Notes: For Flufftober Alt Prompt - Up Against the Wall Kiss

Part of the "Joey Mutou" series where Joey was at the orphanage as a child with Seto and Mokuba and is later adopted by Grandpa Mutou. Series also includes the following fics: "Good Luck Charm", "The (Not So) Secret Family Recipe", "Going Home", "Accessibility Review", and "Outside (Looking In)".

Instead of getting involved in the search for Gramps when he went missing like he did in canon, Joey goes to drop in on Seto here. At this point in the timeline for the Joey Mutou series, Joey and Seto have been dating for a while.

Inspiration

Joey grinned as he came to a stop next to Tea and stuck his tongue out at her. "Meanie," he accused teasingly.

She just laughed and reached up to ruffle his hair. He ducked out of the way, only for Tristan to grab him and hold him still for her while Duke and Yugi laughed.

He was lucky to have such good friends he could be silly with when he needed cheering up. "Alright, alright guys. I'm gonna go drop in on Seto, so let me up already."

"Aww, now he's got a boyfriend and he's too good for us," Tristan pouted.

"Now I've got a boyfriend and I want to make out with him," Joey retorted.

Tea laughed. "Oh, let him go, Tristan. But don't forget that Rebecca's next duel is coming up soon."

"I'll meet you all there," Joey promised and then hopped back on the little subway car. The next stop would put him closer to where Seto's offices were hidden.

Of course, that put him alone with his thoughts until he got there. He knew Seto wouldn't think less of him for losing that duel with Zigfried. Seto only had those sort of unreasonable expectations about himself. But there was something weird going on during that duel. Joey just couldn't quite put his finger on it. And that was bothering him as much as losing the duel itself.

Zigfried had been out not just to win, but to humiliate Joey in the process. And Joey had, ultimately, dueled extremely well under the circumstances. Maybe if his cards had fallen out a bit differently or he'd played the ones he'd gotten just a bit better, he'd have won. But ultimately Joey knew he'd done well, especially as one of the least experienced duelists in the tournament. He'd done well enough that no one could say he was only invited as Seto's boyfriend, at least not without sounding disingenuous about it. (Though Joey knew there'd be people saying it anyway.)

It doesn't take too long before Joey's using his key card to slip into the main office building on the island and, from there, into Seto's office.

"How goes things with the hacker?" Joey asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Your duel with Zigfried Lloyd has been the only one that's been interfered with since the pre-tournament attacks," Seto said, standing up and setting his headset aside. He crossed the room to where Joey was standing and ran his hands over Joey's shoulders and arms, gaze... distracted. "Are you okay? It didn't look like anyone got hurt, but..."

"Not even a little singed," Joey assured him. "A little bummed over losing, but..."

Seto pressed forward and pushed Joey, a touch roughly in his haste, against the wall before bringing their mouths together in a hard kiss that sent heat rushing through Joey. Just like Joey had been hoping for. He whined into the kiss and wound his arms around Seto's shoulders, drawing his boyfriend closer.

He was absolutely getting addicted to these kisses. The gentle ones as well as the harder ones. And Seto's body pressed against Joey, so warm and firm and...

And pulling away now.

"I know what he's after," Seto was muttering as he turned and rushed back to his computer.

"Do you mean Zigfried?" Joey asked, his own brain suddenly firing connections it hadn't before the quite delicious kiss. "He was looking right at the cameras during the duel. I'm sure of it. And he was enjoying the chaos, like he knew what would happen to the surrounding ride before the next explosion went off."

"I'm certain his real name is Zigfried von Schroeder," Seto said. "Runs an international toy company out of Germany. Not much of a rival for Kaiba Corp, but the Von Shroeders and the Kaibas had a long standing rivalry. As far as I'm concerned, it died with Gozaburo, but..." his fingers were flying over the keyboard. "Like Kaiba Corp, their company used to deal in weapons before being retooled as a toy company. They also came out with holographic technology - similar to my designs but less advanced. I never considered that they might have indulged in corporate espionage, given how rudimentary their designs were in comparison to Kaiba Corp's. The patents filed were also outlined enough differences that each design was considered unique everywhere both companies filed. Which, considering they tried to sue us a few times after we partnered with Industrial Illusions, was a good thing for Kaiba Corp... and rather humiliating for Schroeder Corp."

"I remember reading about that," Joey murmured. He'd kept up with the technology scene as best he could once Seto became CEO of Kaiba Corp. Back then he'd been afraid to reconnect with the Kaiba brothers - they'd been close at the orphanage, but years had passed since then and Joey had feared learning he'd meant less to Seto and Mokuba than they did to him.

It turned out he'd been very wrong about that.

But they'd reconnected eventually anyway, Joey offering Seto his support when Mokuba was kidnapped during the Duelist Kingdom tournament. It took time for them to find balance again - Joey had been adopted by Grandpa Mutou, who wasn't exactly fond of Seto even after the torn Blue Eyes White Dragon card was repaired, and Seto now considered Yugi, Joey's brother, his greatest rival at Duel Monsters.

Despite all of that, now Joey and Seto were dating. Joey wasn't sure he'd ever stop feeling giddy about that.

"I met Zigfried a few times while Gozaburo was still around. Treating me like a show pony," Seto muttered derisively. "He was a decent hacker as a kid; I could easily see him being a better one today. And if I'm right, he's after Kaiba Corp's mainframe."

"Can you disconnect Kaiba Land from the rest of the business?" Joey asked. Computers weren't exactly his strong point, but he knew if you disconnected a computer from the internet then any virus that ran on it wouldn't be able to reach any further than that one computer.

"That's exactly what I'm planning, though I can't cut everything since I need to keep the broadcasts running to honor agreements with the news stations covering the event. But I'm also isolating the Kaiba Corp back ups until this whole mess is over. That way any files we might lose can be restored. And the backups were last updated earlier this week. So anything done by the hacker today won't be in those files." Seto sounded very smug. But then he paused and, nervously, said, "I know I'm not exactly doing a great job of cheering you up after..."

Joey cut him off with a kiss. Not quite as heated as the one up against the wall, but good enough to silence Seto despite the somewhat awkward angle between them. "You've got your own worries and right now those are a lot bigger than a lost duel. When the tournament is over, just promise we can go find a dark corner to sneak away to during the party where we can canoodle as much as we want."

Seto snorted in amusement. "Canoodle?" he repeated dryly.

"Mean's kissing and heavy petting," Joey said with a smirk and a wink that actually had Seto blushing. "I want to make you all breathless and flustered. And a little disheveled."

"I know what canoodling means. It's just..." he huffed, still blushing ever so prettily. "It's a ridiculous word."

"Well, I promised to meet everyone at Rebecca's next duel," Joey kissed Seto's cheek. "So I'd better head out. But I'm glad I was able to give you a little inspiration boost to figure out what that Schroeder guy is up to."

"You dueled well, Joey." Seto offered. "You've come a ways from gifted amateur."

Joey felt something settle in his chest. It was one thing to know he'd done well despite losing. It was another thing entirely to hear it from Seto. "Thanks, Seto. It means a lot to hear that."

Seto reached up and caressed Joey's cheek. "Find Mokuba after Rebecca's duel is over. You and the rest of your friends have seats waiting for you up in the top box in the coliseum with Mokuba and myself. I'll see you there."

Leaning into the touch, Joey nodded. "I'll be there," Joey promised.


Notes: Of course, once Joey arrives at Rebecca's duel, he learns Gramps is missing. Though Yugi and the others show up soon enough to tell him the whole ridiculous story.