Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If there was one thing Kaiba was horrible at, it was emotionally connecting with another human being. Sure, when Mokuba was little and a bully picked on him, Kaiba was quick to use his fists to defend his baby brother. Once he had taken over Kaiba Corp, the bullies became bigger and more intimidating, but Kaiba just used his money to crush them. As Mokuba got older and his pains became more self-inflicted, Kaiba would ignore them or allow one of the geek squad take care of the emotional part while he used his money and influence. This was a surprising yet very useful benefit of being forced to have friends. The other, of course, was a certain blond male who was currently curled up on his side facing the window, pretending to sleep but just pouting.

Dealing with Joey was where Kaiba’s emotional maturity came into play- the blond was a mess of emotions from scars left over from his childhood. So was Kaiba, but while the brunet would internalize everything, the blond let his feelings known. The last time Joey had been this upset, the blond had left and slept on the couch for a week. Not to be outdone, Kaiba had slept in his office, only coming back home when his brother had marched in, dragged him out by the ear, and forced him to speak to Joey.

Since he never really understood what had caused the fight in the first place, there wasn’t much he could say, and Joey wasn’t talking either. Finally, Mokuba waltzed back in with a bag of Chinese food, and they settled down in their usual spots-Joey just a little further over on the couch than normal, and Mokuba sprawled out on the floor with a couple of pillows.

Both had fallen asleep before the movie had ended, so Kaiba silently walked up to bed after making sure they both had blankets. The next morning, Joey had been in bed when he woke up, sprawled out with drool coming out of his mouth.

The fight was never resolved, but Joey started acting normal, and Kaiba let it go, figuring that Joey had worked out what was wrong in his head. Now, Joey was upset again, and even though he stated he wasn’t mad at Kaiba, there was still concern. Kaiba didn’t know how to comfort him, so instead he gently leaned over, kissing the blond on the shoulder before laying on his back, staring at the ceiling before drifting off to sleep.

Joey was still depressed the next morning. Because nothing in the CEO’s life was simple, this emotional crisis of his boyfriend’s had to happen when he had a day full of meetings to finalize projects. If this was a few years ago, the old Kaiba would have walked right out the door, rolling his eyes at the dramatic blond as he left, perhaps muttering a choice word or two at him.

The years had softened him some, and Kaiba was left with a conundrum, not sure of what to do. Joey silently placed a plate in front of him, setting one down for Mokuba before sitting down himself. Breakfast was silent, with Mokuba and Kaiba glancing at each other while Joey stared at his plate, jabbing violently at his eggs. One of the maids entered, escorting in Yugi, Yami, and Ryou.

“Oh, sorry.” Yugi said, blushing a little when he realized that he was interrupting breakfast.

“Hey Yugi.” Mokuba said, waving at the group before glancing at his brother. Kaiba was looking at Joey, noting how the blond pretended to perk up when his friends came in.

“Hey Kaiba.” Yugi said, smiling at both brothers. “We can wait outside for you guys.” Yugi said, turning to pull the other two out of the room.

Kaiba watched as Joey’s shoulders slumped back down and turned to address the maid. “Will you offer our guests something to drink and see if they’re hungry?” All the heads in the room except for Joey whipped around to stare at the CEO. He was notoriously cranky in the morning, hating for his routine to be interrupted for anyone.

“We don’t want to impose….” Ryou said softly, still hesitating. Kaiba glared at them, leading to everyone sitting quietly as coffee, tea, and a pile of fruit was brought out of the kitchen. The three guests served themselves, glancing over at Kaiba in appreciation.

“Why are you here?” The brunet inquired, to which Mokuba quickly scolded him.

“We’re going to check out that new theme park up near Tokyo Seto.” The brunet blinked, obviously not remembering being told this.

“Why would you want to go to an inferior park when you can go to Kaiba Land for free?” He asked, not noticing how Joey stiffened again.

“We want to do something different Seto. You know, expand our horizons a little.” Mokuba told him, smiling.

“I for one look forward to checking out someplace new.” Yami stated, watching as his rival rolled his eyes. Kaiba pulled out his wallet, pulling out a card and handing it over to Mokuba silently.

“Put the tickets on that. Consider it research for improvements at Kaiba Land.” Mokuba accepted the card, getting ready to place it in his own wallet when Joey slammed his fist on the table, get up abruptly and leaving the room in silence behind him. Mokuba dropped the card like it was on fire, looking over at his brother gesturing with his eyes that the brunet needed to follow his boyfriend. Kaiba stood up slowly, annoyed and marched off after the blond. His phone beeped halfway up the stairs, and he looked down, seeing a message from his brother. ‘Listen.’ Kaiba sighed, remembering the days when he didn’t have to worry about people’s feelings. The bedroom door was open slightly, and Kaiba poked his head in, watching as Joey threw a bunch of clothes on the bed looking for something.

