Title: Wish (9/9)

Author: WhosJeebus

Rating: M

Pairing(s): Joey/Seto, scads of others, & even a few surprises

Beta: Jennie B.

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but if someone wants to give it to
me as a Christmas gift, I certainly won't argue about it...

Summary: Seto won't be home for the holidays, but can Joey's friends
and family manage to show him a holly jolly time, anyway? Sometimes,
Christmas miracles happen in the most unexpected of ways...

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Chapter 9:
(Christmas Eve)

"Seto!"

Joey could hardly believe what his own two eyes were telling him. He pinched himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, and then, for no clear reason whatsoever, he reached down and pinched Seto as well. The other boy was practically frozen solid. A particularly vicious gust of wind suddenly forced itself through the open door, and Joey was snapped back to his senses. "Shit! We've got to you warmed up!" He grabbed the unconscious figure by the arm, tugging the remainder of the lanky body inside the house, and then closed the front door. Slender as he was, Seto was no lightweight, and Joey was at a loss for what to do next. A flash of inspiration hit, and he trotted over to the den to retrieve the large, warm throw that he and Ryou had dozed so cozily beneath just a few nights ago. Spreading it out on the floor, he heaved, and grunted, and pushed until he was able to roll Seto over onto it, and then proceeded to drag his inert boyfriend back into the den with him. The flooring from here to there was all marble, making for easier maneuverability with his precious burden, and it was also the closest room with a fireplace. He was far too preoccupied with the situation at hand to stop and bother with any larger issues that awaited his attention.

Even unconscious, Seto seemed to be doing his stubborn best to thwart Joey's every move. He finally had to settle for shoving a mound of gifts out of the way and leaving the prone form lying on his back, sprawled halfway under the Christmas tree. This was the closest he could position Seto to the warmth of the roaring fire, and Joey ran to fetch more blankets in order to make up for any remaining heat loss. He was about to simply wrap the chilled boy in the heap of blankets and be done with it, when he finally noticed how Seto's dark, auburn hair clung wetly to the contours of his face and neck. He reached down and felt the collar of the blue dress shirt the brunet was wearing. Shit. He was soaked to the skin! How long had he been out there in that blizzard? And why?

Methodically, Joey stripped Seto down to his silk boxers with practiced ease, becoming more and more alarmed as inch after inch of ghostly white, goose-pimpled flesh was revealed. Thoughts of hypothermia and frost bite spun frantically through his brain, and he grabbed his cell phone to call Ryou for advice, only to wind up cursing when he received no answer. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He knew this; he could do this. What was it they always did in the survival stories on TV? Body heat. Right. He quickly disrobed down to his own underwear and lay on the floor next to Seto, pulling the blankets tightly over them both. Oh, Jesus Christ, it was like cuddling with a giant Popsicle! He wrapped his arms around the taller boy's torso and tried to achieve as much skin on skin contact as possible. Seto's arms hung loosely at his sides, and Joey shifted awkwardly, attempting to pull them in closer to him. He reached over and grabbed one pale wrist, only to discover that Seto's right hand was locked into a fist, and wouldn't budge. Gently, he pried open the stiff fingertips one by one, finding a small, badly crushed sprig of mistletoe clutched tightly in his palm.

Joey blinked, feeling strangely numb and detached from his body as a rush of emotions and memories assailed him all at once. When Seto had called to tell him he wouldn't be there for Christmas, Joey had been heartbroken and devastated, but he hadn't given into despair and cried, preferring instead to focus on all the positive aspects left to the holiday season. When Seto had blatantly accused him of infidelity, hot, angry tears had threatened on several occasions, but he'd held them back through sheer force of will. When Serenity had opened up to him about her secret pain, and demonstrated the amazing depths of her love for him, he'd wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and join his sobs with her own, but he had been determined to prove that he was still the strong one; the who would always be there for her. Now, gazing down at the tiny, pitiful symbol of love and holiday spirit that Seto had stubbornly refused to relinquish throughout his ordeal, Joey finally allowed the teardrops to course unheeded down his cheeks, forming a pool of cooling liquid on the planes of Seto's chest.

