A/N: Warning - NSFW
Song: PERFECT WEATHER TO FLY by Elbow
To Joey's surprise, Kaiba stuck around all day. They took breakfast in a small café near the town, Kaiba devouring a sequence of coffees that left even Joey feeling jittery just from watching. He got calls often, always saying "Excuse me," in an affable tone and taking it out of earshot. The food was nice, and Kaiba's company was surprisingly enjoyable, but Joey was most excited by the car ride.
"What does this do?" he asked for the umpteenth time, prodding a button on the dashboard. The windscreen wipers beeped and lit up blue, before chugging back and forth across the dry windscreen.
"Please don't do that," said Kaiba again, turning them off. Joey ignored him, searching underseat with his fingers.
"Does this have a – oh, man yes." The seat folded back with a soft whir until he was almost horizontal. "Kaiba this is great, you have to try this."
"I'm driving."
Later, they picked Téa up from class at her request as she had volunteered to take a prop home for decorating. She clambered into the car with the cardboard curiosity, marvelling at the exquisite interior. Her classmates threw her puzzled looks through the window that she returned with a sheepish smile and a shrug.
At home, Kaiba excused himself to use the lavatory and Téa dragged Joey into the living room where she set the cardboard thing on the table before rounding on him.
"So, what's been going on?" she demanded excitedly.
"Nothin'," said Joey, taken aback. "We've just been hanging out."
"How come you're such good friends all of a sudden?" She folded her arms. "I know I said this to you already but I'm confused. I thought you hated him."
"I did. Look." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's different than before. He's being nice. And you're always telling me I need to make more friends. And let's face it, he's from home. I miss everything from there but mostly the guys we used to hang out with, even if it is Kaiba. And," he added, "things were always more interesting when he was around."
Téa sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear with one hand, as she did when she was backing down. "I'm sorry, Joe, I know you're bored here." Joey said nothing. "I just don't want you to end up in a fight or something. I remember what you guys used to be like and you can get so stubborn." She looked at him steadily. "Just promise me you won't get yourself in trouble?"
"Sure, I promise."
As the evening set in, and Joey began to realise that Kaiba had been there for almost a full twenty-four hours, he decided it was time to be frank with him about what he was thinking. They had finished preparing dinner – a beef dish that was one of Joey's favourites – and took to the sofa to eat as Téa's half-painted prop was still occupying the table. They still could not tell what it was but thought that best to keep to themselves.
The three of them settled into the food and some easy conversation. Kaiba, Téa found, was guarded but amiable, and willing to reminisce a little. He talked about his brother briefly and how well he was doing with his schooling, before Joey interjected, tired of the small talk.
"Kaiba," he said. "You been here all day just hanging out. Which, don't get me wrong, has actually been pretty cool. But why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me?"
Kaiba chewed quietly before swallowing his mouthful while Téa looked away. "Actually there is," he said.
"I thought so."
Kaiba set aside his meal which was barely touched and reached to the other side of the sofa from which he procured his iconic silver briefcase. Joey wondered when he had snuck that into the house. He propped it up on his lap. It clicked open softly and he turned it to face Joey.
"Cards," Joey breathed.
There they were, brand new, shimmering in their case in absolute pristine condition. Stacks of them. Most he did not recognise but some he had seen in recent magazines. They were new releases, designed to change the card game market and make the duels more challenging. He caught himself reading the descriptions with fascinated eyes, already planning how he would incorporate them in a match of his own. Kaiba brought him back to reality by closing the case.
"I wanted to show you these," he said. "And asked you to duel me with them."
"Woah, you're challenging me?" Joey looked incredulous. "You always said it was a waste of your precious time."
"Are you interested or not?"
Téa, who had been watching this exchange with her fork hanging out of her mouth, suddenly piped up, "But Joey doesn't play anymore."
A silence fell. Kaiba looked as if someone had just told him Santa was real but they had killed him and his corpse was strung up in the next room. "What?"
Joey sighed, throwing Téa an angry look. She blushed and returned to her dinner, trying to pretend she had said nothing at all.
"I know you said your view had changed," said Kaiba quickly. "But you actually don't play?" It was almost funny how utterly confused he looked. Of course, there were many people who had never picked up a card in their life, but Joey Wheeler, who had fought his way tooth and nail into every tournament Kaiba could remember, who had been a finalist: a national icon for underdog duellists, was telling him he no longer played.
Joey sighed again, poking his food, appetite suddenly gone. "I haven't," he said quietly, "not for a long time. I kinda just forgot all about Duel Monsters after we moved. Don't care anymore."
