Chapter 6-Midnight Interlude 2

Later that evening, Joey stood in the warm bathroom, drying off his hair. If there was anything good about having to stay at the Kaiba mansion, it was that this was the best damn shower he ever had. Whistling a tune to himself, he thought back to earlier on in the day. He had been acting really strange around Kaiba suddenly. He couldn't understand why he got butterflies in his stomach when Seto laughed. Or why he couldn't even look at the brunette during their dinner earlier without turning red around the ears. Or, an even bigger mystery, why the brunette hadn't commented on his strange behavior, or called him any names during their meal.

Of course, the blonde thought darkly, rubbing the towel furiously through his damp locks of hair, the latter was only a matter of time. Kaiba would die before giving up the fucking dog names.

Mokuba hadn't helped much with his predicament from the afternoon either. He asked why Kaiba had been lying on top of Joey in the mud. Then he asked oh-so-innocently why both had turned so red. If they were maybe feverish, the boy piped up, they should have bed rest. Together. Needless to say, both Kaiba and Joey turned a deeper shade of red.

Kaiba decided that Mokuba had been watching too much cable, and banned him from anymore television until further notice.

So, during dinner, Mokuba continued to look from a blushing blonde, to a blushing brunette, then snickering to himself. Losing cable privileges was totally worth it.

Joey didn't get what was so funny. Being the big lug he is, he wouldn't know a sexual tension if it bit him on the face. Kaiba, however, continued to glare daggers at his not-so-innocent brother. Mokuba just smiled sweetly back. The CEO clutched tightly to his knife and fork, calculating the exact speed and angle of lift needed to use his butter knife as a dagger to take the blonde out. Then all his problems would be gone.

To break the tension in the air, and oblivious to any future projectiles that would be coming his way, Joey had announced that he would go wash up before bed. He didn't want Kaiba's glare to burn a hole in the kid's head. Mokuba was much too valuable, because he was the one who had all the blackmail on Kaiba. And even better - he wasn't afraid to use it.

Joey could have just kissed the kid when Mokuba told him that he would be happy to share anything embarrassing he had on the brunette. For a small fee, of course.

Returning to the present, the blonde chuckled to himself as he wrapped a towel around his waist, recalling the bet the blonde had made with the kid. If Joey could get Seto to laugh again before the week was out – not an evil or sinister cackle, but a real stomach-cramping, pee-your-pants laugh - then Mokuba would gladly hand over the key to his vault of blackmail material.

If he lost, he would have to do Mokuba's homework for a month.

Why the kid would even consider trusting the blonde with such a task was beyond him. He couldn't even seem to bring himself to do his own homework. Oh well. Joey didn't intend on losing.

Shaking the last droplets of water from his hair, Joey opened the door from the bathroom and walked into the adjacent room. Still thinking about Mokuba and all the opportunities Joey could use to blackmail Kaiba, Joey wandered over to the dresser to find a pair of pajama pants to wear.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he realized something was amiss. The dresser wasn't on this side of the room before. He opened the top drawer. That shirt wasn't his. Neither were those pants. What the hell?

"Hey, wait a second! I don't recognize any of these clothes!" the blonde exclaimed to himself. He nervously held up a pair of black silky boxers with the Blue Eyes White Dragon printed on it. "Now that is definitely not mine." He began to have a horrible sense impending doom.

"Is there something I can help you find, mutt?" a familiar cold voice drawled from behind. "Or do you just enjoy looking at other people's underwear?"

Joey spun around at mach speed 10 to find the blue-eyed brunette lounging across the bed, reading a book that he couldn't see the title of. Kaiba lazily flicked another page, though he wasn't looking at the book. No, his eyes seemed to be permanently locked onto Joey's own honey-hued eyes.

Joey also belatedly noticed that Kaiba was also wearing a new pair of black pants. And nothing else. He willed himself not to look down further than Kaiba's neck. And failed.

The blonde took a gulp, and felt a blush coming up. Judging by the six pack on his abs, Seto was definitely fit.

Kaiba merely watched Joey staring at him blankly. Kaiba raised his eyebrow. The pup tilted his head to the side, looking absolutely adorable. "What are you doing on my bed?" he asked, clueless.

The brunette gave a sigh, wondering if there was a limit to the idiocy of the teen before him. He shut his book, deciding that he would never be able to focus on it with Joey standing there, with that adorable confused look on his face. Kaiba smirked. No, it would be much more fun to tease his mutt. He languorously got up from the bed and leisurely walked over to where the blonde was standing.

