Chapter Two

"K-Kaiba?" Joey asked. He'd know those eyes anywhere, but why weren't they glaring?

"Is something wrong?" Kaiba asked, sitting up like Joey.

"Huh?" Joey asked, following every movement Seto made. His white, button up shirt was not buttoned and he'd slept in jeans and no socks.

"You only call me Kaiba when something's wrong," Seto replied. He reached a hand out and stroked Joey's cheek. Joey instinctively flinched back. Kaiba dropped his hand and frowned. "Joey?"

"S-Sorry. Um.. Don't you have to go to work soon?" Joey replied, taking a deep breath and looking at the clock. Kaiba was well past late in arriving at Kaiba Corp.

"No. I never work on Fridays. Cause our anniversary is on Friday and I don't wanna miss it, remember?" Kaiba... Anniversary... improper English! What world was this?

"What? But what about Kaiba Corp?" Joey asked. Kaiba Corp was everything to Kaiba.

"Kaiba Corp? Are you feeling okay, Joey? Kaiba Corp died with my father. No one wanted the products anymore. Are you sure you're alright?" Kaiba felt Joey's forehead. He felt normal.

"I just...," Joey looked around his room. Everything else was the same. "I just had a really bad dream."

"About what?" Kaiba wrapped his arms around Joey and made him lean into him.

Joey sighed happily. He'd always wanted to be held close by Kaiba. Why couldn't Kaiba do this before? Oh right. This was either a really good dream or that wish really came true. That's why. Cause Kaiba didn't do things like this.

But Joey had always wanted to wake up to see Kaiba with him and to be held in his embrace, to really feel that Kaiba cared.

"It doesn't matter, I hated it there. You...," Joey stopped. He didn't want to remember all those hurtful things Kaiba had said over the last week, and especially last night.

"I what?" Kaiba asked, obviously worried.

"It doesn't matter!" Joey yelled into Kaiba's arms. He held onto Kaiba's shirt and tried to bury into his bare chest. "I don't want to remember."

Kaiba wrapped his arms tighter around Joey. He could feel the angry, frustrated tears rolling down Joey's cheeks and sliding down his own torso. He smiled sadly. He must have done something horrible to Joey in the dream. But...

"Don't worry, Joey. I wont hurt you out here. You're safe with me... I love you," Seto whispered. Joey easily quelled his tears hearing that.

"What?" The blonde asked, pulling back. "What... did you say?"

Seto blushed.

"I said 'I love you'," he repeated. "I read somewhere that it was good for a person's health to be told that and I just thought I didn't say it enough."

Joey smiled. God, if there was a god, could Kaiba stay this way? Could Joey just stay here? Could life be this gracious?

"Stop staring at me," Seto nearly glared, but it was more of a pout. He scooted off the bed and buttoned up his shirt. "I don't want to imagine what thoughts are going through that rattled head of yours. Come on, let's go see what your sister made for breakfast."

Okay. So a Kaiba was always a Kaiba, but this one didn't have the strict coldness of the one Joey was used to. He had an attitude, but he was kind.

"So... my dream was so real I'm having trouble remembering stuff. Where's your brother?" Joey asked. Seto frowned just before the door.

"Mokuba was... taken away by child services. Without the money from Kaiba Corp, I couldn't pay for 'basic needs' so they took him from me," Seto replied, apparently fine with having to retell some stories to Joey.

"Oh...Right," Joey frowned. Seto headed out into the kitchen, followed by Joey - the lost puppy. Everything looked normal but Seto must live here because that's how he acted.

Without the Kaiba Corporation... Seto doesn't get to keep his brother? Maybe this wasn't such a good thing. Seto had always... always loved Mokuba. Mokuba was always above Kaiba Corp, but only when he was in trouble. The rest of the time, he was second. Dang, that meant Joey was actually third.

"Good morning," Serenity greeted them both. She seemed normal too. Maybe a bit skinnier but normal.