Judging by the dog-eared duelling books littering the shelves, and the monster cards carefully preserved in plastic cases in Joey's room, this was a lie.
"Then," said Kaiba evenly, "would you at least consider coming out of retirement for this match with me now?"
Joey shuffled uncomfortably but the lure of the cards in the case was too strong. "Alright," he said. "Just one."
"I can't believe it," said Joey again.
"You should be proud," Kaiba replied, shuffling cards.
"I won."
"Don't rub it in."
It was much later in the evening. Téa had made her excuses after the fourth or fifth turn and gone to bed. Neither boy had really noticed, so wrapped up in the game they were. Kaiba, with his chin resting on his laced fingers, looked as if he were watching a silent chess match rather than tiny, colourful, holographic monsters tear each other to shreds on the game board. Joey had been reserved at first, but over time as the game grew in complexity, he had become absorbed, relaxing with his knees far apart and hooting whenever he won a play.
The sun had gone down long ago and neither one of them had made a move to turn the light on. The hallway light was on, and the door open, and so there was just enough to see by. Kaiba could not draw his thoughts away from the previous night.
The new cards had taken some getting used to. Joey had taken several minutes for every one of his turns to understand their use fully, which had dragged the game. Kaiba, of course, was as nonchalant and confident as if it were Snap. For the very first time since duelling Yugi, this had not paid off. Joey had scraped a last-minute win, as he so often used to do.
"Your raw skill is still there," said Kaiba offhandedly, clipping the briefcase shut. "I have only had time to memorise a few of these cards and only two of those came up for me. Frustrating." He did not seem angry. Joey huffed.
"The heart of the cards just wasn't with you," he said, almost bitterly.
Kaiba peered over at him with his piercing blue eyes, his hands frozen on the case. "Nonsense."
"So you say."
Kaiba was surprised at Joey's lack of rhetoric. He set the briefcase on the floor and looked at his opponent. Joey was sprawled across the sofa, hands behind his head, gazing at the dark ceiling.
Why had Joey not argued his case? The heart of the cards had meant everything to him at one time.
Kaiba cleared his throat.
"There actually is one more reason I wanted to find you," he said quietly. Joey twisted his head to look at him steadily from under a raised brow. "I think you won't like it, but I have a proposition for you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes," said Kaiba. "A duel."
Joey scoffed. "Naturally. It's you."
"Your disappearance caused a lot of commotion in the gaming scene," Kaiba continued, unperturbed. "I want to recapture that, create something theatrical. If we do this it will be covered by every major channel in the country."
Joey's expression was beginning to darken. He frowned and looked back at the ceiling. "I think I know what you're asking me."
"Think about it-"
"No," Joey interjected. "I don't wanna get caught up in that stuff anymore."
"All you have to do," said Kaiba, exasperatedly, "is come back and publicly challenge me. Then you'll be set for life. I can get you out of here, back into the public eye. It'll be the biggest event in Domino since Battle City."
"I don't want you to set me up for life," Joey snarled, moving away. "I'm fine here."
"It's an exclusive and unmissable opportunity," Kaiba snarled.
"Yeah, for you. For Kaiba Corp."
Kaiba scowled. "You are stubborn."
"And you're unbelievable. I already told you I'm not going back, it's not me anymore." He paused, his arms folding angrily across his chest. "In fact, the only way you might get me to do this is if you can get Yugi to monitor the match."
"I can't imagine why you need the chief of the dweeb brigade to stand there and hold your hand," spat Kaiba disparagingly. It was the wrong thing to say. Joey leapt to his feet.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand," he bellowed furiously. "Not about caring about someone else's needs. As long as you're set who gives a flying fuck about anyone else, right? Yugi is my best friend and I want his support!"
Kaiba was also on his feet. "Such a good friend that you've made no effort to contact him in weeks?"
Ice cold silence fell. Joey had let the chinks in his armour show and Kaiba had driven a rapier right between the apertures. He was on fire, his eyes boring blazing holes right through to the back of Kaiba's head.
"Fuck you," he thundered. Then he lunged.
Kaiba was hit with the full force of Joey's weight barrelling into him. It sent him toppling backwards over the edge of the sofa and onto the floor. The briefcase crashed onto the floor and popped open. Out spilled the shiny cards, scattering like leaves. Kaiba's head hit a cabinet and stars popped behind his eyes, but Joey would not give him time to nurse it. He was attempting to grab Kaiba by the arms to pin him down, but there was almost no room in the confined space and Kaiba was able to get his elbows up to block him. Meanwhile, he bucked hard at Joey's lower half with his legs, trying to rock him onto his back. Joey was blinded by fury and uncoordinated and Kaiba sustained a series of good blows to Joey's ribs in an effort to twist him over. Joey only managed to get one good punch to Kaiba's chin before he was forced to flip over with a heavy thud and Kaiba had him pinned.
