Chapter Three:

Yami looked up as he heard the front door open. He smiled to himself as he heard Joey's voice coming from the front door, but didn't move from the kitchen. He stirred the panful of vegetables and chicken again, glad he had timed it so well.

"It's raining hard out there!" Joey said. "Man, it's been coming down all damn day."

Joey came into the kitchen, his suit jacket and tie missing, but his pants and dress shirt still on. His pants and the front of his shirt were wet, as was his hair. He smiled at Yami, shaking his head.

"Come on, it was my turn to make dinner. In fact--" He looked pointedly around the kitchen, which was cleaned. "You cleaned up the whole place."

"There was nothing else to do," Yami said simply.

It had been true. With the rain pounding down the whole day he hadn't been able to leave and go wandering. He worked only part-time and today had been a day off. Stuck inside, he'd cleaned the whole apartment. Usually they shared everything, but Yami could not stand being idle. He'd spent centuries immobile.

Joey sighed and wrapped his arms around Yami's waist, nuzzling up against him as he stood at the stove. "Always running around. You know, sometimes I wonder if I'll be enough to keep that wild heart of yours."

Yami snorted softly. "Don't say stupid things."

"Don't say stupid things? Man, you don't know me very well. I see; you just want me for the sex."

Yami smiled, letting himself lean back against Joey. He wasn't capable of the sense of humor that seemed to come so naturally to Joey, but he enjoyed it. Though if Joey was looking for reassurances, Yami wasn't going to be able to help him. Why was he attracted to him? He just knew that Joey appealed to him and that was good enough for him. He was sexy of course, but that didn't matter to Yami. He could be fierce as a lion in one second and affectionate the next, and he was honest and loyal. That was what he liked.

Yami turned off the burner, feeling Joey press a kiss to the side of his head. He set down the outsized wooden spoon and turned around in his arms. "Joey, you don't actually worry about the integrity of our relationship, do you?"

"No. Though I do know I've had to use a dictionary more often than I did all through high school hanging around you."

Yami studied his face, knowing perfectly well a joke didn't mean Joey was at ease. His scrutiny was met with a warm smile and warmer eyes.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. So you've always got wanderlust. I can live with that, since I know eventually you'll come back."

Yami leaned back as he started to embrace him again, raising his hand to press against his chest. He pushed him back and turned back around to their dinner. "Go get changed, you're still wet."

Joey left the kitchen to do that. Yami could hear him as he raised his voice while back in the bedroom. "I still can't believe I have a job where I wear a suit and tie. I'm starting to look like Kaiba and I start picking up anymore of his habits, send me to the Shadow Realm, please."

Yami shook his head as he set the frying pan on a plate on the table. Joey was definitely prone to drama. He sat down at the table and waited for him to come back. When he did, he was wearing his usual clothes of jeans and a long T-shirt. Joey rubbed his hands together as he sat down at the small table with him.

"That looks great. Maybe you should quit that job at the library and become a famous chef."

"I like the quiet."

That was one thing that had not changed since his release from the confines of the Puzzle. Though he needed to move around and though he enjoyed the company of people, he was also equally fond of peace and solitude. He remembered he'd been that way as Pharaoh in Egypt, often wandering away alone to be by himself in a temple or the gardens. His captain of the guard had hated that practice, attempting to insist a Pharaoh should always have company with him.

Joey took a big bite of the food, making a noise of satisfaction. "Delicious. Come on, you could make millions. Then I could quit work altogether and you could be my sugar-daddy."

Yami gave him a look. "We'll be leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow afternoon. We should be more concerned with the fact neither of us has started packing."

"We're not leaving 'til one. We've got plenty of time. I'm just throwing some things into a suitcase, not moving."

"True. Still, we should talk about the trip. Do you think you can stand to be around Kaiba for the weekend without attempting to kill him?"

Joey grinned. "I can't promise anything."

"You promised Aibou."

"Hey, I said I'd try, not that I'd succeed. But if Kaiba opens his mouth, I swear we're making the return trip with him strapped to the underside of the jet."

Yami entertained himself for a moment with that picture. "Well, we might not have to go to that extreme. For one, it would be difficult. I could fully Mind Crush him when Aibou's not looking, that'll be less of a challenge."

Joey laughed out loud. "Oh, man, I love you. That would be like a dream come true." He winked. "Might even be better than a hot, sweaty night in bed with you."

Yami gave a soft snort. "The house is not to be open until Friday, but we're going tomorrow, Wednesday. Why?"

"Oh, I did that on purpose. We're spending Thursday in Vegas doing everything we can to make Yug' go into a terminal blush."

"And what does that entail?"

"I'm just as protective of him as you are. I'm not going to let anything happen to him, but we are going to try just about everything that's legal there."

"Why only just about?"

"Prostitution's legal there."

Yami had been about to take another bite, now he set the chopsticks down. "You didn't mention that."

"Why should I? It's not like we're dragging Yug' to the whore house, relax. That's just why just about."

Yami made himself relax. Of course Joey wouldn't let anything happen to Yugi and of course they weren't going to the whore house. "Very well. We should get some sleep tonight. The flight is long, isn't it?"

Joey made a face and nodded. "Hours. Plus we're going to be in a different time zone. All right, actual sleep tonight." He winked.

******

The flight really did take it out of them all. Because Kaiba was now coming, they took the Kaiba Corp. private jet. Kaiba refused to fly commercial and simply canceled their previous reservation. Only because it would be a waste of a lot of money did Joey, very grudgingly, accept being reimbursed. He muttered darkly the whole drive to the airport to board the jet. Yami ignored him.

"Hi, Mou Hitori no Boku," Yugi greeted as they joined him and Kaiba in the jet's compartment while their luggage was being loaded. "Hi, Joey."