As Joey cried silently against him, Seto opened his eyes and lifted a hand to caress the glowing nimbus of gold that rested underneath his chin. Was he really home? Did he actually make it? He carded his fingers through soft blond hair and murmured sleepily, "Joey? Is this real?"

Joey sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "You'd better hope not. You know how much I fuckin' hate cryin'."

Seto was confused. Maybe he'd flash-frozen some of his higher brain functions along with the rest of him. "Why are you crying?"

Rising up on his forearms, Joey glared down into weary, sapphire eyes. "Because you're a hopeless idiot, that's why! What the hell were you thinkin'! You could have frozen to death out there! What if I hadn't been standin' on the front porch with the light on? You might not have even seen the mansion in this storm! What if --"

Seto reached up to stem the flow of words with his fingertips. "But I did see you. And now I'm here. Why does anything else have to matter?"

Joey's mouth fell open in shock. "God, you are such a --" He didn't finish his sentence, choosing instead to let his actions speak for him as he leaned down and crushed his lips to Seto's own.

Hunger, heat, and simple, delirious relief flooded Seto's system at the familiar sensation of his lover against him once more, and he responded to the kiss with every ounce of passion that he could muster. It wasn't enough, however, and no matter how willing his spirit might have been, his flesh was far too weak. Physical stimulus was what he craved more than anything at that moment, but it was his own bodily limitations that thwarted that desire in the end. He broke away from the kiss, his hands sliding limply from Joey's shoulders as, little by little, all forms of sensory perception drifted slowly out of reach. "Joey... I can't... I don't think I can keep --" he yawned, unable to communicate the extent of his bone-weariness at that moment.

"Hush. Go on to sleep, and I'll be right here when you wake up."

Seto required no further encouragement as he allowed his eyes to slip all the way closed, and he was quickly carried off into exhausted slumber.

When next he woke, it was to the sensation of a warm hand tracing gently across his abdomen in rhythmic circles, fingertips occasionally dipping just below the waistband of his boxers. It felt too good to be real, yet he knew that it had to be. He was home, and he was with Joey. Those two, basic facts were all that mattered in his world right now.

Dozing off once again, he had just become accustomed to the gentle ministrations to his body, when a second hand joined the first, sliding confidently up the inside of his leg and beneath his boxers. Knowing fingers wrapped tightly around his hardening shaft and brought him instantly to full wakefulness. He sucked in a sharp breath. "God... Joey..." The blond's lips descended on his once more, effectively stifling any further comments. Joey's tongue was questing, insistent, as it gently coaxed his own out to play. The kiss ended, and Seto made a soft noise of disappointment under his breath. "I was just dreaming about this."

Joey licked slowly up the side of his neck, eliciting a full-body shudder from the boy underneath him. "I know."

Seto furrowed his brow. "How...?"

"You were moanin' my name in your sleep."

"Oh."

"Was it a naughty dream or a nice dream?"

Seto thought back for a moment. "Definitely naughty."

"Let's see if we can't make it a reality, then."

Joey reached down and stroked even harder at the heated flesh between Seto's thighs, and when the brunet arched his back in pleasure, his underwear was swiftly tugged completely off and tossed aside. As aroused as he was, a thought had just occurred to him. "Joey, did you just throw my boxers in the fireplace?"

The movement paused. "I don't think so. Is now really the time you'd like for me to go and check?"

"Good point." Silk or not, he had plenty more.

The sensuous stroking began again as a hot tongue drew wet patterns on his stomach, angling closer and closer to the center of his aching need. He arched his spine backwards, knowing he was being obvious and wanton about where he wanted that tongue to go next, and not really caring in the slightest. A high-pitched, keening sound had begun building in the back of his throat when, abruptly, both the tongue and hand were gone.

Growling in frustration, Seto opened his eyes to find Joey standing naked in front of the fireplace, muttering to himself as he frantically pawed through the various knick-knacks on top the mantelpiece. "Dammit! I know I left it here somewhere..."

Seto had run out of patience. Staring fixedly at Joey's bobbing rear end, he demanded, "What the hell are you doing? Get your ass back down here and --" He glanced upwards once again. "What are you wearing on your head?"

"Huh?" Joey's eyebrows shot up and he crossed his eyes, looking for all the world as if were actually trying to view the top of his own skull. He reached one hand up and patted absently at the red velvet Santa cap perched atop his tousled mane. "Oh. That. I was cold, and I didn't want to wake you by gettin' up. This was the only thing close at hand, so..."

