Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
*Rated M for Mature
Chapter 9 – Saturday
"Hey, Pup? Before we go and trick your friends, may I ask you a few things?" implored Seto as he finished buttoning up his shirt.
"Um, okay. Ask away," replied Joey, somewhat puzzled by his tone.
Now, how was he going to phrase this? "Were you just…pretending to believe in the whole alien thing? Because I honestly don't get it."
The blush on Joey's face was answer enough. "Just because I may be a bit smart does not mean I'm fucking Sherlock Holmes! Honestly, if you'd been in my shoes, you would have thought the same exact thing! Plus…aliens kind of freak me out anyway. How can we be the only living beings in existence with such a vast universe?"
Seto just smirked at his Puppy's response. So, his Puppy was smart, but still had his little gullible, naïve moments. That was good to know. He liked the goofball side of Joey, too.
"Anything else ya wanna know, Mr. CEO?"
Seto frowned. Joey had lapsed into his old dialect. Or was it new? "Why are you talking like that again?"
"Huh? Oh. Sorry about that. Sometimes I just…I've been playing the fool for so long that it feels like it's sort of…become me. I trained myself to act and think that way. By continuously doing something, it becomes a habit. And it's hard to break. In order to act the way I did, I had to think it, feel it, and eventually become it. It will take some time before I can…get rid it."
"I understand," Seto said after some thought. "But you do know that I want you to talk to me about your old life, right?"
"Why? There's nothing I want to talk about."
"You may not want to talk about it, but you need to. How else do you think you're going to stop having nightmares?"
Joey paused and looked down at the floor. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it. It's just…"
"It's hard for you to dwell on those memories."
When Joey nodded, Seto stepped over to him and gave him a hug. "Just…don't push this. Everything's is all so new and…we've only been together a week. I don't want to fight about this. Just give me time. I promise I'll talk to you when I'm ready."
"Okay, Puppy," Seto sighed. "Can I kiss you?"
Joey pulled away from him, his eyebrow raised. "You really do know how to ruin the mood, don't you?"
"What? I've been waiting to kiss you forever! I'm getting really ticked that we keep being interrupted!" Seto exclaimed, growing flustered.
"Well, with that kind of attitude, you're just going to have to wait a little longer," replied Joey, moving away from him and out the door. "Are you coming or not?"
Cursing under his breath, the frustrated brunet burst through the door. Perhaps he could vent his anger elsewhere. Like on Joey's friends.
"Are you still sure you want to do this, Puppy?" asked Seto as they both stood outside the Game Shop.
"Absolutely," answered Joey, but he sure didn't look like he was.
"Everything will be fine. Just play your part and we'll see what happens. When you want to leave, just say the word and we're gone," Seto said encouragingly.
Nodding ever so slightly, Joey opened the door to the Game Shop. The ping from the door let everyone inside know of their arrival, and what a reception it was.
"What are you doing here, Kaiba?" Yami demanded almost immediately. Apparently, the fact that Joey was standing there went over the former pharaoh's head.
"It's a public store. Why else would I be here?" Seto snapped, guiding Joey in front of him.
The blond noticed that practically all his friends were there. Yami, Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Duke, Ryou, and Bakura.
This is going to be a lot of fun, Joey thought sarcastically.
"Hi."
Joey looked down, only to see Yugi standing mere inches from him.
"Hello," the blond replied in his old dialect-free manner.
"We weren't properly introduced before. I'm Yugi," he said, offering Joey his hand.
The blond took it eagerly. "I'm Katsuya. Who are your friends?" he inquired sweetly.
"Oh! That's Yami, Tristan, Tea, Duke, Ryou, and Bakura!" Yugi exclaimed excitedly.
Joey looked them over. "It's nice to meet all of you."
The rest of them seemed indifferent, but Bakura just narrowed his eyes contemplatively.
It was Seto's clearing of his throat that drew the attention of the others. Everyone seemed to freeze in his presence, giving him evil glares and such. So Joey decided that he should break the ice; it was becoming quite frigid.