“Need some help?”

“Just looking for my jacket.” Joey muttered, tossing something else on the bed.

“Which one?”

“My green one. From Duelist Kingdom.”

“You packed that away because it doesn’t fit you anymore, remember?” Kaiba said, arching an eyebrow at him. Joey had shot up the last year of school, hitting almost 6’5” by the time he was 20. Not having money to buy a new wardrobe, he had continued to wear a lot of his clothes from high school with his friends ‘accidently’ buying things that didn’t fit to give to him. When they first started hooking up, Kaiba had cared less what the blond wore, but as they got into a rhythm, Kaiba would take him shopping, causing multiple fights when he tried to force the blond to buy designer brands.

“Well, I don’t want to wear any of this-“Joey pointed to the pile of clothes on the bed “anymore. It’s not like I’ve earned it anyway.”

Kaiba looked at the pile and shrugged. “You’re the only person in this household who wears jeans and t-shirts, if you don’t wear it then it will just go to waste.” He said, completely ignoring Mokuba’s advice and trying to reason with his upset boyfriend.

Joey opened his mouth, then shut it. Grabbing a shirt and a pair of jeans, he marched into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him. Kaiba sighed, an idea starting to form in his head about what was bothering the blond. There were people in the world who did not like the orphaned CEO of Kaiba Corp and sought to tear him down, going after people they perceived close to him. Recently, it had been comments made about Joey being a gold-digger, bringing up his past and his family to state why he wasn’t good enough for anyone, let alone Seto Kaiba. Didn’t matter that he was a famous duelist in his own right, or that he was best friends with the reigning King of Games.

Joey emerged then, barely looking at Kaiba before leaving the room. Kaiba stayed where he was, knowing from years of experience that speaking to Joey was only going to make things worse, and he really didn’t need a huge fight right now. Instead, he texted Mokuba back, instructing his brother to call if anything happened and have fun before disappearing into his office, not emerging until he was sure the coast was clear, annoyed at himself for hiding.

x

“How much did you guys spend?” Kaiba asked, eyeing the pile of stuffed toys laying on the couch.

“Well we had to try all the games…” Mokuba said sheepishly, smiling at his brother.

“No, you didn’t.” Kaiba told him sternly, looking towards Joey. Usually, the blond was extremely cautious about how much money he spent, even though Kaiba could care about it.

“I think we should add some carnival games to Kaiba Land Seto. Maybe we could give them a cool Egyptian theme...” Mokuba said thoughtfully, looking over at the pile on the couch. Yami had been a natural at the games, and Bakura (who had been waiting in the car since he refused to spend time with ‘the stupid priest’) was almost as good.

Joey had won a few as well, but he had seemed distracted during most of his turns. They had also bought some ride photos and a few other knick knacks which would just end up taking up space upstairs somewhere. Kaiba was silently adding up totals in his head when Mokuba started mentioning the food they had consumed.

“So basically, you ate nothing but sugar all day long.” Kaiba stated dryly, raising an eyebrow at his little brother.

“Well, yeah, I mean…” Mokuba trailed off, shrugging. Kaiba sighed internally, shaking his head. Now that Mokuba was 18, he was old enough to make his old decisions, and clearly he did not care if he followed his brother’s example of eating relatively healthy. Kaiba looked over towards Joey, surprised that the blond had disappeared while he was speaking to Mokuba who looked over as well.

“He acted weird all day.” Mokuba whispered, touching his brother’s arm.

“Yugi didn’t want to use your card to pay, but Joey told him he was fine.” Kaiba shrugged, taking the card back from his brother, sticking it firmly back into his wallet.

X

Joey remained quiet for the next few weeks, only perking up when his friends would show up and deflating as soon as they left. The brunet tried to talk to him several times but was quickly brushed off and told not to worry, which of course had the opposite effect on him.

The only thing they seemed to really connect with was sex, which had been rapidly increasing, whether it was Joey sending him pictures, sexting, or showing up at work and locking the door before convincing Kaiba to take a break. Attempted to talk to Joey either before or after would only shut him off again so Kaiba tried to let him go, hoping the blond would eventually tell him what was wrong.

It wasn’t until several months into this new routine when Joey started to relax a little, smiling more around Kaiba and seeking his company for more than just sex. The tabloids had stopped as well, onto the next big story. Kaiba had assumed everything was better until Roland walked in one day, shutting the door behind him and sitting down on a chair.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. “I’ve been going through the credit card statements.” Roland said, pulling out several pieces of paper. Roland usually glanced at the statements for the three of them quickly, making sure there were no weird charges on any of them.