He tried a few times unsuccessfully to unseat Kaiba, but lacked the energy to fight, having spent it all on rage. Panting, they glared at each other, Kaiba pinning Joey's wrists to the carpet with tight fists. Joey fought to writhe free.
"Stop," Kaiba snarled, his jaw burning. "You insufferable mongrel asshole. Stay down."
Joey bucked, but Kaiba remained firm. Eventually Joey's breathing slowed down and the red in front of his eyes ebbed away. In its place was Kaiba, a striking blue bruise blossoming on his chin.
"You deserved that," he said. The anger was gone from his voice. In its place was dejection. "For what you said."
Kaiba pursed his lips, flinching. He took one hand off Joey's wrists to rub his jaw and gingerly felt the back of his head. There would be a lump there tomorrow.
"Sorry," Joey sighed. Kaiba let him sit up, rubbing his bruised ribs. "I hope Téa didn't hear that. I told her we wouldn't fight."
Kaiba rested his weight on his knees, glancing at the briefcase they had knocked over. A handful of the cards were bent or creased badly. He looked back at Joey, still nursing his sore ribs.
"Did something happen?" Kaiba asked quietly. He did not mean the ribs.
"Yeah." Joey curled up, hugging his knees, refusing to look at Kaiba. "Yeah, alright? Something did happen. Yugi left and I tried the whole duelling solo thing, Got my ass beat. A lot. Became something of a joke to people: the great Joey Wheeler on a losing streak. It sucked and I couldn't handle it. Not without Yugi to give me that edge." He caught Kaiba's look. "Fine, think I'm weak, I don't care. When your friends disappear like that and you got no-one, you start to realise you weren't much without them after all." He sighed. "I miss them. I miss them so bad."
To Kaiba's horror, sobs choked Joey and he turned away, hiccoughing into his sleeve. Kaiba was not unsympathetic but he could do little more than fidget.
"You've got Téa," he offered weakly.
"Yeah," said Joey, smearing tears from his eyes. "I do. And I'm grateful. I think about how glad I am she's there almost every day. But it's not the same. And she's busy. Meanwhile, what am I doing? Feeling sorry for myself?"
"Getting by?" Kaiba shrugged.
"Heh. Yeah." The tears had stopped. Joey sniffed loudly and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to crack."
"No. Me neither."
"It's been cool to catch up," Joey added with a weak smile. It faltered when he saw the bruise. "That can't tickle."
"I'll live." Kaiba rose from the floor, and offered an arm to Joey who took it gratefully. He pulled Joey to his feet. Now he was level with Kaiba's chin.
"Damn," he said, reaching out a hand and gingerly tilting it so the mark was bathed in light.
"I've had worse," dismissed Kaiba, and Joey believed him. Kaiba scooped Joey's hand from his face so that he could look at him. Theirs eyes met, lingering. Kaiba's deep and piercing and molten. Joey's strong and earthy; a brutish brown. "You are not nothing without your friends," Kaiba said. "I've seen it."
Joey snickered. "You've had a change of heart then."
"I'm seeing things clearly."
He caught Joey's eye as they flickered up. They were watery but otherwise impassive. Now it was Kaiba who looked away first.
His voice low, he said, "I should go."
"Right." Joey did his best to quell the sudden ache in his chest. "You gotta get back to Domino. Your life is there."
So very tenderly, Kaiba lifted a hand and stroked a tiny strand of hair from Joey's brow. Precise, brief and efficient.
"Something like that," he murmured. And then his hand was gone, closing around the neck of the briefcase as he gathered up the cards and snapped the case shut. He checked his pockets and turned for the door.
It all happened so quickly that Joey, half in a daze, barely had time to react. He took to the hallway at a sprint and caught Kaiba just as he was about to open the front door. He blundered into it, slamming it closed with a hand flat on the wood.
"Wait," he said. "Wait, I-"
But he had no idea what he was going to say. There was no point stopping Kaiba from leaving. They lived in such different worlds now. What little similarities they might have shared were dwindling to nothing. Kaiba was standing tall and stiff, a hand on the door handle. His knuckles were white, his lips pursed in that tight line that meant he was holding something in.
