Mythaven

Recap:

"You have no need to worry. A Dragon Master is watching over him," the stallion replied. He frowned, perplexed, as the two humans stopped and looked at each other. His confusion turned to surprise as the two teens then began laughing, loudly, and with no sign of stopping.

Duke grabbed onto the brunet to keep his balance as he found his knees quaking with the force of his laughter. This, however, didn't help, as they collapsed to the ground in a heap of laughing, trembling limbs.

The horse snorted. "I don't see what's so funny."

"It figures Kaiba would have to look after Joey!" Duke exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his aching stomach as tears of laughter began to leak from his eyes.

"I can't breathe!" Tristan exclaimed, unable to stop laughing. "God, he got the short end of that stick!"

Chapter 9

"…I feel badly for her," Joey stated after a few moments.

Seto found himself sympathizing. He'd never seen a more pathetic picture than Kankana struggling to limp away from three small elves trying to usher her back into bed. He was worried about her, though; the elves could only take so much before they'd have to call in some of the stronger elves more willing to bodily move her to the bed. She probably would have been able to take the bigger ones on, too, if only she wouldn't keep tripping over her useless leg.

"…Hey…" Seto picked up one of the thick bandages lying on the table beside him, then looked over at the growling inugami. "…I have an idea."

Soumya frowned. "I've learned that those words don't necessarily have a good outcome if they come from a human's mouth."

"It's nothing bad," the brunet replied, then walked out in front of the giant dog to intercept her. "Let me see your leg."

Kankana narrowed her eyes at him but came to a stop, though she made it clear that she was quite willing to bite him if he decided to help the three elves after her. "I would lift it for you, but I'm afraid it's… jell-o, I believe you call it in your world."

"…Whatever." Seto bent to grab her foreleg and lift it so it was pressed against her chest, then glanced at Joey. "Puppy, could you come hold her leg up for me? I'm going to need both hands free to do this."

"Uh… Okay," Joey replied, frowning, but held up her foreleg just the same. "What are you gonna do?"

"Wrap it." So saying, the brunet began wrapping the length of bandage around the inugami's neck and foreleg, pinning it to her chest and keeping it from flapping back and tripping up her other legs. Once at the end of the bandage, he tied it off. "Try walking now."

Kankana took a few experimental steps, then—finding nothing to trip her up or make her lose her balance—took off at a run, cackling. "Freedom!"

Seto winced as the three elves shot him a glare. "I thought it would make her relax a bit."

"Well, that certainly backfired," Soumya pointed out, watching as the ever-so-happy dog raced past him in the other direction. "Kankana! Please lie down and rest! You've only just been healed!"

She snorted but allowed herself to be led back to the bed, sighing. "Fine. Spoiled sport."

Joey smiled in relief, happy to see his guardian resting so she could get better, and turned to the brunet beside him. "Thanks, Kaiba."

"Whatever." The older teen waved it away carelessly. "It was nothing. The only reason she couldn't run was because she kept tripping over it." He squeaked as the blond suddenly hugged him. "What are you doing!?"

"You just don't want anyone t' think that ya like her," the blond giggled, nuzzling his chest playfully, before pulling away from him and cheerfully prancing out of the room, Joy squealing and loopty-looping after him.

Seto blushed a little as he watched them go, unconsciously missing the warmth of the other's body pressed against his. He wondered if he was unnaturally cold, or if Joey was unnaturally warm to make that feeling occur; either way, he felt much colder now that he was gone. He rubbed his arms reflexively.

Soumya frowned. "Are you cold?"

"…I'm not sure," the brunet replied truthfully, turning his gaze back to the kirin. "I'm really not sure."

"Well, be prepared to leave soon," the dragon-deer replied, sighing, and turned to follow the blond out the door. "As soon as Kankana gets rested, we'll be leaving."

"Right," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head, before shooting one last look at the inugami. When he found her staring at him with her wise, glowing eyes, he immediately looked away and swept out of the room.