“Joey spent $6,000 last month, and this month he hit almost $8,000. Two months ago he spent over $1000 in about two weeks.” He said, tapping on the papers. Kaiba took them, looking over the data. Joey had got shopping at several higher end boutiques, buying new clothes for himself. He also bought a new laptop, cell phone, and watch, all on separate dates. Kaiba kept looking, comparing the dates on his own calendar, wondering if Joey had mentioned needing things that he had forgotten about.

He quickly realized the pattern of Joey spending money then coming to him offering sex. Something was up. Joey usually had to be forced to accept money from Kaiba and blowing so much on things he didn’t need was not like the blond.

“I’ll talk to him.” Kaiba sighed, holding his hand out for the statements. Roland hesitated before handing the papers over.

“Be gentle with him. Joey wouldn’t spend money without a reason.” Roland reminded his boss, bowing to Kaiba before leaving the room.

X

Later than night, the brunet went home, nodding to his brother before going upstairs to find his boyfriend.

“Joseph.” He said, looking at the man in front of him who was typing on his phone. Joey held up a finger still typing something on his phone.

“Yugi and Yami are going to Egypt next week, we have to check in on Gramps on Tuesday and Friday.” He finally said, putting the phone down. Kaiba nodded, kneeling on the bed, and staring at the blond.

After Roland had left, Kaiba had done some serious thinking and he realized that while the amount of sex between the two had been increasing rapidly the past few weeks, the quality had suffered a noticeable decrease. He hadn’t noticed it at first, Joey had been careful to make sure they both got off, but the affectionate way that Joey would act after sex before had almost disappeared entirely. Kaiba couldn’t put a finger on why, but he wanted to fix the problem before the damage became worse.

“What is going on?” He asked, diving headfirst into the conversation, causing Joey to stiffen.

“What are you talking about.” Joey said, still looking at his phone.

“Since when don’t you like sex?”

“What makes you think I don’t’ like having sex?” He asked.

“You don’t appear to be very enthused by it.” Kaiba told him, using his best condescending CEO voice. “I know somethings wrong, just tell me what it is.” Joey looked away, biting his lip. “If it’s about the money you’re spending, I don’t care. You haven’t been spending your limit to begin with, so if there’s things you want get them.” Kaiba said, watching as Joey’s face paled.

“I don’t need your money.” He snapped, folding his arms and glaring at the older man.

“Well, if that’s true I guess you’ll need some help paying of that credit card bill you racked up.” Kaiba said dryly. Noting the look in the blond’s eyes, he stared realizing he had said the wrong thing until Joey reached out and grabbed his phone.

“I’ve been getting messages on my social media pages.” He said quietly, showing it to Kaiba. The brunet scrolled through, reading the comments calling his lover a gold-digging slut who whored himself out for a piece of the Kaiba money. There were vulgar comments on what Joey let Kaiba do to him, some of them things that Kaiba weren’t even sure were physically possible.

“How long has this been going on?” Kaiba asked, looking over at Joey with narrowed eyes.

“Ever since we moved in together.” Joey admitted, looking out the window.

“Joseph. That was months ago. You mean to tell me people have been sending you nasty messages all this time and you never said anything?”

“It’s just people being stupid. I didn’t let it get to me before, but it’s gotten worse lately and it’s just….” Joey trailed off, not sure of what to say.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Joey shrugged, still avoided Kaiba’s eyes.

“I tried to several times, but you were always too busy or I wasn’t sure how to say anything so I let it go.” Kaiba glared down at his boyfriend, not sure of what to do. Sure, he had suspected what was going on from what he had gleamed from the tabloids, but he had no clue people were coming after Joey like this.

“Well, if that is how they feel about us…” Kaiba said, climbing over Joey and digging around in his end table for a second before pulling something out. He handed it over to Joey, who stared at it in surprise. Nestled in the blond’s hand were two wedding rings, clearly custom designed, one black with red flames, the other white with blue.

“What the…”

“I was going to wait until you’ve been here a year, but since people can’t mind their own business. Let’s make it official, get married, adopt some kids, and ignore all those idiots.” Kaiba promised, burying his left hand in Joey’s hair, kissing him gently. No response, and Joey pulled away after a moment, slowly get out of bed and walking out the door. Kaiba leaned back against the pillows waiting to chase after the blond and force him to answer, but he knew that would make it worse. Palming the rings in his hand, he looked down at them, lost in thought. Suddenly, something dropped in his lap, and he looked up, looking at the pile of gift cards in front of him.

“They wouldn’t let me credit your account.” Joey said stiffly, looking at Kaiba before leaving again.

X

“You proposed?” He questioned softly, looking over at his rival with a slight smirk on his face.

“What about it?” Kaiba snapped, crossing his arms, ready to kick the former pharaoh out of his office.