"This is my boyfriend, Seto Kaiba," Joey stated cheerfully.
"How much did he pay you to say that?" quipped Tristan.
Joey's demeanor changed in an instant, much to the surprise of everyone there. "Tristan, was it? Do you have a problem with me? Because I can assure you that I have no ill feelings toward you," he stated in an astonishingly calm manner.
This response shocked Tristan somewhat, and it took him a while to respond. "I just can't imagine why anyone would want to befriend that bastard, let alone be his boyfriend."
"And how well do you think you know him?" asked Joey.
"He's a jerk to us!" Duke exclaimed.
"He always insults us," added Tea defiantly.
"I'm not sure you know him," said Yami, directing his comment to Joey. "How long have the two of you been…dating, anyway?"
Joey crossed his arms. "About a week."
Tristan burst out laughing. "You guys have only been at it a week? So you're just in it for the money?"
Joey balked. "I came in here with the intent of becoming friends with all of you. Would you judge me so quickly because Seto is my boyfriend? You don't even know me."
"When you're with Kaiba, you're probably no good," said Duke.
"Then what about his brother…Mokuba?" Joey questioned, his voice becoming quieter.
"I like him," Yugi butted in, trying to be the appeasing one.
"Yeah, but he's still Kaiba's brother. And with him raising him, he'll probably still turn out to be like Kaiba," argued Tristan.
Joey felt himself growing more and more distant. These were his friends. They didn't like him because he was with Seto? And they didn't care much for Mokuba either? Sure, Yugi was friendly, but he was friendly to everyone.
Seto watched as his Puppy grew upset. He knew he shouldn't have let Joey do this, but he had insisted. His eyes softened slightly, and he took the blond's hand in his own to comfort him.
No one noticed this brief exchange other than Bakura, and he put two and two together. Ryou happened to notice Bakura tense and wondered what had made him react that way. When he looked in Bakura's eyes, he knew something was up.
"How can you be so harsh?" Joey asked quietly, his confidence in his friends slipping.
"We're harsh? Who you're dating is harsh," exclaimed Yami.
"No," Joey began defiantly. It almost seemed as if he wasn't really there anymore, like he was lost in his thoughts, talking to himself rather than them. "He's nice to me. He's helped me."
"Yami, stop it," begged Yugi.
"Why? He should know the truth. Kaiba is the type of person who uses people. But I see now that you'd rather be used by him than be friends with us," continued Yami.
"So let me get this straight," snapped Joey suddenly. "You would only be my friends if I had nothing to do with Seto?"
"You hit the nail right on the head," said Tristan.
"But…what if one of your friends befriended him? What would you do then?" Joey asked, trying to reason with them.
"Think they're on drugs," mumbled Tristan.
Tea elbowed him in the stomach. "That just wouldn't happen. And besides, if it did, we would probably do everything that we could to make our friend see that they're being…deceived," she said.
"And if your friend wouldn't listen?"
"Then they probably wouldn't be our friend for very much longer, I suppose," answered Yami. "You must understand that Kaiba is not someone you should associate yourself with. He'll only bring you a great deal of pain."
"No…you are," Joey said, fighting back tears, but everyone could see the sobs that threatened to wrack his body.
"We're going," Seto said suddenly, leading Joey out the door. When he saw that the blond was safely outside, he turned and glared at the gang. "You have no right to speak to him that way. Not after what he's been through. You didn't even…" He paused as an idea came to his head. "Where's the Mutt?"
"Not here," said Tristan.
"Do you even know where he is? Or even if he's okay?" inquired Seto. When he received no answer, he continued. "He could be beaten to a pulp in some alleyway and you're all here. Have you even tried to locate him? Some friends you are."
And with that, Seto left the shop, slamming the door closed in the process.
Everyone inside the shop remained silent for a while, but it was Bakura who broke the silence.
