AN: Inspired by A Man Walks Into A Bar by BDEblueyes on AO3.
This fic is intended to be able to stand alone, but it's heavily influenced and inspired by A Man Walks Into A Bar, by the incomparable BDEblueyes, and I highly encourage you to read that masterful fic, because it's awesome. But it's not required for you to read this fic.
The past half year had felt like a blur. It seemed as though they'd been making up for lost time. And they had been. After that one blissful afternoon, that had turned into a night of intensity like no other, there'd been… Nothing. Nothing and nothing for years, and a growing chasm of want and hurt and longing and spite, carving a hollow in both their chests, fueled by… By miscommunication. Of all things, miscommunication. And stubbornness, on both their parts. Even Joey admits he let his pride get in the way.
But they're here now, he and Kaiba. Here together. Finally. The hows of it didn't matter. All that matters is the why, and the why is that he loves Kaiba so damned much. These past months he'd seen layers of Kaiba that he's pretty sure even Mokuba doesn't know about. The sweetness. The gentleness. The thoughtfulness.
The vulnerability. The fear.
There are things you only show to your lover. For all the persona that the name "Seto Kaiba" conjures up, Joey's seen its counterpart. It's an absolute trust that Kaiba's placed in him, an unspoken promise to guard and care for his secrets. It's a heady thing. And yet it's the most grounding thing in the world. Aloud or unspoken, Joey's promises are rock solid.
And he trusts Kaiba too, with his own layers. Layers he never showed Yugi or the gang, or even his baby sister. There are things you only show to your lover. Surprisingly—or perhaps not so surprisingly, when he thinks about it—the parts of him that he only entrusts to Kaiba are almost exactly the parts that Kaiba entrusts to him.
They'd peeled another layer of that back tonight.
Out for coffee in the city, a typical weekend afternoon. Then a slight straying of hands, turning to hooded glances, turning to stolen kisses, turning to heated breath in the chill of the autumn air, and there was no way they'd make it back to Kaiba's manor or even his office before they burst into flames. Joey's apartment was so much closer. Never inviting Kaiba over had been a holdover reaction, a knee-jerk response to having lived with his father for so many years. But this apartment is Joey's, and Joey's alone. And as they had stumbled through the door, barely closing it behind them before skin met skin and tongue met tongue, that reaction had vanished from Joey's mind.
He finishes toweling off his hair and leaves the bathroom. The night's activities and the freshness of the shower hum pleasantly in his muscles. He does one last walkthrough of the apartment, turning off lights. Finally, he reaches his bedroom, and—
And it hits him.
His lover is here.
Seto Kaiba is here.
In his bed.
Kaiba lounges against the pillows on the far side, by the wall, looking as though he's always belonged there. His pale skin is flushed—evidence of their lovemaking, and the heat of the shower they'd shared. A satisfied smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. He's so damn beautiful. And when he fixes his languorous, sapphire gaze on Joey, pats the empty space beside him, and says "Come here," Joey's knees almost buckle. Seto Kaiba is here, in his bed.
"I gotta turn the light off," Joeys says. It's the dumbest response in the world. But he's not quite thinking right. He doesn't want to turn the light off. He wants to stare at this perfection forever. But he does flip the switch, finally. He crosses the room and crawls under the covers, expecting Kaiba to envelop him in his long arms. But Kaiba snuggles against his chest instead.
"Seto?"
"Hmmmmm," Kaiba just sighs, deep in his throat.
Joey shifts a little, to bring his arm around Kaiba's shoulders. To tangle his fingers in the soft hair at the base of his neck. All right, he admits, this is worth having turned the light off.
For some moments, they lay there quietly, the only sound the gentle rhythm of their mingled breath. Then…
"Joey?"
It's so faint he's not sure he actually heard it. But he answers anyway. "Hmm?"
The bed shifts as Kaiba presses even closer to him.
"I'm happy."