“I think it’s adorable.” Yami purred, while Bakura giggled next to him. Kaiba focused his gaze on the white-haired former spirit, wondered why he hadn’t killed the man yet.

“Who would have thought that the great CEO of Kaiba Corp would be the first of us to settle down.” Bakura continued, matching Yami’s grin with a slightly evil one of his own.

“Get out.” Kaiba snarled, slamming on the desk.

“So, when’s the big day?” Yami asked leaning back in his own chair.

“There is no big day. He just walked out of the room and hasn’t talked to me since.” Kaiba stated, watching as Yami and Bakura exchanged a look.

“Now if you two don’t mind, I’m tired of talking about this. You know the way out.” Again, the two former spirits exchanged a look, Bakura muttering something under his breath which Yami replied to.

“You’re both whipped.” Kaiba said flatly, raising a brow.

“Well, if you could have Ryou wiggling underneath you twice a week you’d be whipped too.” Bakura said, not even jumping when Yami punched him in the arm. Kaiba fixed his blue eyes on the former spirit, lost in thought.

“How did you do it?” He asked, causing Bakura to stop threatening to punch Yami.

“What?”

“Get Ryou to look past everything you two had been through and date you. I mean, I understand Yami and Yugi, but I don’t quite get the two of you.” Bakura smiled, settling back down on his chair.

“Well, it’s simple. One night when Ryou came home from work, I pulled him in my lap and showed him what he could have if he dated me.” Bakura gestured to his crotch, thrusting up and down a few times for good measure. Kaiba made a face while Yami punched the white-haired male again.

“That’s funny, Ryou tells an entirely different story.” Yami teased, watching as Bakura’s face turned red. “Something about you on your hands and knees begging for a chance, telling him you loved him and offering him ‘the riches of Egypt’ if he would be with you?” Bakura sunk down in his chair, glaring at the other two while they both smirked at him.

“He doesn’t want to be with me anymore.” Kaiba stated off-handily, looking back at his screen. “Too many people have told him too many things about me, and he’s starting to believe them.”

“I think he knew what he was getting himself into.” Bakura stated dryly, muttering something under his breath that got him a slap from Yami.

“I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. He told Yugi about it, so clearly he assumes you two are.” Yami reassured his former priest, elbowing Bakura in the side when the white-haired male laughed again. “You can go wait in the car if you’re going to cause trouble.” Yami hissed at him, and Bakura stopped, still smiling but keeping quiet.

“Why are you two even here?” Kaiba stated, watching with unease as both spirits grinned at him.

“We are in charge of your bachelor party. I’m thinking strip club first, then we take your helicopter over to Pegasus’s and let him know you are officially off the market.” Bakura said, ducking away when Yami tried to smack him again.

X

It didn’t take a genius to know that the two of them were on the rocks. Joey could barely be in the same room as his boyfriend, staying quiet as a church mouse whenever he couldn’t get away quickly. Kaiba alternated between trying to talk to the blond, ignoring him, trying to speak to him through Mokuba, and feeling like he should just give up.

Joey hadn’t come back to their bedroom since their fight and had moved some of his stuff out as well so he didn’t have to run into Kaiba getting dressed and changed. The only time the two of them were alone was when they drove over to Yugi’s to check in with Grandpa, who was busy working on the remodel.

A heart attack several years ago had done little to slow the old man down, even though he had cut back on how many trips he made to help with digs around the world, allowing Kaiba to set up a computer with a web cam so he could still participate while staying in Domino. While things between the two were still a little shaky, Kaiba had put in quite a bit of effort to prove to the older man that he was at least slightly more mature than the CEO who had almost killed him all those years ago. They even played a few games of Duel Monsters, splitting evenly down middle in winning, which Kaiba tried hard not to show his annoyance. His natural talent in beating people in games did not seem to extend to the Muto family, a burden he had learned to bury deep down and accept, another sign of how old he was getting.

When they checked in, Solomon was deep cleaning the closet, which Joey dragged him out of and took over while Kaiba allowed him to teach him the rules of some Ancient Egyptian game. It almost felt like a refresher, and Kaiba was once again surrounded by memories of his past life, ones that he had been trying desperately to forget about. He managed to win several games, his ego properly stroked enough that he challenged Joey to a game, gloating like his old self when he won again.

Yugi’s grandpa shook his head at both, knowing by now not to get in the way of their bickering. They continued through finishing cleaning out the closet, separating things into piles based on the older man’s directions. The light-heartedness lasted until they got in the car, where Joey slowly stopped talking and just stared out the window.

“Don’t forget we have that dinner tomorrow with the CEO of ZRO.” Kaiba reminded Joey, trying to start a conversation. Joey made a face.

