AN: This is a pointless little story featuring Joey and Tristan that I thought up of one day. It's pure fluff, and has some suggestions of shounen-ai in it. The setting is not long after Battle City. It doesn't really matter exactly when. Criticism is welcome; flames will be put aside and used to warm me up in winter.
Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh and all the characters involved belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I'm just borrowing them.
Of Yamis, Hikaris, Rain and Too Much Homework
It all started one dark night while it was raining, which makes this tale sound like dark and dreadful things are about to happen, but in reality, the two heroes of this story, if they can be called such, had nothing more dreadful to fear than the two assignments that were due the next day, and the threat of failing an exam the day after.
Two packets of potato chips had been consumed, and more time had been spent watching movies than worrying about the political state of ancient Athens. All in all, Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor were quite content.
That was, until Joey asked a question that came from apparently out of nowhere.
"You ever wonder what it would be like to have one of them darker spirits, what-do-you-call-'em… Yamis?"
Tristan stopped trying to figure out the value of x when y was equal to 2.55, put his pen down on the coffee table and turned to stare at his best friend.
"Where on earth did that come from?" he asked Joey.
"I don't know," Joey shrugged. "I was just thinking it would be nice to have someone smarter than you that could help you out with all the tough things, like this stupid assignment for history."
"Well," Tristan sighed, leaning over Joey's shoulder to look at the other boy's notebook. "What's up?"
"I can't for the life of me remember which historian said what about the Senate, and should I even put any of the stuff about senators in or what. It's just confusing me, man."
"Dude, wing it," Tristan shrugged. "Just crap on some more about the forming of the city states and you should have enough to make the word limit."
Tristan seemed to stop for a second to think.
"Well, I suppose it would be all fun and fluff," the brunette commented. "Until they decided to use your body to take over the world."
"What does that have to do with Athens, man?" Joey asked.
"Nothing you idiot," Tristan said, slapping his friend around the head. "I was talking about what you said before, how you reckon it would be good to have a Yami!"
"Oh, that," Joey said, by now feeling rather idiotic. "Well, I didn't mean like a bad one like Bakura and Marik have got. I meant a nice one like Yugi's."
"I don't know," Tristan commented, both of the boys now holding absolutely no interest in the piles of books in front of them. "I think the spirit guy that lives in Bakura's ring is trying to behave himself at the moment. Marik's is all evil though."
"Yeah," Joey smirked. "I reckon Bakura and the spirit of the ring have a soft spot for each other, you know?"
"You're probably right man, but not as much as Yugi and Yami like each other, right?"
Joey fell silent for a moment, although after a couple of seconds Tristan thought he heard his friend speak a few soft words.
"They're inseparable, and not just because of the puzzle either."
Joey shuffled a little, his position on the Taylor's floor obviously starting to discomfort him. Tristan grinned down at the blonde from his higher position on the couch. Even though their conversation had died down, their homework had not resumed. Now resigned to the fact that they would just have to bluff their way through the next couple of days, Tristan settled back and contented himself with listening to the sound of the rain drumming on the roof. His assignments only needed a little bit more work anyway, and Joey's…
Well, Joey could always paraphrase Tristan's own work if he got too stuck. It had happened before and the teachers hadn't picked it up, and even if they did notice the similarity they would hopefully just assume that Joey and Tristan had researched and worked through ideas together, which quite often happened.
The sound of the rain on the roof began to quieten, as did the scratch of Joey's pen on the paper, and the room wound down to a silence that anyone but the closest of friends would have found uncomfortable.
Joey eventually let out a cry of exasperation and threw his pen down on the table.
"This isn't making any sense, even to me!"
"Relax man," Tristan said, playfully punching Joey's shoulder. "You can copy off mine." Tristan grinned at the accuracy of his prediction, even more so when a goofy grin settled on Joey's face.
"Thanks Tristan, you're a real pal."
"Hey, no problem man. Just don't get all sappy, all right?" Tristan protested when Joey went to hug his legs, although inside he was grinning rather widely at his friend's antics.
"You know," Tristan said, gazing up at the now silent roof. "The rain has stopped. Maybe you should go home before it starts up again."
"Nah," Joey grinned light-heartedly, although his eyes turned melancholy. "I wouldn't be able to cheat off your assignment then. Besides, I don't really want to go back there."
The frown reached Joey's mouth then, and instead of pushing him away when Joey grabbed at Tristan's legs again, the brunette placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Your old man again?" Tristan asked softly, knowing all too well how violent and angry Joey's father could get, and also knowing he was the only person outside of Joey's family that the boy had trusted with this information.
Joey nodded in reply, causing the two of them to fall silent once more.
The scratching of pens resumed once more, both boys now having reached the silent conclusion that Joey would be staying the night, despite the fact that Tristan's mother had not yet approved the impromptu slumber party.
Although Tristan would never pass on a friend's secret, not even to his mother, he had a feeling Mrs. Taylor already had her suspicions about Joey's father. She barely said a word whenever Joey wanted to stay overnight, not even when Joey had turned up at the Taylors' house one evening with cuts and bruises on his face. Joey had fallen asleep in Tristan's arms that night, murmuring something the brunette was almost grateful he couldn't understand.
"There!" the two boys exclaimed at once, dropping their papers on the coffee table.
"It's probably the crappiest thing I've written during my time at school," Tristan sighed.
"But at least it's a pass!" Joey concluded. "At least, I hope it is, because mine says almost the exact same thing as yours does."
Joey stretched his arms and flopped back against Tristan, his head moving to rest in Tristan's lap. He yawned quite loudly.
"You're comfy," Joey commented.
"I'm glad you think that," Tristan said, echoing Joey's yawn. Joey turned around so that he was hugging Tristan's legs once more and closed his eyes.
"You are not going to fall asleep like that!" Tristan scowled, prying Joey off.
"All right already!" Joey said, although it didn't take long for him to settle against Tristan's legs again once the other boy had calmed down.
All was quiet once more.
Tristan began to check Joey every couple of seconds to make sure the blonde hadn't fallen asleep.
"You think they're sleeping together?" Joey eventually asked.
It took a couple of seconds for Tristan's brain to work out what Joey was talking about.
"Do you mean the good Bakura and the bad Bakura or Yugi and the Pharaoh guy?"
"Well, I was talking about Yami and Yugi, but Bakura and that freaky thief guy might be getting it on too."
"Yami and Yugi though," Tristan shook his head. "Wouldn't that be classed as masturbating?"
"I don't know," Joey said, yawning again and snuggling into Tristan's legs. He wrapped his arms around Tristan's legs once more and began hugging them like he would a teddy bear.
"Joey!" Tristan protested. "I thought I said…"
All it took for Tristan was another look at the contented smile on Joey's face for him to give in.
"Oh fine," the brunette muttered. "We'll go to sleep here, but don't blame me if you can't feel your legs when you wake up tomorrow."
Joey didn't answer, despite the fact that he was still awake. Eventually Tristan's eyes fluttered closed, and he fell asleep with both arms placed protectively over Joey's back.
He had been a fool, Joey realised. He didn't need a Yami, because he already had one, and he was as moody as Marik's, as self-contradicting as Bakura's, and as loving as Yugi's.
"I love you Tristan," he sighed, as he fell asleep at his Yami's feet.