When Joey thought about it, Kaiba Corp was the center of the world. Thousands of people had jobs because of Kaiba Corp. People had good jobs and money. Most everyday objects could be found to have a Kaiba Corp symbol on them. Had his wish destroyed the world?

"Morning," Seto greeted her with a nod as they sat at the table.

All of Joey's doubts and fears were erased when they began breakfast. Seto smiled at him and they all talked about life in general, which helped Joey out a lot. He was falling right into place in this world. It seemed the way he normally acted in this world was no different that how he acted with Kaiba Corp.

– – – –

Seto and Joey walked down the street, hand in hand, to go into town. Seto said it was a pre-anniversary gift. Joey was guessing the movies or something. On the way, they passed Yugi's game shop. It didn't seem as bright as normal. Maybe because duel monsters didn't have all the promotion it had when Kaiba Corp was up and running?

Once again, Joey forgot his worries when he saw Yugi come walking outside. He smiled.

"Yugi!" he waved. Seto paused and looked over at the small boy. Yugi jumped and looked over. He smiled and waved.

"When did you two become such good friends?" Seto asked. "Last time I checked, you hardly talked at all."

What? Joey wasn't best friends with Yugi? But he and Yugi did... everything together.

"Seto, I'll be right back," Joey, in a state of fear, hurried over to Yugi, who seemed a little lost. "Yugi."

"Joey," Yugi greeted in return. "What's wrong? You look scared."

"Are we... Are we best friends?" Joey asked, not sure how this would sound to Yugi if they, in fact, weren't best friends.

"Of course. Since when have we not bee... Joey!" Yugi grinned wider. "You're from our normal world!"

"It's not really another world but that's a good way to put it," Yami, other Yugi, walked out of the house. Joey jumped back.

"Y-Yami? You have your own body?" the mutt asked in surprise.

"Yes. In this world, it appears as though I had been reincarnated as Yugi's older brother," Yami smiled at his old friend. "I believe it was the power of the millennium puzzle that kept us from forgetting the other world but what is it that kept you remembering?"

Joey shook his head. He didn't know. Someone cleared their throat and Joey looked back at where Kaiba was still waiting.

"Oh! Sorry guys, I have a date with Seto, if you can believe it. I'll catch you guys later. Bye!" Joey grinned broadly at the idea of a date with Kaiba and hurried off to get back to his boyfriend.

"Kaiba is... actually going on the date?" Yugi asked.

"Hm... so Kaiba has changed as well," Yami seemed to find something very interesting but he also didn't seem to be about to share it. However, if Joey remembered what happened and this world had a Kaiba who loved him and spent time with him... Perhaps Joey was the cause of this world.

– – – – – – – –

Joey laughed. He held in his hand all the pictures they'd taken that day in the photo booth. They'd tried all different types of facial expressions on one group of pictures. In another, Seto had kissed him, catching him off guard, and another had them just holding each other and leaning foreheads against each other. It was just a special feeling radiating off the photos. Joey could almost bathe in it.

Seto had taken him to an arcade and fair. They'd screamed together on roller coasters and rides that went upside-down. They laughed and flew with each other on kiddie rides and spun themselves sick in teacups.

Joey couldn't remember any day with Seto that had been more fun than that. Usually, Kaiba would just tell him to shut up or that the ride wasn't scary. Or, that's what Joey imagined he'd say. Kaiba had never done something like this with him before.

Speaking of which, Joey was starting to miss the old Kaiba, if that was possible. This Kaiba was god on earth when it came to being nice and mean at the same time. He doted on Joey like he were a king and loved him, but it wasn't right for some reason.

The Kaiba that Joey fell in love with had a fierce piercing gaze that saw into your soul but had a mind that was stuck on the inside when it came to relationships. He had a heavy chuckle and a clear and evident rumble in his voice when he spoke. He kept Joey on a leash but let him out to play. That was the Kaiba he loved.

This was everything he wanted in Kaiba, but he realized now that... just because it's everything you want, it's not what you need. Joey needed to hear those condescending words right now.

"Stupid Mutt," Joey mumbled to himself just before rolling over into Seto's warm embrace to sleep.