“Is his wife coming? At least she has half a brain.” Joey asked, causing the brunet to chuckle.

“He said she couldn’t make it this time. Do you want me to cancel? We’re so close to closing that deal.” Kaiba reminded him.

“I just don’t like him. He’s just…” Joey stated, trailing off.

“I’ll cancel and let the lawyers know to hold off the paperwork then.” Kaiba announced.

“You shouldn’t push off something just because I suggested it. What would people think?” Joey asked him and Kaiba snorted.

“If I lived my life by what people think, I wouldn’t be half as successful as I am now. I trust you and your judgement. Kaiba Corp will be fine without his company.”

Joey grinned at him, the first real one he had made in weeks. “People are gonna say you’re thinking with the wrong head.”

“I’ll send them some naked pics of you. They’ll understand.” Joey laughed again at that, leaning back in his chair. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something crazy, and if I can’t trust you and your judgement, I wouldn’t be with you.” Joey nodded, turning his head to look back out the window.

X

That night, Kaiba was sitting up in his bed, tapping away on his laptop answering emails from his board about cancelling the meeting. There was a lot of threatening and posturing going on, but Kaiba knew the drama would end soon. He was in the middle of messaging back another member when there was a knock at his door.

“Come in.” He stated, figuring it was Mokuba. When Joey entered, he looked up in surprise. The blond hadn’t been in their room since the fight, and Kaiba had figured one day he would have to swallow his pride and begged him to come back. Joey looked like he had been asleep, his hair was a mess, his eyes red, and even his boxers seemed to be in disarray.

“I had a bad dream.” He announced, and Kaiba blinked.

“A bad dream?” Kaiba asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yea.” Joey shivered. Kaiba looked at him in confusion, placing his laptop on the table.

“Do you want to… talk about it?” He asked after a moment, not sure what was going on. Joey shook his head, shuffling over to the bed, climbing on top of the brunet, tucking himself under the taller male’s chin.

“I think you should call that CEO guy. I’m not smart enough to make those kinds of decisions for you, and I don’t want to cause you problems.” Joey muttered after a few minutes, still wrapped on top of Kaiba.

“No. You might not have the book smarts, but you have street smarts. If you think somethings off, I’m willing to make the guy sweat until we figure out what it is. Anyone who has a problem with that can go to hell.” Kaiba stated firmly, feeling Joey wrapping his arms around his and squeezing.

“You know, you’re pretty good at this emotional stuff when you want to be Seto Kaiba.” He stated, reaching up to run his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. Kaiba shut his eyes, enjoying the attention. Joey slid off him a moment later, propping himself up on one arm.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on before. It wasn’t fair for me to take things out on you.”

“I’m not usually the one who people go to when they need sympathy.” Kaiba shrugged, leaning back against the pillows.

“Yea well, I still should give you a chance.” Joey said, kissing Kaiba on the cheek. I'm still not ready to get engaged though.” He admitted, looking at Kaiba.

“That's fine.” Kaiba stated firmly, making Joey look at him. “I’m not getting married until you promise to keep Yami and Bakura away from any plans we make.” Joey threw his head back and laughed.

“That’s too bad. I heard they were planning quite the party.” He teased, brushing Kaiba’s hair out of his eyes before kissing him deeply.

Chapter Text

After their talk, things started to improve at home. After a discussion, they decided to table the talks of marriage for a while longer, Joey teasingly telling Kaiba it would give him time to get Yami and Bakura off their case. In the meantime, the blond decided the best way to get back at people on social media was overacting on his feelings for Kaiba, hanging all over him in public and grinning at people watching them. Kaiba didn’t care how Joey acted, enjoying the responses he got from people annoyed that he couldn’t ‘control’ the blond, making them both laugh.

Even though home was getting better, work was slowly going down the toilet. There had been a riot when the announcement came through that they were not going through with the merger, and the board had swiftly called for his removal. Luckily, it took more than a vote to get rid of him, and Kaiba managed to barely weather the storm. He still had to deal with the grumbling, and the muttered accusations that he was being seduced into ruining the company.

Things only got worse when word broke out that Pegasus was in negotiations with ZRO, there was another explosion. Kaiba knew that the other man was just stirring the waters, and he had no interest in the company, but it was impossible to explain to other’s his trust in the blond. The accusations only grew, and ended up online, leading to a barrage of nasty messages posted to Joey’s social media, causing the blond to finally get off altogether.

Kaiba was furious about the way Joey was being treated, but the blond had promised he was ok, kissing Kaiba when the brunet started to protest. That almost ended the fight, but Kaiba asked for reassurances that Joey would tell him if something happened, earning him another kiss.