Joey looked to be in a trance, and couldn't seem to pry his chocolate eyes away from the piercing blue orbs in front of him. Unless they were wandering down to Kaiba's bare torso. Or even a little bit lower…

Joey's eyes widened until he was sure they would pop out of his skull, and his skin turned red until he quite accurately resembled a tomato with a sunburn. He couldn't believe it! He had been checking out Kaiba, for Chrissake! He made a mental note to wash his eyes out with bleach later.

"Since when is this bed yours?" a warm breath whispered seductively in his ear. The proximity of the other teen caused Joey to squeak – in a very manly fashion, of course - and jump back a foot or two. Kaiba gave that sexy smirk of his. "Did you really think I'd let you sleep with me?"

Joey took a second look at the bed. Something did seem different. He gave the blue bed sheets a blank stare. Odd, I thought my sheets were maroon…

Realization finally dawned on the blonde. He had used the wrong door from the bathroom, and was now in Kaiba's room. Well, that would definitely explain the BEWD boxers. Then the brunette's words sunk in. Sleep with him!

His blush deepened, until his whole face felt like it was on fire. He frantically waved his arms around. "That-that's not what I meant!" Joey spluttered.

His jerky movements, however, caused his towel to loosen, and fall precariously low on his hips. Joey managed to grab it just in time and secure it around his waist before he revealed far too much of himself to the brunette.

Though Seto was denied the full picture, he still found himself staring at the shapely hips and toned skin that could be seen peeking from behind the towel.

An embarrassed cough caused the brunette to redirect his attention a little higher up on the blonde. Of course, his traitorous eyes allowed themselves a couple extra seconds for his gaze to linger on Joey's very nice stomach and chest.

Finally looking up at Joey's face, Kaiba was faintly amused to find it a definite shade of pink. He looked decidedly uncomfortable in nothing but his scanty washcloth that could barely pass as a towel. In fact, Joey was clutching the cloth to himself covetously, as though afraid the brunette might try to snatch it away at any second.

Kaiba smirked. Tempting.

Kaiba walked over to his closet, fully aware of the amber eyes following his every move. For some reason he wasn't sure of, the thought brought a small smile to the corners of his mouth.

He turned back to the blonde, but now holding a fluffy green robe. Joey eyed it greedily. Kaiba smirked to himself. He knew he had a nice blue robe too, but somehow he just thought that green looked better on the shorter teen. He didn't even want to think about why he was wondering what colors might look good on the blonde.

Seto slowly walked back to Joey, and draped the warm material over his shoulders. He stared deep into Joey's eyes, never breaking contact, as he continued to help the blonde into the robe. His hands brushed along Joey's sides in a feather light caress as he helped to wrap it around his lithe body.

Joey was suddenly very grateful for the towel covering his lower regions, which had suddenly seemed to be wrapped a bit tighter. He could hear his blood pumping through his ears and his heart beating wildly in his chest, but couldn't bring himself to break the gaze he held with the brunette. He didn't even dare to blink.

A few seconds later, as Joey's eyes began to water, he decided to retract that previous statement, and that blinking could be a good thing.

The blush on his face grew more pronounced as the brunette leaned in, lips brushing against skin, and whispered in his ear a good night. His ear tingled where he could feel the hot breath brushing over it. Joey looked dazedly up at the brunette.

"Whuddumah?" Joey seemed to have lost all form of human language.

With a helpful push (read: shove) from Kaiba, the blonde somehow managed to stumble a few steps back toward the adjoining door, stuttering a good bye while suddenly feeling very lightheaded.

Then the stupid bastard had to go ruin the mood by telling Joey to have nice dreams about bones and chasing rubber tennis balls. Joey was instantly snapped out of any warm-and-fuzzy-feelings trance that he had previously been experiencing. Being quite fed up with Kaiba, Joey promptly slammed the bathroom door in his face. Kaiba winced slightly as he heard the other bathroom door slam shut as well.

Joey huffed angrily. His only regret was that he hadn't slammed the door on his face.

Kaiba stared at the shut door, an amused smile twitching on his lips. Joey was certainly…different. And fun to bait. He now found himself looking forward to the week, despite the agonizing day, just to see how much he could antagonize the mutt.

Kaiba thought about the way Joey's eyes blazed with a passionate fire when he was angry with the brunette. The way he turned red when trying to think of a better comeback. The way he became breathless after shouting at the CEO…

Then Kaiba gave a large groan, knowing that he was about to have another fitful night full of dreams of puppy dogs and amber eyes.