He was surprised to find Joey sitting against the wall outside of his guardian's room, hugging his knees close to his chest, as Joy continued to loopty-loop about. The blond looked up at him and smiled a little. "I don't wanna go too far, in case she needs me."

Seto sighed and glanced back into the room to find the giant dog frowning at him. '…She wants me to take care of him, doesn't she?' he thought tiredly, then sighed again and looked down at the blond. "…I don't think she's going to have any problems, puppy. She's probably just going to sleep the whole night, have breakfast with us tomorrow, and then we'll go to Den. …Or something along those lines. Not necessarily in that order," he muttered, knowing that if she could get away with it, Kankana would usher all of them out of the elves' care before daylight.

"…But what if you're wrong?" the smaller teen asked softly, frowning. "What if she needs me and I'm not here?"

"Then Soumya will come get you," the brunet replied, rolling his eyes. "God knows he's not going to be too far away from her either." Seeing the confusion in the smaller teen's eyes, he leaned down slightly and offered him a hand. "Let's go look around. I mean, we're here; we might as well explore a little, right?"

"But…" Joey frowned, looking at his outstretched hand for a few moments, then sighed and reached out to hesitantly clasp his hand, as if afraid he'd yank it back. He knew Seto had gotten his soul healed, but he couldn't really say how that affected his actions. He could only hope that this was a permanent side-effect, and that he'd never go back to being mean and grouchy. "Okay."

Seto yanked him up swiftly, surprised when the blond let out a yelp and slammed into his chest. "Jesus, what do you weigh?"

"Enough!" the younger teen exclaimed defensively, hurriedly pulling away. He blushed when the brunet grabbed his hand again and looked up at him in confusion. "Kaiba…?"

The brunet glanced away from him but didn't let go. "It's windy outside. I wouldn't want you to blow away, as tiny as you are."

Joey scowled, ready to rip the asshole a new one, but stopped himself as he heard a small squeal and looked up at the Petite Dragon in concern. "So Joy should stay inside, huh?"

"Yeah. Joy, stay with Kankana." Seto jerked his head toward the doorway. "She's sad and needs cheering up."

Joy gave a dismayed squeak, then turned and flapped into the inugami's room. Both teens couldn't help a smile as the tiny dragon let out a squeal, soon followed by Kankana's startled shriek. "…SETO KAIBA!"

"Let's go!" Joey exclaimed, laughing, and tugged on the brunet's hand.

Seto felt the corner of his lip quirk upward into a semi-smile. It wasn't the same as having the blond's body pressed up against his, providing him warmth, but he had to admit that holding Joey's hand was… nice. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud, of course. He was having a hard time admitting it in his head.

"Woah! It's like… Oh, what's that one place called? That elf place in the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy?" Joey exclaimed, tugging on the brunet's sleeve. "Kaiba, ya gotta know!"

"…And why must I know?" When the blond merely blinked at him, he sighed loudly. "Rivendell."

"See, ya knew," the younger teen stated cheerfully.

Seto had to admit that it did look a-freaking-lot like Rivendell. They were in the middle of a little valley, rich with lots of greenery. Hell, there was even a flipping waterfall. …Oh no.

"J.R.R. Tolkein? No. No way. No fucking way!"

Joey looked up at him in surprise, then frowned. "What's wrong, Kaiba?"

The brunet scowled. "Rivendell was based on Lauterbrunnental in Switzerland! Like hell!"

"The Louder… huh?" Seeing that the older teen was getting very annoyed, very quickly, the blond hurriedly waved his hands. "Ah, ah, it doesn't necessarily hafta be from here, right? I mean, we've gotten pieces of everything so far—Egyptian, Japanese, Chinese, Greek—Why not Switzerlandish!"

It was cold without the younger boy's touch. Such matters of physical surroundings were now trivial compared to the heat the blond gave off.

Snatching back the blond's frantically waving hand, he let out an annoyed snort and continued walking. "The word is 'Swiss,' puppy."