Joey’s reassurances didn’t end the protests from his board members about their unhappiness in losing the merger. They hounded him day and night about signing the document, apparently not realizing that would just make him more defensive. He was answering what felt like the thousandth email about the merger when Mokuba came in, plopping down in a chair with a devilish grin on his face.

“I’m busy.” Kaiba told him briskly, tapping away on his email.

“You’re about to get busier.” Mokuba stated, the smile getting wider. “I’ve got a present for you.” He continued in a sing-song voice, handing Kaiba a piece of paper. He looked it over, not sure of what he was reading. “Are you sure?” He asked, looking up at his little brother. “Yup.” Kaiba stood up, grabbing his phone. “Call-“

“I already called the lawyers; they’re waiting for your signature to pounce.” Mokuba said, handing Kaiba a document. Kaiba quickly signed it, pushing it back to Mokuba. “Get that taken care of and call the board. I’ll be back soon.” He said, almost running out of his office while his brother just smiled.

X

Kaiba arrived at the mansion, kicking off his shoes quickly before calling out for Joey. Running up the stairs, he checked the bedroom first before going room to room, finally spotting Joey out by the pool, reading a book. Kaiba ran down the steps, flinging open the door and stepping out on the backporch. Joey looked up at him, confused. “What are you doing here?” Joey asked, looing at him.

“Looking for you.” Kaiba said, extending his hand to pull Joey up. “Well you found me. What’s up.” “You need to get dressed.” Kaiba said, pulling Joey into the house. “it’s my day off. Why do I need to get dressed?” Joey complained, following him up the stairs to their room. Kaiba ignored his whining, disappearing into their closet to pull out the one suit Joey had let him buy, grabbing a tie off the shelf before handing it to him. “Why do I have to wear a suit?” Joey complained, looking at the clothes in disgust.

“Just get dressed.” Kaiba commanded, pointing to the bathroom.

Joey groaned again, but disappeared, coming out less than 10 minutes later. Kaiba immediately pushed him down on the chair, going through Joey’s hair with his comb, making sure he got out all the tangles before looking over his boyfriend. “Why are you doing this?” Joey groaned.

“I have some big news for you, but before I tell you….” Kaiba said, taking a breath before getting down on one knee, pulling out the same ring he had attempted to give Joey before.

“What are you doing?” Joey asked, looking at the ring in annoyance. “I told you not to do that.”

“Just hear me out.” Kaiba said, taking Joey’s hand in his. “A few months ago, you convinced me to stop a deal that all of my board members had approved. I listened, because I trust you more than anyone except for Mokuba.” Kaiba paused, allowing a genuine small smile to grace his face. “Mokuba got a call today from a lawyer for his wife. She caught him with a hooker. Actually, she caught him with multiple hookers. She’s filing for divorce in the morning and has us a deal to buy out the company at a third of the original deal if we agree to keep all the employees on who wish to stay at their current salaries.”

Joey looked at him, not understanding what he was saying. “Your instincts were right Joey. If we had bought the company during the original deal, it could have cost us our reputation. He had negotiated it so he would have a softer landing when the truth came out, and all the smear would be on Kaiba Corp for signing a business deal with a creep and possible pedophile, if the information I have is correct.” Joey’s jaw dropped, not knowing what to say. “Hmm. Think this is the first time I’ve ever been able to shut you up.” Kaiba said, leaning down slightly to kiss him.

That seemed to break Joey out of his stupor, and he glared up at his boyfriend. “Shut up Kaiba.” He growled, and the brunet laughed, quickly straightening his back out to answer his phone, a smug grin on his face when the board member on the other end began apologizing profusely for misjudging him.

X

Two weeks later, on a Thursday afternoon, Kaiba was finishing up a press conference, Mokuba and Joey by his side. One of his board members was there as well, the only one who had admitted Kaiba had made the right choice when everyone was against not signing the deal. The wife had come out with the news right before the stock market opened that Monday after she had called Mokuba in the US, causing the company's stock to tank almost at once as people panicked over what this meant to the company.

Video of the CEO being led to a police car only fueled more speculation, while had spiraled out of control by that Friday, when the wife called her press conference, standing in front of the cameras while she announced her plan to take over the company, refusing to answer any questions of what she planned to do once she got her husband off the payroll.

The press speculated for over a week about her plans, until Kaiba was ready to make his own announcement, outlining his plan for absorbing the other company and making sure to rub it into people’s faces that they had ever doubted the brilliant CEO. Joey stood by his side throughout all of it, a strange smile on his face while he listened to his boyfriend brag about how Kaiba Corp was going to use this merger to increase the stock price and develop hundreds of new jobs. Finally, he brought out the new CEO of ZRO, shaking her hand as they signed the new contract in front of the cameras, Kaiba grinning like a banshee as they finish.

