AN: I promise I haven't forgotten about this fic! I'm just very (very) slow :P Thank you all for your incredible patience. I'm anticipating at least one or two more chapters for this thing. Enjoy!


Seto did not often allow his dog to sleep in his bed with him. Initially, he found the idea of sharing his sleeping space with a dog to be disgusting, but then the damn animal grew on him. Once in a while, little Joey would wedge Seto's door open with his nose, tip toe over to the side of the bed, and if he dared, place a paw beside Seto's head, asking for permission. Maybe five times out of ten, Seto would let him up on the bed to sleep (…okay maybe eight times out of ten). There was just something about those chocolate brown eyes, gazing up at him lovingly that he couldn't say no to.

Seto did not remember his canine companion asking for permission to join him in his bed this time, but he didn't really remember much of the night before. He could feel the dog's warm body pressed up against him, his head resting on Seto's shoulder.

He kept his eyes firmly shut, his stomach already aching, his temples beginning to pound. His hand found one of Joey's velvety ears and he began to stroke it gently, trying to concentrate on something other than his sudden and intense desire to vomit.

He took several deep breaths, preparing his retinas for the harsh light he knew would meet them. He turned his head towards the window, and slowly cracked one eye open.

"Ughhh," that was a bad idea.

Joey shifted against him, sighing, and mumbling something unintelligible. Seto patted his head apologetically.

Wait.

Seto's eyes snapped open. He groaned loudly, jolting as the light hit him harder than he expected. He was sure for an instant that his head would explode from the pounding in his temples.

"Ughh, mother fucker…" what Seto thought was his dog muttered against his shoulder.

A very human Joey lifted his head slowly to stare blurrily at Seto.

"…Why are you in my bed?" Joey asked, squinting painfully.

"You're in my bed, you idiot," Seto said, pressing his thumb and index finger into the corners of his eyes, "I thought you were my dog…"

"Ohhh, and here I was thinking you were petting me 'cause you had some morning wood…" Joey still managed his trademark smirk even with a hangover, but it didn't last. Seto grabbed a nearby pillow and whacked the grin right off his face.

Seto forced himself to sit up. He could feel the contents of his stomach shift and rumble painfully as he moved. He closed his eyes, praying to every god he knew of that he had some pepto bismol or something lying around.

He looked down at Joey, who had wrapped himself around the pillow Seto had just assaulted him with. Curled into the fetal position, eyes closed and face scrunched up in pain, Seto could see that Joey was feeling just as shitty as he was.

"You ok?" he asked, a little startled by the genuine concern he felt.

"Nnnyyyeeehh…."

"What was that…what does that even mean?"

Joey reached up and pulled Seto back down onto his pillow, so that their faces were just inches apart. "Just shhhh," he whispered, his eyes still shut, "no more talking."

Seto was about to retort when the words caught in his throat. He was suddenly struck by the way Joey's hair fell across his face. The colour was a beautiful, natural, roasted gold, covering softly tanned skin that was lightly dusted with freckles. Despite the long eyelashes and soft skin, a pronounced jawline and the thin shadow of stubble across his chin highlighted his masculinity. He was beautiful. Even lying hunched over in pain (and probably still a little drunk), he was perfect.

Joey slowly cracked open a watery eye, "…stop staring at me, dude, you're freaking me out."

Seto didn't hear him at first; he was too busy staring at Joey's mouth. "Hmmm, what?"

"Eughh," Joey thrust his palm against Seto's face, forcing him to look towards the ceiling and nearly pushing him over the edge of the bed. Before Seto knew what he was doing, he grabbed Joey's hand, but for some reason he couldn't let go.

Joey's eyes slowly opened fully. He stared quizzically at Seto, who was in turn staring at their joined hands. Kaiba's grasp was much gentler than Joey would have thought.

Seto was frozen in time, fighting back a building urge to intertwine his fingers with the beautiful man he had apparently shared his bed with.

Joey pulled his hand away as the door to the bedroom creaked open. Joey (the dog) had apparently nosed his way in, and was trotting over to Seto's side of the bed. He sat obediently by his owner's head and placed a paw on the mattress.

Seto sat up, turning his back on Joey (the man) as he grabbed the dog's ears and ruffled them affectionately. He needed a moment to collect himself. He knew his face must be an embarrassing shade of red as he realized what he had just done. Not only had he held the blonde's hand, he had slept with him all night…cuddled with him, even. Not one single human being had ever shared such an intimate physical space with him. He was terrified by how much he liked it.

Seto heard the bed squeak as Joey sat up, groaning.

"Maybe you should go," Seto spoke softly, refusing to turn around.