He grasped the edge of the hat, intending to pull it off, when Seto's voice stopped him. "No. Leave it on."

Joey grinned widely. "Like I said before -- depraved." He rummaged around for a few more seconds, exclaiming, "Gotcha!" as he snatched at a small, red bottle.

"What's that?"

"Spiced cranberry massage oil."

"Nice. Where did it come from?"

Joey knelt back down amongst the nest of blankets, and even in the dim light cast by the Christmas tree and the fireplace, Seto could see a pink flush spread over the other boy's face and neck. "Ask me later."

Seto opened his mouth to make a very pointed remark about the merits of finishing what you start, but instead, he could only watch, mesmerized as Joey locked eyes with him and slowly, deliberately, poured a small amount of oil into the palm of his right hand. He made a fist and began rubbing his thumb, middle, and index fingers together methodically, spreading the lubrication. He never blinked or dropped his amber gaze from Seto's face, not even when he leaned forward and stabbed two fingers inside his lover's entrance.

Seto jumped a little, but the harsh penetration was counterbalanced by Joey's other hand resuming its rhythmic motion along his cock. Joey used the tips of his fingers to spread the pearly drops of precum around the head, jacking Seto off with increasing speed and firmness. The sensations were heavenly, but they were causing the tension to build far too quickly for Seto's tastes. Dammit, he'd wanted this to last... "Joey, slow down... Stop. I'm going to -- Ahhh! God!" Microcosmic tremors shook Seto's entire body and he came forcefully over Joey's skilled fist, throwing his head backwards as stars exploded behind his eyes. "Where the hell did you learn that?"

"Trade secret. Now -- lie back, relax, and --"

"Just go with the flow?"

"Actually, I was gonna say, stop tryin' to top from the bottom, but either works for me."

Smiling, Seto complied, and Joey's touches gentled immediately. He began a leisurely scissoring motion with the two fingers still buried inside his lover's aperture, adding a third digit within moments after feeling the loosened muscles relax even further. Though the steady, rocking motions were soothing and extremely arousing, Seto soon began to realize that Joey was deliberately avoiding brushing over his prostate gland. He opened his eyes to find the other boy avidly watching his facial expressions again, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that the blond was somehow reading his mind while he was at it.

He squirmed a bit, attempting to drive those maddening fingers deeper inside. "If you'd just --"

"Shhh."

"But, if you could --"

"What did I just say?"

Seto groaned, thwarted again as Joey removed his hand, giving the brunet a firm smack on the flank. "Turn over. I wanna hear you moan like a bitch in heat."

Seto felt his own face flush hotly, but he eagerly rolled himself onto his stomach in one fluid motion, catching a brief glimpse of Joey's self-satisfied smirk. Perversely, Seto's stubborn pride chose that particular moment to rear its ugly head, and he nearly resolved to just flip them both over make the blond work to earn that sardonic smile. Preferably with that big mouth of his. Seto shook his head in agitation with himself. What the hell was he thinking? He really had lost some valuable brain cells in that blizzard. No one in their right mind would turn down the opportunity to surrender completely to the blond bombshell that was his loving boyfriend, despite the fact that Joey frequently chose to be the submissive one. This was obviously not going to be one of those nights, and Seto didn't have it in himself to complain at this juncture. As Joey quickly positioned him up on his hands and knees, Seto still couldn't resist the urge to get in at least one decent jibe. "You know, I think you're entirely too smug for your own good."

"That's just because I am that good."

Seto ground his teeth together and wracked his brain for an adequate rejoinder, but at that moment, he felt the tip of Joey's erection as it made contact with his entrance, the pressure against his opening building in agonizingly slow increments. This was sheer torture, of the very best kind. "Joey..."

"Oh, here we go again..."

"I'm not fighting you for control this time, I swear. I just wanted to point out that it's been --"

"Four months, sixteen days and eleven hours, to be precise," Joey said, exasperated.

Seto took a moment to wonder whether or not he should feel guilty for being a shameless top, but then he merely shrugged it off. "Err...right. Just go easy, OK?"

