Black out

Chapter 6

Joey had finished his dinner much sooner than Seto had and now sat there silently waiting for him to be done and thought about going home already-he had no idea how to say it though. He only wanted to go because it felt awkward to just sit here with the great romantic background and knowing that Seto must have gone through some trouble and thought to get it organized this way, and in return he had nothing to say to him. They didn't have anything in common, at least nothing he could think of.

Unfortunately for Joey, Seto didn't give him a chance to leave. Once he had finished his dinner in silence Seto asked, "Would you like to watch a movie with me? You get to pick the movie."

"What movies do ya have?" Joey asked curiously.

"Every one imaginable of course," Seto answered with a smug smile.

"Why did I even ask?" Joey mumbled and thought about it for a moment before he grinned and chose a movie that was still brand new and just out in the cinema.

"No problem," Seto answered. "I managed to get it already of course."

"Why am I not surprised?" Joey grumbled. He really had wanted to make fun of Seto for not having every movie after boosting so much. But it looked like there was no point in trying that.

"Because I'm good, and you know it," Seto answered.

Joey rolled his eyes but allowed Seto to move an arm around his waist and lead him to a room with a big screen on one side of it and a comfy looking couch, not too close but not far either. In front of it was a little table with popcorn, tacos, dips, and different drinks on it. It obviously had been planned this way. Seto lead Joey to the couch before he walked to the huge home cinema system where he only had to find the right file with the touch screen. Joey started to eat some popcorn and tacos and felt Seto's arm around him a little later while he watched the movie quietly. The silence was less awkward now that they had the sound of the movie and it was only expected to be less chatty while watching a good movie, but after a moment Joey looked over to Seto and noticed that he wasn't really watching the movie at all. He read a book and Joey said, "You're going to ruin your eyes when reading with such bad lighting."

Seto looked up at him with a smile and answered, "Don't worry about my eyesight. This way we can at least be together and you enjoy your time."

"What are ya reading anyway?" Joey asked with a little blush.

"Don't you want to hear the movie?" Seto asked, raising one eyebrow in surprise.

"Do I get on your nerves with my questions?" Joey asked in return with a grin on his face.

"Not at all. I'm just worried that you'll complain about me distracting you from the movie later," Seto informed him.

"Ya couldn't distract me if ya wanted to," Joey replied and saw Seto's eyes look lustful for a moment. He already regretted that statement since Seto might get tempted to prove him wrong by making out with him. Joey knew that he had to distract Seto from that fast and asked, "So what book is it?"

"Alyssa's Ring," Seto answered. "You probably don't know anything about it."

"Oh I do. I've already read it and I love it, even though I prefer the second one from the guardian cycle. I just loved The Jasper Forest because I love Ysatel. It's just a pity that she didn't get a bigger role in the story, but at least she reappeared in Alyssa's Ring for a little in the end."

"You read?" Seto asked, surprised. The book hadn't been made into a movie so Joey couldn't know it from that.

"Sure, but none of my friends do so I never talk about it that much."

"What is your favorite book?" Seto asked curiously.

"Well the guardian cycle is already one of my favorite series of books, but I also like The Sevenwaters Trilogy and the Symphony of Ages."

"I fear I don't know the second one yet. I do know the last one, but find the Symphony of Ages a little girly."

"Maybe because it's a lot from Rhapsody's point of view, but I love Grunthor," Joey informed him. "He's the main reason I read the whole lot."

"I prefer Achmed," Seto informed him, "and I find it a pity that Rhapsody prefers Ashe over him, but it doesn't surprise me at all. She acts foolishly all the time so it was predictable that she would choose the wrong one."

"He's cool," Joey admitted, "But Jo rocks even more. Too bad that she died."

"I rather think that she was useless and bothersome, and Rhapsody was foolish to ever let her get so close to them. She should just have left the girl behind. To be honest I don't even get why Elizabeth Hayden put that character in it. Sure she played a vital role, but with a few minor modifications it would have been possible to create the storyline without Jo," Seto pointed out.

Joey watched him for a moment and then laughed. "Now I know why ya like Achmed so much-he's rational. You're exactly the same as he is."

Seto looked at Joey for a moment and then added, "But there is one big difference. I've got good looks too."

Joey laughed, "Yeah and ya got a bigger ego to go with it."

