Author's Note: This happens immediately after Farm. Actually, I literally wrote Farm just so I could write this. That's why it was so short.
And then I got sick. And busy. And then sick again. MY LIFE! *rages at the heavens*
I like unicorns. :I
Horse
It wasn't really a difficult decision when it all came down to it. Seto didn't have a choice.
That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though. He made sure that everyone knew how angry he was.
Atem didn't even have time to duck the punch that Seto aimed at his face. Seto wanted to punch him a few more times, but the guards already seemed antsy, and he didn't want to test them.
"I deserved that," Atem muttered, lifting his fingers to his already-swelling cheek. He grimaced. "I know I deserved that, but your punches have gotten even more painful."
"I could pick up a foal a few months ago," Seto told him acidly.
Atem flinched. "I know. I regretted the decision as soon as I ordered it."
The brunet glared at him. "You're supposed to be his friend. Those unicorns are his life and you took them away from him!" He thought about hitting him again as his anger reached new heights. "To get to me!"
"Well it's not like you gave me much of a choice!" the smaller man snapped angrily. "Do you realize what this looks like to other kingdoms?! Oh, one of the princes of Domino is off pretending to be a thief, how cute. Let's just invade while King Atem tries to reel him in." He huffed, rubbing his jaw. "I've had the kingdoms to the north and east making eyes at us, Seto, thinking that because you're stealing from me and I can't or won't stop you, we're obviously in some sort of turmoil. You need to stop gallivanting off in the forest and making a mockery of our kingdom!"
"The way to convince me of that was not to steal Joey's unicorns!" Seto roared, hands curling into fists again. He fought down the urge to give his cousin a broken nose. "He has done nothing but tell me how much of a pain I'm being and trying to convince me to come back and he's rewarded by having his unicorns stolen—"
Atem threw his hands up in frustration. "I KNOW!" he bellowed, making the brunet finally jerk back in surprise. "I knew as soon as I ordered it! Joey didn't deserve it! I agree with you! I just didn't know how else to get you here! You ignored all of the letters I left in the treasure, sent away all my messengers that managed to find you, even told Mokuba that you didn't want to come back! What else was I supposed to do?!"
Seto thought about arguing, about getting even angrier, but he felt all the fight draining out of him as he looked at the purpling bruise swelling on the smaller man's cheekbone. "…I don't want to be here," he said quietly. "I don't want to be a prince. I never did. I don't like pretending to find people interesting or important when I couldn't care less. I can stop stealing and living in the woods, but I can't be the prince everyone expects me to be."
Atem sighed. "Seto, I know this was never what you wanted, but as soon as you saw that Mokuba was going to be taken care of, you didn't even give it a chance."
"Atem—" the brunet began, then seemed to slump further, expression going sad. "…Yami. I hated it here. I'm never going to be happy if you make me stay."
Atem frowned, heart twinging a little at the childhood nickname that he hadn't heard since Seto and Mokuba's parents had died. He'd known that Seto had never done things the way royals were expected to, and his mother, a commoner, had even encouraged it. Seto was so intelligent and creative, he could probably do so many wonderful things.
But as Atem watched, he could see the brunet beginning to rebuild the wall around his heart, and it hurt to know that he was the cause of that. Seto had been so bitter, so angry before he'd run away, and now he'd seen a glimpse of the cousin he'd grown up with, who laughed and smiled and played.
"…You need to talk this over with your brother," he said finally, feeling much younger and incredibly old at the same time. No one had ever prepared him for this, ordering family around when they were hurting and sad. They'd prepared him to run a country, not a family, and he hated that fact even more as he watched his cousin (older than him, more experienced in general) nod miserably.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Joey was outside when he heard excited neighing. He turned from trying to wash his laundry one-handed, frowning, before letting out a startled noise when he heard the clapping of hooves on the road. He dropped the sheet he'd been holding into the bucket of soapy water and made his way around the house as quickly as he could without jarring his arm.
He stumbled to a stop when he saw the silhouette of man on horseback at the top of the hill. He couldn't help but take a nervous step back, unsure of whether it was a friend or not. Then a half dozen other horses crested the hill and began galloping down toward his farm, and he couldn't help a startled, hopeful noise escaping his throat as he saw the glittering horns and hooves.