X

Joey sat listlessly in Kaiba’s office that night, looking out over the cityscape. Sometimes, he couldn’t believe that he was dating anyone, let alone the freaking CEO of a megacorporation, but he was surprisingly very happy with his life. Leaning back in his chair, he rubbed his temples, wondering what Kaiba wanted. His boyfriend had proposed to him again last night, causing a huge fight between the two of them, ending when Joey had threatened to break up with him if he brought the subject up again. Kaiba hadn’t been happy with his words, and Joey had ended up sleeping in the guest room, uncomfortable with sharing a bed with the other male. He didn’t want to be conned into marrying someone and he wasn’t quite sure why Kaiba kept trying. He closed his eyes, feeling how tight his shoulders were after his restless night’s sleep.

Hearing the door open Joey knew instinctively that Kaiba was coming in the room, walking over to his desk and sitting down, opening his laptop and typing away. “What are you doing?” Joey asked after a moment, cracking an eye open to look at him.

“Finishing reports. Our stock didn’t bump up as quickly as the board was hoping, so they’re a little concerned that investors don’t approve of the merger.”

Joey snorted at that, finally looking at him. “I’m concerned about that too.” Joey said, looking at the floor.

“Don’t be. We made up quite a bit of ground in the past few hours, and now they’re predicting an extra 9% jump for the price.” Kaiba looked extremely pleased with himself, tapping at his laptop.

“Really?” Joey asked, perking up. He hadn’t heard that, and couldn’t help but be pleased with what was going on.

“Yes.” Kaiba replied sternly, raising an eyebrow without looking at his boyfriend. “I thought you’d might want to read this.” He added after a few quiet moments, flipping his laptop around.

Joey stared at it, surprised. The article was about him, wondering how Kaiba had managed to find a business genius who had such a keen eye for people. It rehashed much of his major Duel Monster’s career in a very positive light, something he wasn’t used to hearing about himself. “This is about me?” Joey asked, looking up at him.”

“Yes. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to a retraction from a paper I’m afraid.” Kaiba told him.

“Retraction?” JOey asked.

“Yes, for that article they wrote about you before.” Kaiba said, a self-satisfied smirk crossing his face.

“I don’t need you fighting my battles for me Kaiba.” Joey warned, tapping his hand on the desk in irritation.

“Of course not, but I like doing this.” Kaiba admitted, taking back his laptop. There was nothing he liked more than to crush people who doubted him, and for a major paper to print an article groveling at his feet to apologize, Kaiba was in his glory. “Let me enjoy this.” Kaiba told him sternly, pulling out some papers.

“Whatever.” Joey muttered, crossing his arms.

“I’ve got something else for you.” Kaiba said, shaking them.

“What is this?” Joey muttered, rolling his eyes as Kaiba placed the papers in front of them. He started looking down at them, confused. “These are employment papers.” He said, looking up at Kaiba.

“Yes they are. Doreen wants to offer you a job.” Kaiba said triumphantly. “She said you have great taste and she wants you on her team.”

“I thought I couldn’t work for Kaiba Corp?” Joey asked, glaring at him again.

“You can’t. However, you’ll be working for ZRO under a subsidiary, so it won’t be affected by our relationship. Plus, this gives you a stake in the company.” Kaiba explained carefully.

“I don’t want that.” Joey said, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Kaiba asked, completely confused.

“Because like I told you before. I don’t need your charity. I can find work all on my own.” Joey insisted.

“Fine. And where would that be at?” Kaiba asked, crossing his arms and glaring at him.

“I’m sorry, but this is just what these tabloids were saying about us. You can’t keep ignoring them and what they’re saying about us.”

Kaiba scoffed, pointing a finger at JOey. “You’re being a child.” He snarled, and Joey stood up, picking up the papers to throw at Kaiba.

“That the best you got?” Joey responded, pouted. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“I’m not taking care of you Joseph.” Kaiba said, his voice sounding deadly. “You’re dating a CEO. That means you are being exposed to people who are also CEO’s, who have power and money just like I do. If you charm them, they tend to like them, which leads to opportunists such as this one.” He stopped his lecture to wave the papers he was holding. “Now, you can use these opportunities to your advantage, or you can act like a 2 year old and scream and pout in the corner about how people only like you because of who you’re dating.”

Joey gritted his teeth, hissing. “I’m not worried about that.” He snapped back. I don’t want people to think I’m only dating you to get things like that. I’m not good enough for a job like that, and you and I both know that.” Kaiba crossed his arms, glaring at Joey in silence.

“You’re the one acting like a child. You’re mad because I’m not giving you what you want, so you’re trying to force things at me that won’t make me happy.” Joey accused, pointing at him. Kaiba continued to be silent, and Joey got up, marching out the door with a glance back.