They talked about the books a little longer and the movie was soon all but forgotten. Seto was surprised that Joey liked reading and loved it that they had something in common. Seto found out that Joey only read fantasy books and a few others, but he didn't like autobiographies while Seto loved all kind of books and owned a wide range of books. He had a huge library and not even a quarter of the books related to his business at all. After a while Seto showed said library to Joey, who looked at the books and even wanted to borrow some of them-which Seto happily allowed him to do. After all, Joey would have to come over and return them at some point.

Joey on the other hand couldn't believe that he actually had something in common with Seto. He had a lot of books that Joey had read too, and he liked most of Joey's favorite ones. He even wanted to buy The Sevenwaters Trilogy and Joey hoped that he would let him borrow the newer ones after he's done with them. But even more surprising was the fact that Joey actually had enjoyed talking to Seto about those books. It had been a comfortable and nice chat and Joey felt completely at ease the whole time.

After settling down in a comfortable corner of the library and talking some more about the books it didn't take long until Seto noticed that it sometimes took awhile for Joey to answer and he saw the amber eyes closing at times just before they suddenly opened again for a moment, and Joey would finally speak a sentence or two again. It didn't take long until the eyes stayed close and a quiet snore came from the blonde's mouth. Seto watched his sleeping face for a moment and wondered if he should wake him and drive him home seeing that Joey had made it clear that he wanted to take it slow, but then again Seto hadn't forced him to stay the night.

Seto carefully picked Joey up and carried him up to a spare room next to his own. He wanted to at least show Joey that he could accept his choice if he felt like it. Seto put Joey down on a big bed and carefully removed his shoes to make sure that he would have it a little more comfortable. He also snuck Joey's mobile out, certain that Mai would call him eventually considering that Seto had ended a phone call between them earlier in the evening and Seto didn't want to risk her waking Joey and talking him into going home in the middle of the night. After that Seto pulled the covers over Joey and went into his own room where he got ready for bed himself. Knowing Joey there would be little risk of him waking up without a cause, and if he did wake up and try to leave Seto's alarm would alert him to it.

It was nearly 2 in the morning when Seto heard Joey's phone ring. He picked it up, certain that Mai would call over and over again until someone picked up. "Hello Mai," Seto answered, grinning smugly and feeling wide-awake even though he had already been asleep.

"Kaiba?" She asked, surprised. "Is Joey still with you? And why are you answering his phone?"

"Joey fell asleep, and I would like to ask you not to wake him by phoning him again in the middle of the night," Seto requested.

"I doubt that it's any of your business when I call my pal," Mai pointed out, slightly annoyed.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to him though. He's asleep," Seto reminded her.

"How come he's still with you?" she asked.

"I told you," Seto answered, sounding annoyed, "he fell asleep."

"So you just cuddled up with him or what?" Mai asked, clearly angry. "You better be careful what you do with my Joey. You already pushed your limits way too much."

"It's up to him to decide that," Seto pointed out. "But no, I'm not cuddled up to him tonight. I am capable of controlling myself. He's in his own bed in the room next to mine."

"I hope you really brought him into a guest room because if you keep messing with him I'm going to kick your ass the next time I'm over," Mai warned.

"I doubt that you'll be capable to even touch me," Seto replied calmly. "Which is quit useful considering that he isn't in a guest room. But before you worry again, he isn't in mine either. He is in his room, which is next to mine, like I said."

"Since when does he have a room at your place?" Mai asked.

"Since I'm prepared for Plan B," Seto answered with a grin.

"And what would that be?" she asked worriedly.

"That is none of your business," Seto replied. "And since I still might need to use that if he doesn't get used to me while dating me, I won't tell you. After all I can't have you warning him."

"If you hurt my best friend," Mai threatened, "I'm going to make your life a living hell."

"I doubt that you can do that," Seto mused, "because there is only one thing that could turn my life into a living hell."

"And what would that be?" Mai asked.

"Considering that I don't fear you being able to do anything against me anyway, I'll tell you," Seto replied. "The only thing that could turn my life into a living hell would be to keep Joey away from me, which is why I won't let him get away. I made him consider me as a partner even though a few weeks ago he would have laughed at anyone who even considered that possibility. I made him marry me and stay the night out of his own free will. And I will make him fall in love with me so much that he can't live without me anymore."

"What if you can't?" Mai asked, suddenly much more worried about Joey then she had been before.