"Oh. Yeah. I, uh…guess I better go home. Big night tonight and all," Joey's voice was strained and Seto knew he must have crossed some unspoken line and made a mess of things. The blonde was probably disgusted and uncomfortable with his behaviour.

"Yeah. See you tonight," Seto managed to get the words out, but his throat was tight and his heart pounded as the humiliation flooded him.

He heard Joey stand and walk to the door. He heard the blonde pause before he left, but he didn't say another word.


Joey wasn't sure what had just happened. Truthfully, he didn't remember how he ended up sleeping next to Kaiba, but he didn't think it was that big of a deal. He had spent many drunken nights spooning with Tristan when they were teenagers, and even a few times he woke up sandwiched between him and Yugi (on the rare occasions that they could convince their small friend to drink). Those nights with his friends were fun memories and he never felt strange about it afterwards.

With Kaiba though, it was different. He was acting so strange, Joey was sure he must of done or said something to set him off. Something had happened between them in that room that very suddenly turned things sub zero. Joey had gotten too close, he was sure. He pushed Kaiba too much for a friendship he wasn't ready to give.


When Joey finally arrived at Cup 'O Joe, he was mildly surprised to see a red Jaguar was parked in front of the shop (very sloppily and partially on the curb, he noted irritably). He found himself hoping that Kaiba hadn't somehow Batman-drove his way through the suburbs in another one of his 'I-have-a-small-penis-but-a-lot-of-money' cars and magically beat him there; he was still feeling embarrassed and confused about the whole ordeal.

Luckily for Joey, the vehicle didn't belong to Kaiba…well, not the one he had slept with anyways.

"Mokuba, shouldn't you be at Kaiba Corp.?" Joey asked as he entered the shop, seeing the raven-haired youth leaning over the counter, talking to Serenity and Kurogane.

"Well good morning to you, too! I see my brother's cheer has rubbed off on you!" He turned around only to wink cheekily at the blond before turning his attention back to the counter.

Joey felt the heat rise in his face. He hoped that Mokuba wasn't referring to his most recent cuddle session, but he had the sneaking suspicion that the younger Kaiba knew more than Joey would like him to.

"Yeah, yeah," Joey muttered, sliding out of his jacket and hanging it on one of the mismatched wall hooks, "so are you going to tell me what you're doing here? Your order isn't ready for pick up 'til two thirty…"

"Oh I know, I just had one last minute request for you guys, but Serenity and I took care of it. I think it looks pretty good, right?" Mokuba moved out of the way so Joey could see what it was that he had been leaning over.

It was a simple, circular, vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. In the center of the cake was a terrible stick drawing of what Joey guessed was supposed to be a dragon, surrounded by the words 'Happy Birthday Seto', all in blue icing.

"I made it last night! Serenity helped me. That's a Blue-Eyes, in case you were wondering…I can see you staring at it." Mokuba was grinning, so obviously proud of himself for baking the ugly cake on his own.

Joey found himself staring at the cake, reading it over and over, until it finally clicked.

"It's Kaiba's birthday? Like, today?" He knew his voice sounded more hurt than surprised.

"Oh, yeah. I was gonna bring this out at the after-party. He was very adamant that no attention be brought to the fact that the gala fell on his Birthday, but I mean, what fun is a party if I can't embarrass my brother, am I right?" Mokuba grinned devilishly.

Joey tuned out as Mokuba prattled on about the party. He couldn't believe he had spent so much time with the brooding brunet over the last week and never picked up on the fact that it was his birthday. It somehow made Joey feel even worse about their awkward exchange that morning.

"Joey?…Joey? Earth to Joey!" Serenity waved her hand in front of the blond's eyes, flicking him in the forehead and snapping him out of his thoughts. "God, you're such a space cadet this morning! Did you even hear me?"

The blonde slapped at his sister's waving hand, "what the fuck do you want?" he snapped.

"I was just saying that I have my costume all ready, do you?" Serenity looked positively delighted about her assuredly revealing 'costume'.

"Ahh, fuck…I totally forgot…" Joey smiled sheepishly. There was too much going on in his mind to think about costumes.

"No worries, bro! I got you covered," Mokuba's smile was entirely disconcerting as he slung his arm across Joey's shoulder, "I have a treasure trove of last minute costumes just waiting to be discovered," he looked off into the distance, gesturing mystically to the far end of the room for dramatic effect.

Joey sighed, "You aren't going to make me wear a dress or something, are you?"

Mokuba laughed, hearty and booming, like a salesman forcedly laughing at a client's bad joke, "Oh, sweet Joseph. A dress? And insult your raw masculinity? I dare not. I have the perfect thing in mind for you. Simple. Original. Manly, even."

Joey rolled his eyes. He hoped he wasn't getting himself into something he would later regret.