"All of you are fucking idiots," Bakura snapped, drawing them out of their stupor. "That was Joey."
"Huh? But he said his name was Katsuya," said Yugi.
"Joey's my best bud. He didn't look or even sound like him," stated Tristan.
"Oh, really. Then go find him and ask him yourself. Come, Ryou. We're leaving," said Bakura, leaving the Game Shop, too.
Ryou stumbled after him. "That really was Joey, wasn't it?"
"Yes. But there's still something that's bothering me."
"What's that?"
"What has he been through that Kaiba apparently helped him with?"
"Eat your ice cream. It'll make you feel better," said Seto.
He and Joey were sitting in a small café. After the blond had completely broken down in his arms, they'd done a little shopping, and settled down in the café to cheer his Puppy up.
"Okay," Joey said listlessly, staring at his ice cream.
"I got you something."
Joey's head perked up. "When?"
"I…actually got it for you yesterday. I was going to give it to you, but then we'd been so engrossed in talking that I forgot about it."
"What is it?" Joey sniffed.
"It's back at the mansion. Do you want to go home now?"
Joey sighed halfheartedly. "Sure."
As soon as they'd reached the mansion, Joey was feeling a bit better, even though he'd lost almost all of his friends. He still believed he would have Yugi on his side no matter what, but if he had to choose between him and Yami, Yugi would probably pick the latter.
"So what's this surprise?"
Seto smiled and led him to the living room. "Wait here."
Joey plopped himself on the couch and stared at the wall listlessly. Even if he did lose all of his friends, he still had Seto…and Mokuba…and his sister. That's all he really needed, right?
"Okay, Pup. Close your eyes."
The blond did so. "I swear if I feel your lips on mine, you're getting a black eye."
"Wouldn't think of it, Pup," Seto chuckled.
Soon, Joey heard something placed before him.
"Open your eyes."
Joey did. "Why did you tell me to close my eyes if my gift is in a gift bag?"
Seto's expression turned blank. "Shut up and open your gift," he replied, sitting next to Joey.
Leaning forward, Joey reached into the bag and pulled out a heavy wooden box, elaborately decorated. It was an art kit. It had paints, pencils, oils, and everything he could possibly ever need.
"There's more, Puppy."
And there was. Paint brush sets, an easel, canvases, sketchbooks.
"Thank you so much, Seto!" Joey said through his tears, but these were happy ones now.
"You're welcome."
Joey put everything back in the bag and turned toward Seto. "I think I'd like my kiss now."
Seto didn't have to hear that twice. He pulled the blond onto his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist. Joey leaned down, and when their lips met for the first time, it was complete bliss.
After what seemed like a few minutes of clumsy kissing, Seto grew bolder and nibbled Joey's bottom lip, eliciting a gasp from his Puppy. Not taking any chances, he slipped his tongue into the blond's mouth, consequences be damned.
Joey melted in his arms as Seto mapped out the contours of his mouth, drawing a delightful moan from him in the process.
When they finally pulled away because the need for air was too great, they stared at each other.
"I love you," Seto said softly.
"What?" gasped Joey.
Seto then realized what he'd said, and he'd said it out loud. His Puppy wasn't ready for that kind of confession yet. "I didn't mean it," he said quickly. "I like you, though. I really like you."
"You like me."
"Yes. Very much," replied Seto, getting ready to pull Joey down for another kiss, but the blond pulled away.
"I need to get you your gift. It's upstairs, so wait right here," said Joey as he wandered off.
Seto leaned back on the couch, arguing with himself over his little mishap. He didn't even give Joey time to answer. What kind of a person was he to just blurt out that he loved him and just…take it back as if it had never happened? He was an idiot!
"I'm back, Seto," said Joey. "I was going to wear this when we went to bed tonight." He handed over a small gift bag to the brunet.
Seto took the gift bag and peeked inside. "But there's nothing in here."
"Exactly," Joey replied with a smirk as he sauntered away sexily. "Now suffer."
End Chapter