"That won't happen," Seto answered, sounding very sure of himself. "I never lose." And before Mai can say another word to the calculated man, he ended the call.

Mai looked at the phone and just hoped that Joey would be all right. Seto sounded much more determined and calculated than she had thought possible and Joey might be easily manipulated considering that he had feelings for him.

After ending the call Seto stared at the phone. It felt a little like the previous day was just a dream. "I'm being ridicules," he thought. "Of course it wasn't a dream. Of course I could get a brainless mutt to stay the night, and I'm even holding his phone to prove it."But no matter how convincing his own thoughts were, he couldn't shake the feeling that Joey couldn't possibly be sleeping in the room right next to his. Maybe because Joey wasn't really brainless. On the contrary, he might even be smarter in some areas.

Seto knew that Joey could never keep up with him in school or business, but Seto feared that he couldn't keep up with Joey on the streets in the long run. For a while he could fake it but he wasn't nearly as strong as everyone believed. If he had to live the life Joey had without a loving and caring sibling around and just a father who was a drunk that at times hardly recognised his own son, Seto would probably have killed himself.

The only reason that he had been able to go through the whole situation at the orphanage and later to live with Gozaburo and the constant pressure he had at work, was his little brother. Seto had wanted to die on more then one occasion and only the fact that Mokuba needed him and believed in him had kept him alive. It had forced Seto to stay strong and to not even show his weakness to anyone. Seto had learned to hide his insecurities and his emotional problems behind a mask, one that was hiding nearly all his emotions, and by now Seto was so used to it that hardly anyone could just read his emotions even when Seto didn't want to hide them.

But Joey had been through a lot too. A drunken father, a mother who had chosen to leave him, a sister he hardly ever saw and was loosing her eyesight. And like that hadn't been enough, he had been on the streets so often that he got in touch with the wrong kind of friends and been dragged into a gang by them. But Joey had somehow found the strength to leave said gang and turn his life around. He had a bit of help from his friends, that much was clear, but he still had to fight for it himself too. Seto wasn't sure if he could have done the same and still be as happy go lucky as Joey, or rather he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to do that, at least not without Mokuba for support, and not without turning as cold as he had through the troubles in his own past.

Seto thought about this all while trying to convince himself that nothing in the world could stop him from winning Joey's heart. But the fear that Joey himself might stop him, forced Seto to his feet. He had to see the blond, at least for a moment, and if just to convince himself further that he had already succeeded in getting Joey to sleep in the bed he had gotten just for him.

Seto walked over to the room where Joey lay on dark satin bed sheets covered with equally dark satin covers under a canopy with black satin, which looked like the wings of four dragons flying upwards at each corner of the bed and reaching nearly all the way to the ceiling which was colored like the walls to make the room look like the sky during sunset. The shapes of black dragons flying across the sky where printed along the walls, while the carped looked like the sand on a clean and sunny beach. It was probably a little too much black, but Seto hoped that Joey loved it anyway even though he wasn't quite as over the top into his dragon as Seto was with his Blue Eyes.

Seto walked closer, noticing that the covers where mostly down and Joey's back was exposed all the way to just above his hot ass. Seto slowly reached out with his hands until his fingers touched the little tattoo on Joey's naked skin. He smiled at the soft feeling of Joey's skin under his fingers and was happy that nothing had triggered his security system to go off, yet Joey was undressed. He must have been awake at some point, but instead of trying to make a run for it, he had chosen to stay.

"Please Joey…don't ever leave me alone," Seto whispered longingly and was glad that no one was there to hear how insecure he sounded in that moment.

What Seto didn't know was that those whispered words caused Joey's heart to beat overtime while he stayed motionless on the bed he was on until he heard Seto leave the room and close the door behind him. Joey sat up in bad and stared at the closed door, "I never thought that even the great Kaiba could sound insecure at times."And after noticing the insecurity in Seto's voice, Joey couldn't help but wonder what else he was hiding behind his always present, emotionless mask.

Authors Note: LovelyRose5001, Sezthekitty, lolcari, Sasu-Sama' Sarukiji-Sempai and CuteDogs for the reviews.

Next chapter you'll see what happens the next morning when a very confused little puppy get's a lift to work from his dragon just to run into Tristan right after Seto left but still with a dark blush in the poor pups face. I give you a hint, Tristan want's to have some answers.