Suddenly words were coming out of Joey's mouth that he did not know were there. "Did you let me win the duel?" he demanded. "Did you go easy on me?"
Kaiba looked mortified. " What? No." His tone was flat, but the emotion in his eyes told Joey that he was not lying.
"Did you think I played badly?" Joey's voice was so low now that Kaiba struggled to hear him.
"No." Same tone, flat and truthful.
Joey looked at the door, and Kaiba's hand still clenched on the handle. "Will you leave…" He swallowed. "Will you leave if I say that I don't want you to?"
"No."
This time there was no flatness in Kaiba's tone. It was a broken negative, dropped from his mouth in a ragged flush of relief. Joey's face heated up as he met Kaiba's stoic gaze and he felt his shoulders roll in a tight shrug. "Stay one more night?"
Kaiba smiled wanly. "You've persuaded me." He dropped the briefcase by the door.
They slipped like cats into the bedroom, snapping the door closed behind them. The hairs on the back of Joey's neck were standing on end as he eyed Kaiba, who stood in the light from the lamp, his hair obscuring his eyes in an impassable barrier. Joey lingered with a nervous hand on the door.
"I am sorry I hurt you," he said, his voice low. They looked at each other, and the butterflies began to twist and dance in Joey's stomach.
"As am I," came the reply. "I applied more force behind the kick than I meant to." His eyes were soft but they had a wild quality to them. Joey stepped away from the door and approached his companion.
"It's just a rib," he said, almost in a whisper, feeling a smile playing on his lips. He drew ever closer until he could feel Kaiba's breath on the bridge of his nose. "I got more."
Kaiba lifted a hand to Joey's chest and slowly ran it down, counting them. "You do," he breathed, making Joey's lashes flicker. He bent lower slowly, hesitating a fraction of an inch before their lips met. Joey's breath hitched.
"Fuck's sake, Kai-" he began but was cut off as Kaiba kissed him.
It was different to the previous night, which had been curious, explorative, dulled by the smog of alcohol. This was fast and loose and hot. A burst of need and animal connection and this time Joey was wide awake for every second.
Kaiba's tongue was hot in his mouth, his fingers running firm trenches in his hair. He tasted peppery, like the beef dish. It was sharp to Joey's tongue but he grew used to it. Kaiba smelled of a sweet cologne, and underneath, a musky odour that filled Joey's nose and drove him near crazy. He felt his hands dragging Kaiba's shirt away from his body and up, up over his head. That scent was all over his chest, stronger now his shirt was off, and Joey pressed himself into it willingly.
He felt Kaiba walking him backwards, still kissing him deeply. He felt his calves hit the edge of the bed and he stopped, putting a hand on Kaiba's shoulder. They gazed at each other, both a little breathless.
"Let's do this properly," Joey said, his voice hoarse. "I want you."
Kaiba felt his lower stomach twist at the words.
"Fine," he said. "Where are they?"
Joey pointed to the open wardrobe. "In there."
Whilst Kaiba went digging, Joey undressed, shucking his t-shirt and dumping it on top of Kaiba's on the floor. He was down to just his underwear when Kaiba returned and his excitement was only too obvious.
Kaiba pressed the condom into Joey's hand and began to kiss him again, cupping his face with both hands, stroking the unkempt stubble on his chin, his fingers so hot that it felt like fire. Then he felt Kaiba's hands on his shoulders and he was pushed down with a little bounce onto the mattress. Before him, Kaiba tossed the lube onto the bed and split open his fly. His tight trousers hit the floor, which he stepped out of without so much as a glance down.
Joey had not even realised he was leaning back with his hand down his boxers until Kaiba ripped it out as he clambered on top. He laughed at the intensity of Kaiba's kisses on his neck, all tongue and teeth. He bit at Kaiba's ear, and felt him shiver. He hardly knew he was being shifted up the mattress, but he sure as hell felt it when Kaiba put a slick hand into his boxers and slipped a cold, wet finger inside him.
Joey shuddered hard, his body convulsing. It felt so foreign and intrusive as it wriggled around inside him, curling into his walls, easing him open. It felt thick, like too much toffee on his tongue, and he closed his eyes tight in an effort not to give himself away.
"Joey?"
It was the first time Joey could remember Kaiba ever using his first name. His eyes snapped open and Kaiba swam into focus above him, blurry around the edges, sweat glistening on his bare shoulders.
"Is it too much?" Kaiba's voice was thick with his weighted breaths. His finger had stopped moving and he was watching Joey with careful, lidded eyes. Joey felt a prodding against his leg. He glanced down and almost blanched. Kaiba was so hard.