"My 'corns," he whimpered, overwhelmed for a moment. Joey stumbled up to the fence line, reaching up to clutch the lock at the gate. He wanted to open it, but he couldn't bring himself to.
Because it meant that Seto wasn't going to be coming and going as he pleased. He wasn't going to be stealing from the King's caravans and squirreling away gold in his house that Joey knew about but pretended he didn't because it made the brunet feel better about nicking food and blankets and sleeping in the barn in the cold months. He wouldn't complain about having to work sometimes despite doing it anyway. He wouldn't come and kiss him when he least expected it but maybe needed it the most.
Seto would have to go back to the castle and be a prince and be too polite and proper to come see a poor unicorn rancher.
Joey let out a small, hurt noise when the rider came down the hill; close enough to see that it was Seto himself. "Have ya come t' say goodbye?"
"Don't be stupid," Seto retorted, rolling his eyes. He paused when he saw the blond's shoulders come up defensively as he hunched down, then hurriedly swung off of his horse. "I wouldn't do that to you," he added quietly as he approached him. "I would have sent someone else."
"Then what are ya doin' here?" The blond frowned as the older man came up to him. "What—"
"I had a discussion with my brother," the brunet explained, reaching out to take Joey's good hand. "And then we discussed it further with my cousin. He's sorry about taking your 'corns, by the way. He said he knew it was wrong the minute he ordered it. It's my fault he did it, anyway." He ran his thumb over the blond's knuckles. "We've all come to a decision. We all knew I wouldn't be happy at the castle. So… I'm going to stay here with you, if you agree to that."
Joey blinked up at him slowly, still frowning. "You'd… stay here? Forever?"
Seto nodded. "Yeah. I'll even help you take care of the unicorns without complaining. …Much." The brunet shifted his weight as the younger man thoughtfully chewed at the corner of his lip. They'd considered what he would do if Joey told him that he didn't want him to stay there with him, and he'd eventually conceded to living at the castle until he figured it out. He didn't want that to happen, though; he wanted to stay with Joey and the unicorns.
Joey watched him shift from foot to foot for a moment, enjoying the nerves playing across the brunet's face, considering that he was usually the one that was off-center in their conversations. Eventually, though, he smiled a little and took his hand from the older man's grip, instead reaching up to cup his cheek.
He traced his thumb over the brunet's cheekbone a few times, then leaned forward, going up a little on his toes so he could press his lips to Seto's.
Seto made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a squeak. He figured he could be forgiven for it, though, because… Joey had never kissed him before. He'd kissed him back, of course, had returned kisses with vigor (and competiveness, if he were being honest), but Seto had always been the one to start things, to reach out and touch. Joey had been alone on his farm for so long, even before Seto had stopped teasing him and had actually done things to help, that Seto had figured it might take years before Joey would start intimacy.
As Joey leaned back, licking his lips and eyes shining brightly, the brunet got the feeling that his initial estimate might have been skewed by the fact that just because Joey kept his cards close to his chest, didn't mean he didn't have the cards in the first place.
"Need hay in the stalls," Joey mumbled, then leaned back in.
Seto met him halfway this time, arms circling the blond and pulling him into a deeper, wetter kiss. He slid one hand up to dig it into the younger man's hair, tugging on it a little and swallowing the blond's indignant noise, laughing when his bottom lip was caught between the blond's teeth in retaliation. He could get used to being kissed like this.
Joey jerked back with a gasp, biting his bottom lip as he winced. "Ow. Be gentle with me, asshole—I got kicked by a 'corn and it still hurts!"
Seto nodded seriously, because laughing in the blond's face would just earn him a punch in the nose, and then neither of them would be happy. "Sorry. I'll be more careful next time." The way the younger man blushed and ducked his head was entirely worth it, because Seto knew that that blush went all the way down to the blond's navel.
"Just help me with the hay and maybe help me finish my laundry," Joey mumbled, embarrassed, and turned to open the gate so the unicorns could get back onto his property.
"Gladly," Seto replied, and made a mental note to get some medicine for the pain later. "At least the laundry part."
"Get used t' heavy liftin', jerk. Téa said I couldn't use my arm for another two weeks."
Seto would have gotten annoyed, but Joey actually looked miserable at the prospect of having to sit idly by while someone else did the work, so he just pressed a kiss to the blond's forehead before jogging over to the barn to lay some hay in the stables.