Joey sighed exaggeratedly, but didn't reply. He rolled his hips sharply, and began to press inside, inch by inch, repeating the same motion until he was entirely seated within his lover.

Seto must have been more relaxed or distracted than he'd realized, because with no further preamble, he found himself dropping down onto his forearms and urging, "Do it."

Joey pulled back slowly, and without warning, thrust forward hard enough to drive Seto's head into the outer branches of the Christmas tree. "God dammit, Joey!"

"Better brace yourself Seto, 'cause I ain't stoppin'." True to his word, he gave three firm pushes, each one a direct hit to that neglected pleasure spot, and Seto was instantaneously on the verge of another mind-blowing orgasm. His throat constricted with the urge to voice his need for more stimulation, but he stubbornly held back. A low growl, centered deep in his chest, was all that he would allow to escape

"Let's hear it..." Joey purred. He thrust forward again, this time establishing a steady, pounding, in-and-out motion that had Seto digging his elbows down into the of pile blankets and shoving backwards forcefully. Dammit. His body might be betraying him by acting the part of the shameless hussy, but there was no way in hell he would give Joey the satisfaction of sounding like one...

"C'mon..." Joey was panting for air now, and Seto could feel tiny droplets of sweat pattering down over his back like rain. At least the mutt wasn't having an easy time of it, either. Their sex wasn't often like this -- such a blatant battle of wills and clawing back and forth for control, but when it was... Seto's train of thought suddenly derailed as Joey's hand snaked around the front of his body and began teasing at his cock with light, feathery touches. "Maybe if I do this...?"

Desperately trying to ignore Joey's seductive urgings, he bit down hard on his lower lip, determined to hold back the embarrassing, mewling sounds that were struggling to be voiced. Joey shifted his weight and draped himself across Seto's back, changing the angle and leverage of his thrusts. He grabbed hold of Seto's narrow hips and redoubled his efforts, lifting the brunet's knees slightly off the ground with every powerful stroke. Joey's voice was hot and breathless at his ear, "Just one, tiny little moan...You know you want to..."

With nearly all of his bodily support centered on his hands and wrists, Seto had to turn his chief focus toward maintaining his balance, and was no longer able to adequately concentrate on holding back the noises. His rock-solid composure crumbled around him as the iron control he had formerly exerted abruptly shattered in a spectacular manner. "Ahhhhh...!"

With that first reluctant utterance, Joey knew that victory was his. He grasped Seto's unattended erection and pumped in time with his solid thrusts. "Louder..." he demanded.

"AHHHHH! Fuck!"

"You can do better than that..."

For Seto, there was no point in holding back now. "Oh God...! Harder..."

"Beg me."

"Please... Please, Joey...I want..."

The blond's mouth was on the back of his neck, biting down firmly, and one hand reached up to roughly tweak at his nipple. "What do you want?"

"Finish me..."

Joey moaned in appreciation of Seto's eagerness to obey, and if possible, his thrusts sped up even more, becoming erratic. The tingling began at the base of Seto's spine and cascaded over his entire body as Joey slammed against his buttocks one final time, both of them effortlessly crossing over into the ultimate bliss in perfect tandem. Seto clenched his eyes shut and released a mortified, honest-to-god squeak as he came all over his own chest and Joey's hand. To Seto's chagrin, Joey's own roar of completion was ragged, loud, and well...much more manly than his own. A rush of warmth flooded his insides as he felt the release of his lover's seed, and his tired, wobbly arms could no longer support their combined weight. He crashed forward onto his face as Joey collapsed heavily against him, shoving them both further up under the Christmas tree. Several ornaments were shaken off the tree by the impact, pelting down over the exhausted boys below, but neither took much notice of them.

"Holy shit..." Seto breathed.

Joey pressed his face into Seto's shoulder and nodded tiredly. He reached up to adjust his hat, which had, unsurprisingly, fallen rather askew. "Yeah. It was good for Santa too. Just one thing missin' though..."

"What's that?"

"Next time, I'm gettin' you a pair of antlers to wear."

Seto snorted and attempted to lever himself up onto his elbows. "Get off of me. We're crushing the presents."