Joey growled, annoyed. He'd put up with it before—he'd been too worried about Kankana to really care—but did Seto really have to keep calling him a dog?! "Kaiba! Stop callin' me a dog! Why the hell do ya call me that, anyway?!"

Seto raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him. "Well, I see you as a puppy, growing into your paws. I can even imagine the… ears and… tail…" he trailed off, frowning. He stopped walking and tilted his head, then hesitantly reached up and swatted at the two golden ears that he could see on top of the other teen's head, just to make sure he was really imagining it.

"Ow! The hell'd ya do that for?!" the blond exclaimed, reaching up to clap his hands over his fuzzy ears.

It took a few moments for it to sink in, on both parts. Then, Joey let out a distressed cry and ran over to a bird bath to look at his reflection. As the blond whimpered and pulled at his new puppy ears in disbelief (his human ears nowhere to be found), Seto finally caught sight of his golden tail, which was trying to curl under him in dismay, but kept failing because the hem of his pants got in the way.

Now, being Seto Kaiba, he wasn't going to believe it until he'd felt it with his own two hands, as eyes had been known to lie. He was, of course, forcing himself to believe that the tail wasn't there, even though he'd already proved that the puppy ears were there already. And needless to say, Seto Kaiba always gets what he wants; he doesn't even have to ask for things. He learned, a few seconds later, that he at least should have asked.

Joey jumped and let out a shriek as he felt a tug at the base of his spine—'My tail!'—and turned, immediately socking the brunet in the jaw. "The hell! I never said ya could touch! …What didja touch?!" He turned and, seeing the tail attached to his back, let out a moan and tugged at his hair in anguish. "No, no! This isn't happenin' t' me…!" Seeing that he'd just punched someone who could (and probably would) easily punch him back—and that that someone was decidedly bigger than he was—he winced and scurried away to make himself the smallest target possible against a wall.

Seto growled and looked up from rubbing his aching jaw; he knew it was going to bruise as the day wore on. He opened his mouth to verbally rip the blond apart, but he had to cut himself off as he found him cowering against the wall, curled up in fetal position, and looking up at him with big, frightened brown eyes. His tail—hem of his pants be damned—had finally succeeded in curling beneath him, and his ears had folded backward to press against his head. 'Like a frightened puppy.'

He took a few steps closer to the blond and was unexplainably saddened when the smaller teen ducked his head, hiding his glittering eyes from view. He couldn't describe why he was so guilty about scaring the other boy. He hadn't done anything; hell, Joey had been the one to hit him! But, thinking back on what Soumya had said a few days prior, Joey was probably afraid that he'd beat him and had decided to cower and try to minimize the pain.

Deciding that the best approach would be a cautious one, Seto slowed his steps and made them smaller. He recalled a time after Gozaburo had beaten both he and Mokuba and started to speak soft words of comfort to get the blond to relax, as he'd had to do with Mokuba. "It's okay, puppy. I'm not mad. I know you were just scared. You still are, huh? Come on, take my hand; we'll go see Kankana and Soumya, okay?"

Joey lifted his head and looked up at him warily, then turned his gaze to the brunet's hand. It was just like earlier, when he'd been coaxing him to leave Kankana to her own devices. Seto hadn't hurt him then. He probably wouldn't hurt him now, right? Besides, he'd said he wasn't mad, and Seto had only ever struck him when he'd said something to make him mad. He wasn't mad now, so therefore, he wouldn't be struck.

Seto smiled as the blond hesitantly reached out to slide his fingers across his hand, tentatively curling his fingers around it. He was surprised to see the younger teen's fingernails sharper than they had been before, instead coming to a point. …He was somewhat reminded of that character from the anime InuYasha that Mokuba always watched, the one with the dog ears and the red clothes.

But that was beside the point!

Remembering that the smaller teen weighed the same as a stick (as he so affectionately compared), he gently helped him to his feet so that they wouldn't collide again. He noted that the heat he felt emanating from their joined hands was stronger now, making him feel warmer than he had before. Joey looked up at him and tilted his head, appearing curious and adorable. A few seconds later, he leaned in, his eyes fluttering closed as he took a deep breath, as if to take in his scent.