"No," Joey breathed, finding his voice in the sea of sensations. "No, keep going."
Without a word, Kaiba resumed that all-consuming probing. This time Joey forced himself to keep his eyes open, grimacing at the strangeness, but locking his gaze with Kaiba which never changed from its steadfast focus. He was like a statue of a man with a heartbeat and gait. But Joey could see the light sheen of sweat on his brow, the way his cold, blue eyes could look when they were heated up by the sordid inferno of sex.
Right now they were dark as lagoons. Who did Kaiba think he was fooling?
Kaiba had been steadily enforcing more fingers, coercing a reluctant body into relaxing, stroking Joey with one hand and widening him with the other. Joey's breathing hitched and he gasped hard when all Kaiba's fingers suddenly withdrew, and the cold crackle of the condom wrapper could be heard being ripped asunder. Kaiba sat back and Joey counted the seconds, rubbing himself so vigorously he might chafe.
Then Kaiba was above him once more, one hand bracing himself beside Joey's head, the other working below. Then, steadily, Joey felt himself be filled.
He tensed hard, finding purchase on Kaiba's slick shoulders. Kaiba whispered to him to relax in a hot breath by his ear. It was softer then he had expected, but it hurt and he was seized with an overwhelming desire to push out, but he mustn't. He must bare it. He can bare it. He has always been good at enduring.
He gritted his teeth and pulled Kaiba down until their lips met. Kaiba was already lost. He kissed Joey with sloppy distraction, the easing-in requiring all of his attention. Then he finally stopped, catching Joey's eye with a look of contented accomplishment. Joey allowed himself one long second to breathe.
Then Kaiba pulled back, and it was intense relief, but then Joey was filled again and quicker this time. He gasped weakly, snapping his head back, searching for purchase on the wall with his hands. It shocked him how cold it was on his hot hands. Above him, Kaiba was quickening, his breath coming out in short bursts like canon fire as he rocked forward. Joey could feel his body loosening. He wriggled into a more comfortable position and felt Kaiba adjust. Then he was thrusting hard and Joey heard a voice moan Kaiba's name from far away and he realised it was his own.
This was apparently too much for Kaiba. He lunged down like a hawk with an animalistic surge, and engulfed Joey's mouth as his thrusting took on a life of its own. Joey cried out, this time in exhilaration, as the feeling of Kaiba pounding into him took over everything he perceived.
"F-fuck."
The word had spluttered out of Kaiba's mouth, drowning Joey in coils of euphoria. He gripped the back of Kaiba's hair with both hands, desperate for a handle. His orgasm was building fast and Kaiba was showing no signs of slowing, his head deep in Joey's neck, biting at whatever salty skin he could find. Somewhere far away he could hear the bed smashing against the wall. Harder and faster still, Joey found that his nails could only dig so deep into Kaiba's marble skin.
Then it came, hard as a wave, rocking his body like a vessel and punching a guttural moan from his belly to his throat. Inside him, he could feel Kaiba pulsing, and his voice was tangled up in Joey's ragged gasps. Joey could pick his name out of the sounds, like notes of an old song.
Then all was still. Their breathing gradually returned to normal, and the black in Joey's vision began to ebb. Once more, it all cleared away for him to find Kaiba above him, panting softly, his eyes hazy. Joey wondered if he knew there was a lopsided smile on his lips.
Kaiba's arms began to tremble, so he lowered himself down, disconnecting slowly. Joey hissed as it all came out, reaching out a hand to rearrange himself and accidentally coating his fingers in lube.
"Bathroom?" offered Kaiba, breathlessly, tossing the used condom in the bin.
"I'll owe you one," said Joey. Kaiba did that snort-laugh and pulled his boxers on before he left the room.
Joey had to lie there on his back alone, his body aching from the exertion but feeling liberated. Kaiba's face kept swimming into his vision, that hazy, lust-filled countenance blooming behind his eyes. A heavy feeling settled deep within that he knew would be hard to shake; it rested in his very bones. He sighed, looking for something to distract himself. His eyes fell on his old Duel Disk, resting alone on a shelf.
He traced it with his eyes. He could remember every rivet, every strap, and how it felt on his arm: heavy and reassuring. He thought about his fight with Kaiba in the living room, the cards scattering across the floor. He thought about how good it had felt when he had come with Kaiba deep inside him.
That night, curled up against Kaiba's warm body, Joey thought about many things.
Song: Mend (To Fix, To Repair) by Elsaine