Joey gently extricated himself from his lover, flopping over onto his back with a groan. As Seto busied himself with rearranging the gifts under the tree, the blond watched the play of the firelight over the smooth planes and angles of the brunet's lean body. "I'm so glad you're home, Seto. I still can't believe this is real."

"Believe it. Trust me when I say that getting here was no picnic."

"How on earth did you manage it? What happened to your big business deal?"

Seto knelt down and turned to give Joey a warm smile. "Let's just say that I took a page from the Joey Wheeler playbook of problem solving."

Joey raised one eyebrow. "How so?"

"I gave everyone the finger and did what I wanted."

Laughing, Joey lifted himself up and placed a soft kiss on Seto's lips. "You have learned much, my young Jedi apprentice."

"Don't laugh. You make telling the world to get bent seem much easier than it really is, you know. Flying by the seat of one's pants actually takes a good deal of careful planning." He sat back down on the gathered blankets, and pulled Joey over into his lap. "First, I had to arrange for Roland to fly the Blue Eyes White Dragon jet to me, and I pissed off Hong Kong air traffic control by ignoring the fact that my flight plan had been denied." He smirked. "Earned myself a lovely, personal escort from Chinese airspace for that one."

"Impressive. I knew you had it in you."

"Yes, but the least they could have done was warn me about that storm..." Seto shuddered. "Landing in a blizzard was sheer hell, but I wasn't going to let anything stop me once I'd come that far. I managed to track down a cab driver insane enough to drive in that mess, but no amount of cash that I waved in his face could convince him to take me any farther than the property boundaries." He became thoughtful for a moment, and then began scrounging around in the blankets, searching for something. His hand emerged clutching the pathetic bundle of mistletoe from before. "But, an extra twenty bought me this." He waved the mistletoe proudly. "He had it hanging from his rearview mirror, and when I saw it, I couldn't think of anything other than the look on your face when I showed up at the front door holding it." He chuckled to himself and pressed a kiss to the top of Joey's head. "That didn't really turn out like I'd planned, now did it? Honestly, I wasn't really thinking past my need to see you again, so I didn't even bring a coat with me. I hadn't counted on the keycard slot at the front gate being frozen solid either, and I had to scale the fence just to get in. The snow was so heavy that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, so I was forced to rely on memory alone to lead me in the right direction. Finding you on the front porch was simply a combination of of instinct, determination, and a great deal of luck."

"Nah; that wasn't it."

Seto's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Excuse me? I believe I was there..."

Joey shook his head. "No, I'm tellin' you -- it was my wish."

"Your wish," he stated flatly.

"Yep. I wished on a fallin' star, and I put all my heart into it, so it came true."

Seto was still incredulous. "You're trying to tell me that all this was your doing?" That I had no free will, or say in the matter whatsoever?"

"That's right."

Seto laughed, squeezing Joey tighter in his arms. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm glad you did. You deserve to have a few wishes come true."

The two boys sat in spellbound silence beneath the branches of the beautifully decorated Christmas tree, snuggled warmly in their comfortable nest of blankets. They stared into the flickering flames of the fireplace, neither feeling the need to speak and disturb the magical moment. They both realized full well that reality would intrude soon enough, and for now, this was a time and place set aside especially for them.

Seto glanced at his watch and saw that the midnight hour had passed without their knowledge. "It's Christmas, Joey. Did you get everything you wanted this year?"

"All that and more." Joey wound his fingers through Seto's own and leaned back against his lover's solid, reassuring form. "I used to think that I knew what the perfect Christmas would be like, and I built up a lot of hopes and dreams around that vision. Boy, was I ever wrong."

"How so?"

"The perfect Christmas isn't what they show you in the movies, and it's not even close to all those Norman Rockwell paintings, either."

"Then what is it?"

Joey turned around and gazed up at his lover, surprised that the clever brunet hadn't already figured it out for himself. "It this, Seto," he stated simply. "Just... this."

Seto feigned astonishment. "You know... I think you may be right. Someone should inform the marketing department of Kaiba Corp immediately. Millions are just waiting to be made."

Joey sighed. "Merry Christmas, Wise-ass."

"Merry Christmas, Mutt."

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more to come...

Author's notes:

Items used in this chapter:

(19) A sprig of mistletoe.

Word Count:

4040 this chapter / 45998 total thus far