"Seriously, though: chicks and dudes are completely different." Joey was still glaring at the TV. "I've slept with chicks, and I've slept with dudes, and it's a completely different experience."

"Dudes?" Because of the word itself, it was hard to naturally stress its plurality, but Joey understood his meaning and smiled.

"Okay, maybe only one of those. But you wanna know a secret?" He leaned in close and whispered, "He's my favorite."

"I better be." Seto pecked his cheek and asked, "Are you going to keep watching this?"

"Yeah, I think I will. As crazy as it sounds, I'm kind of enjoying being mad at them."

"In that case, I saw some old acquaintances down in the lobby earlier. I'm going to see if they're still there and maybe do some catching up. Call me when you're done with this, alright?"

"Alright, have fun!"

When Joey called Seto's cell, the brunette was in the middle of a round of poker.

"I'm sorry, Prince Ali, but I have to take this call," Kaiba apologized, standing and slipping the cellphone out of his pocket. "It'll only take a moment."

"Be back for the final bet," the prince replied with a grin.

"Hey Joey, what's up?"

"I miss you, and TV's stupid. Come back."

"I'll be there in five minutes." He hung up and went back to the poker table to finish the hand. He won his fifth game and shook hands with the prince before parting, cashing in his chips before leaving the game room of the hotel.

"So what did you do downstairs?" Joey asked as soon as Seto came through the door.

"Beat a Saudi Prince at Texas Hold 'Em." He smirked with satisfaction as Joey's jaw dropped.

"How much did you win?"

"Oh Joey, the amount doesn't matter," Seto chided disapprovingly. "What matters is that I won."

"You're kinda full of yourself, you know that?" Joey looped his arms around Seto's neck as the brunette approached and put his arms around Joey's waist.

"That's why you love me, though."

Joey started kissing Seto's neck, nibbling at the skin with sharp teeth. He was happy, and if he had a tail of his own, it'd be wagging. At the same time, Seto started to purr, the sound reptilian and gravelly deep in his throat.

"So, what was that surprise you had for me?" Joey asked slyly, his lips moving against Seto's skin, his breath hot and humid.

"I'll show you, but you have to close your eyes first."

"How can I see it if I close my eyes?" the blond retorted cheekily with a crooked grin.

"Just close your eyes, and I'll lead you."

Joey obliged and closed his eyes, and Seto took Joey's hands to lead him into the bedroom. He flicked the lights off before leaving the room completely and closing the bedroom door behind them.

"Stay right here," he instructed, and Joey obediently stood with his eyes closed. Then he felt the soft touch of silk across his eyelids.

"Hey, you said—"

"Hush," Seto murmured as he tied the black scarf around Joey's eyes, then pat Joey's head. "Good boy."

"I told ya, Seto, I ain't a furry!" Joey protested, his face feeling hot with embarrassment.

"What about the time I found you playing with the dog?" Seto started removing Joey's jacket as he stood behind him.

"It was just a game o' tug o' war!"

"You had the rope in your teeth, Joe." Seto paused in undressing Joey to remove his own jacket.

"I wanted to see whose jaw was stronger!" he exclaimed defensively, taking a step towards the sound of his partner's voice.

"Freeze." The command was sharp and cold. Joey obeyed. He felt Seto's hands at his waistband, tugging his t-shirt up and over Joey's head, making Joey raise his arms so he could get it off. The undressing continued in dead silence, which made Joey's skin crawl. When they were both stripped down to their underwear, Seto led Joey to the bed, lifting him into his arms and seating him at the head of the bed. He lifted Joey's arms up.

Click.

"Seto?" Joey's voice was breathy, almost uncertain.

"Just tell me if you want me to stop." Seto placed a small kiss at the hollow of Joey's throat as he secured the second handcuff with a second click. "Okay?"

"Okay." Joey trusted Seto; if he said stop, Seto would stop.

Author Notes: I am SO sorry for the delay in publishing this chapter; a computer glitch erased half the chapter while I was writing it, so then I had to go back and try to remember it all and write it all back down.

Also~ there's going to be a lot of tributes to the YGO fanbase in this story, because I love you people. ^_^ I've already mentioned fanmail and cosplay, but there's more in store! Be sure to follow this story so that you can see what our boys get up to while livin' la vida loca in Las Vegas! *cue Ricky Martin song, followed by the Elvis song*

DISCLAIMER: Concerning Joey's comments about transgenderism... Yes, what he said was kinda douchey, but it also seemed like the kind of douchey and insensitive that Joey would say (and I really needed that as the segue ^^). That being said, please don't be offended by him. That was not the purpose of that line, and I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable.

The next chapter will be posted when I have 10 REVIEWS TOTAL on this story, so please review!