Seto couldn't help but think he looked incredibly endearing like that. Eyelids falling to half-mast, he leaned in, suddenly intent to claim the blond's mouth as his own, to stake his claim on those pouting lips so that Akuju wouldn't dare try to go after him again—

"What was that, Joseph!?" Both teens turned their heads sharply to find Kankana limping up to them, looking frantic (and rather frazzled) with Soumya and Joy only a few steps behind. "Are you two alright? Were you attacked? I sensed your magic fluctuate and I thought—" She cut herself off as her eyes locked on the pair of golden ears atop her human's head. "…Oh. I see."

Soumya narrowed his eyes and smiled slyly. "I do, too."

Seto blushed a little and glared at him. "Shut up, Soumya."

"Hmmmm? Whatever should I shut up about, Seto?"

Joey frowned and looked up at the brunet in confusion. He tilted his head as he saw the blush but quickly pegged it as 'soul-healed-weirdness.' "Kaiba?"

Kankana sighed. "I'm sorry to interrupt your adventure, but Joseph, I should really take you back to my room and start teaching you how to control your powers. I hadn't thought they'd show themselves… so soon." She frowned. "Perhaps Akuju is stronger than I had at first perceived…"

The blond whimpered and unconsciously stepped closer to the Dragon Master. Seto reached up to dig his fingers into his thick yellow hair and pull him closer without thinking, immediately trying to protect him in response to just hearing the bastard's name. He couldn't help a small sigh of contentment as the younger teen nuzzled his chest in search of comfort.

Kankana, love-challenged as she was, missed this; Soumya did not.

"Joseph, come. We'll start right away," the inugami stated, nodding as she said it, as if pleased with her plan. "The sooner we start, the sooner you'll be able to protect yourself."

Joey sighed and reluctantly pulled from the brunet's embrace. He hissed and raised a hand to guard his eyes from one of the sudden strong gusts that Seto had warned him about. "Shit!"

Joy let out a distressed squeal as he was suddenly blown away, twisting about helplessly in the wind's clutches. His squeal sounded alarmingly like, 'heeeeeelp!'

"Shit!" Seto didn't even hesitate as he sprinted after him. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

"Don't lose sight of him, Seto!" Soumya called after him, before following at a calm trot. "We don't want him anymore lost than he already is!"

The blond watched them disappear around a corner worriedly. "I hope they catch him. Poor Joy…"

"Poor you if we don't get you out of the cold," Kankana replied, turning to head back to her room. "You're much more susceptible to illness now, until you get your magic under control." She couldn't help a smile as the blond let out an annoyed snarl. "It's not my fault your magic decided to show up now."

-x-x-x-

Joey looked up from towel drying his hair as Seto walked in and immediately focused on him. "Didja catch up t' Joy?"

"Yes, I caught up to Joy," the soaked brunet replied, sighing, as he stripped his shirt off. "Took me half the day, though. Just barely got in a bath. I talked to Meldiriel; apparently we're sharing the bed until we leave."

"Oh, okay." The younger teen looked around expectantly for the happy dragon and was slightly alarmed when he didn't find him. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Joy!"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Oh." He pulled at the hem of his pants and let them drop to the ground. "Hiding."

Joey blushed a little but didn't turn away. They were both men, after all, so what did he have to be embarrassed about? …Aside from Seto's sexy manliness and the fact that he was maybe a little bit less than straight, of course. His jaw dropped a little. "…Was he… hidin' next to your penis?"

The brunet rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah. My clothes flapped in the wind, and he discovered that my dick does not, in fact, move with the wind as my shirt and pants do. He flew into my pants and I was loathe to dig him out. …I was afraid he'd bite me and hold on for dear life if I tried, anyway." He winced slightly at the thought. "Hand me a towel, will you? I would have brought one, but the rain would have made the point moot."