"Hello, Aibou. Do you have a new collar on?"

"Yep." Yugi raised his arms and held them out, showing that matching cuffs adorned his wrists. "Birthday presents from Seto."

"Awww," Joey said with intentional drawing out of the word, looking at Kaiba. Blue eyes glared back before Kaiba looked out of the window.

//They are very nice, Aibou,// Yami said silently so as to keep from making Kaiba angrier, if only to save Yugi's feelings if they got into a fight.

/Thanks./ Yugi switched to verbal speech. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah," Joey said enthusiastically. "Las Vegas, here we come!"

Once they landed on the airstrip in Las Vegas, they were all exhausted. Even Kaiba couldn't pretend he didn't feel the phenomenon known as jet lag. A hired driver took them to the Hilton hotel they were staying at. The reservation was a pair of rooms connected together with a communal sitting/eating area. It was rather like an apartment. A very luxurious apartment. The carpet was white and very soft, the furniture black-painted wood and biege leather with silver light fixtures. The refrigerator was a dual-door stainless steel model and the stove and sink were equally industrious.

The doormen separated their luggage and set them in the appropriate rooms. Each had its own private bath.

"Wow," Joey said as he and Yami went to their room. The carpet remained white but the bed was a monstrous affair of hardwood and blue covers. The windows' curtains were also blue, both opening up onto a pulsing, multi-colored alien world of lights. The bath was as modern as the kitchen and clearly extravagant.

"This place is great," Yugi said as they all joined together in the main sitting area.

"Man, am I beat." Joey yawned. "I think I'm so tired I might just skip dinner and hit the sack." They all looked at him and he smiled. "Okay, maybe not."

"Yugi and I have our own plans," Kaiba said suddenly. "You and Yami are on your own."

Yugi looked at them apologetically. /Sorry, Yami. I would protest, except--/

//You and Kaiba are a couple, Aibou. It's only natural for you to be together alone. Joey and I will be fine.//

"Whatever, Rich Boy. Okay, Yami, let's go see if one of those flashing lights out there means food."

In the beginning of June, the Nevada weather was very dry and warm. It was nighttime, but the stars were obliterated by all of the lights. Yami walked down the sidewalk with Joey, taking it all in. He didn't like it much. It was gaudy and fake and the pulsing colors irritated him. Still, it was interesting experience. The people here were of all different races, wearing a wide range of clothes and costumes. Yami could have walked down the sidewalk in his pharaonic clothes and not have been out of place. The smells of all different sorts of cooking reminded him he'd had nothing to eat since lunch that afternoon and the time difference meant that his body was certain it was three in the morning, not eight at night.

Joey had as much experience here as Yami did and finally they just entered a restaurant at random. It was as gaudy as the outdoors, but at the least lights didn't flash. They had their dinner and returned to the hotel room. Both of them were exhausted. The door to the other bedroom was shut, but as Yugi's side of the link was also closed, Yami wasn't certain if that meant Yugi and Kaiba were back or not. He felt he remembered it had been open before.

"Damn, I'm crashing hard," Joey said. He yawned hugely and flopped down onto his back at the foot of the bed.

"At least get out of your clothes." Yami felt no less tired. He undressed himself and put on a pair of pajamas, quick to cross the room and shut the curtains on those lights.

Joey slid right off the end of the bed and thunked on the floor. Yami just shook his head, knowing he'd done it on purpose. After a moment Joey reappeared, his shirt off and was working on his pants. He changed into his own pajamas and crawled into the bed with Yami, laying down on his back with a huge sigh.

"Now this is a bed."

Yami had to admit it was very comfortable, so cushy that he felt as if he were sinking into it. "So tomorrow we are taking Aibou out on the town, right?"

"Yeah. It's a big town, too. Hey, I know, let's go to the Luxor."

The familiar rhythm of the name caught Yami's interest. It sounded Egyptian. "Luxor?"

"Yep. It's a quasi-Egyptian casino." He lifted his head enough to look over at him. "Luxor, like that city in Egypt. Was it the old capital?"

"The capital was Memphis before."

"Tennessee?" He grinned; evidently Yami's confusion was written on his face. "The capital of Tennessee here in America is Memphis. Nevermind, those jokes go over your head. Hey, don't give me that look, I know you can't help it. You lived, what was it, nineteen years in Egypt and only four here? Your mind's still just ancient-set, Babe."

Yami snorted and settled down in the bed. "I don't think I would enjoy the offending atmosphere of an Egyptian-themed casino."

Joey suddenly got up on his elbow and leaned over him. "Hey, I'm sorry, Yami. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. No one in the present knows what ancient Egypt was really like and I know the rituals and the hieroglyphics and everything was religious to you. To modern people it's just a style of decoration, to you it's important. We won't go there."

Yami looked up at him, seeing the worry in his eyes that he'd angered him. The treatment and view of his way of life here in the present, the way it was so disrespected, did often anger him, but he knew Joey hadn't intended that. He was right, it didn't mean the same to modern people. His world was dead and he'd known that for a long time, and he'd also given it up to remain here with him.

"I am not angry, Joey."

His lover smiled in relief and bent down. Yami accepted and returned his gentle kiss, feeling the annoyance drain out of him in the presence of this affection. Joey reached over and flicked off the light, plunging the room into darkness. Yami felt him nuzzle up against his side, resting his head on his shoulder.

"Good."

That was all he got out before he fell asleep. Yami remained awake for a short time afterwards, looking into the darkness before closing his own eyes, stroking his fingers down Joey's upper arm. He realized he was allowing himself to hate this Las Vegas without even really experiencing it first. Forget the Luxor and whatever it contained inside. It was time to relax and enjoy himself. They were here for Aibou's birthday and he wasn't going to let his attitude or ancient mind-set ruin that for him.