"Uh… Right," the younger teen replied, tossing him an extra towel. He blushed again as Joy let out a squeak and rubbed against his cheek, unable to help but think about what the little dragon had just been pressed against. "When did it start rainin'?"

"About an hour and a half ago. When did you get in here?" Seto asked, leaning forward a little to dry his hair without dripping water onto his mostly dry skin.

"About three hours ago. I've been tryin' t' meditate; Kankana said it would help me focus my magic," Joey explained, nervously tugging at his robe. "Then I washed my hair in the wash bowl."

"Huh. Well, it should. Meditating has helped me in a lot of things, not just magic." The CEO stood and tossed his towel to the side carelessly to land on top of his clothes, then pulled back the blankets and slid under the covers.

The blond squeaked and blushed even more. "You sleep naked?!"

"Nudity is a perfectly natural state of being. There's no need to get so embarrassed," the brunet replied, rolling his eyes. "Jeez, you'd think you'd never been to a public bath."

"There's a difference between bathin' and sleepin'!" Joey exclaimed, then covered his face and sighed. There was no way he was getting around this. He hadn't been given any pajamas, and he wasn't going out in the rain to go ask for some. He wasn't going to wear the shirt he'd been wearing all day, either, because he'd been in it and sweated in it and that would be gross. Besides, he was clean and the shirt wasn't. "…Fine, but ya better not try anything, ya pervert!" he stated finally, shedding his robe and beginning to crawl into bed as well.

Seto frowned, puzzled as to the blond's accusations, but decided that there was no point asking him about it. "…Whatever. Come on, Joy," he muttered, sighing, before turning so his back faced the blond and reaching out to grab the glass of the lamp guarding the flame. He lifted the glass only slightly to blow out the flame, then set it back down and laid flat once they were bathed in darkness.

He listened to the blond thrash around for a few minutes, then closed his eyes and prepared for sleep once he'd gone still. He'd just gotten to the cusp of sleep when the blond had begun shifting again. He waited for the shifting to stop before trying again. When the cycle continued for a few more rounds, he finally lost his temper.

Turning to glare at where he thought the blond was, he snapped, "What the hell?! Just lie down and sleep, damn it!"

"…But I'm scared."

When he heard the vulnerability in the blond's voice, he sighed and turned over to be facing in his direction. "Scared of what, puppy?"

"…What if Akuju sends another Alp, or somethin' else, t' attack when we're asleep?" Joey asked softly, and Seto felt him clench the blankets in his fingers.

He sighed again, then reached out and wrapped his arms around the blond's waist to pull him closer. "Come here."

"Eep! Kaiba, what—" the younger teen began, startled, but the brunet cut him off.

"I don't sleep very well at night, because I'm a light sleeper, so I'll make sure nothing attacks you," the CEO stated, settling down to try and sleep again. "So you don't have to worry about being attacked while you sleep. Okay?"

"…Okay," Joey replied quietly, sighing.

When the blond didn't relax, Seto sighed and reached up to gently fondle his furry ears. He heard the smaller boy make a small noise of protest, but when he didn't follow up on it, he continued until he'd felt him relax and his breathing slow. Then, once satisfied that the blond was asleep, he allowed himself to drift off as well.

-x-x-x-

No, no, no! The Dragon Master wasn't supposed to become attached to the Golden One!

Akuju growled angrily and narrowed his eyes. He had thought that the two teens had merely had a tentative understanding not to hurt each other. He hadn't realized that they shared compatible souls! He knew that the Golden One's soul was full of light, and fire, but he would have never guessed that the Dragon Master's soul was filled with darkness and ice! Now that the Dragon Master was realizing that his own angry soul was being soothed by the blond's, he'd become even more attached, and then he'd have to contend with dragons to capture the Golden One!

He'd have to nip this one in the ass before they got any closer to each other. He would have Golden One and he would own him completely. The Dragon Master had to go.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

So I know I haven't updated this story in such a long time. D: I'm a horrible person. But! But!

I'm going to update this story again in a few days, so don't be mad, right? :3 See, you can't stay mad when you know I'm going to update soon.