X

“Thanks for letting me stay here Ryou.” Joey said, sitting on the guest bed. Yugi and Yami were out of town, and Joey couldn’t stand to go to Kaiba’s for the night. He didn’t want to run to Tristan either, knowing his friend would turn around and try to fight Kaiba.

“It’s not a problem Joey.” Ryou smiled, skirting past Bakura who was glaring at the two of them. “Right Bakura?” The ex-thief grunted, still annoyed.

“Thanks Bakura.” Joey purred, knowing that he was sending his former enemy over the edge. “You’re just the best.” He continued, watching as Bakura’s eyes twitched.

“I’m going to murder you.” The Ancient Egyptian muttered, staring at his ‘guest.’

“Bakura.” Ryou warned, glaring at his boyfriend. “Do you want to sleep on the couch?”

Bakura’s jaw dropped, staring at his lover. “Come on Ryou, you’re being ridiculous.” He whined, pretending to kick dirt on the floor.

Ryou rolled his eyes, turning back to his friend. “Joey, if you need anything, just let me know. If not, I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“I’ll be fine, thanks Ryou.” Joey smiled, wiggling his fingers at his friend.

“Just make sure to tell Kaiba you’re here ok? I don’t want him to come bursting in here in the middle of the night because he’s looking for you.” Joey smiled quietly at this. Ryou glanced at Bakura before leaving, shaking his head.

“You’re an idiot.” Bakura announced once Ryou was gone, not even bothering to look at the blond.

“Thanks. I really want to get relationship advice from someone who went crazy and tried to take over the world.” Joey muttered, rolling his eyes.

“You're right, what could I, your former enemy, know about you mooching off people?” Bakura challenged, standing up straight.

“Excuse me?” Joey asked, standing up to go nose-to-nose with the other male.

“You heard me. You spent the whole time Yugi was trying to save the world riding his coattails through every single tournament. Let’s face it Joey, you would have failed miserably if people didn’t feel bad for you because you were Yugi’s friend. The only reason you did so well in that first tournament was because Yugi helped you. We all know it.” Joey’s eyes narrowed, clenching his fist. “You had no right standing up to the power of the Gods. You should have died on that battlefield, it was the only time a worthless mutt like you was worth the air he breathed.” Bakura smirked, licking his lips. There was nothing he liked more than destroying Yugi’s friends, it was one of the few pleasures he had left in his life. Of course, there was an alternative motive for this as well. “Those tabloids were right about you, and it’s just pathetic.” Bakura snorted as Joey shook, waiting for him to lash out. To his surprise, Joey calmed down after a minute, taking a deep breath.

“You’re right.” He finally whispered, looking down at his hands.

“Excuse me?” Bakura stuttered, backing away. He had thought Joey would have freaked out at him, not fallen to his knees.

“You’re right. I didn’t deserve to be there.” Joey took a deep breath again, standing up to stare down Bakura. “But I sacrificed more than most to protect my best friend. Even when I lost, I was still there to support him and help him figure out how to beat our enemies- Kaiba, Pegasus, Noah, Marik....” Joey stopped, staring at the other male. “And of course, his greatest enemy. The man that forced him to hide in a puzzle for years to stop him from destroying the world.” Bakura couldn’t help but preen at that, remembering how good it had felt to fight Yugi and his friends. “I was never meant to be here. I was never meant to be a duelist, or to be the right hand man of the King of Games. Yet, here I am, and I’m a better person for everything I went through. And I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks about me.” Joey stood proudly until he heard Bakura laughing.

“You say that, yet here you are, hiding from Kaiba because you’re afraid of what some tabloid says about you.” Bakura smirked, crossing his arms. He didn’t dodge the first punch, Joey nailing him in the face. The second one he gave to Joey, but the third one he blocked, flipping the blond on the bed. “Now you’ve hurt my pretty face.” Bakura snapped, wiping the blood.

“Sorry.” Joey muttered, staring at him.

“You should be. I was just trying to help.” Bakura muttered.

“Excuse me?” Joey asked.

“That’s right, trying to help. You’ve been acting like a child around Kaiba, refusing to accept his proposal because you’re scared of what people would say. Grow up and accept that for some reason you have someone who wants you around and enjoy it.” Bakura turned on his heel hitting the door closed behind him while he left Joey flabbergasted.

X

“What’s going on?” Kaiba asked Mokuba, staring at his little brother.

“I don’t know bro, all I know is Roland told me to keep you in your office for a bit.” Mokuba admitted with a shrug. Kaiba rolled his eyes, already annoyed over whatever was going on. It had been two weeks since Joey had been home, and he was getting frustrated with his boyfriend. The merger was going on flawlessly, and Kaiba wanted to enjoy another corporate takeover, but he couldn’t while he waited for his boyfriend to get his head out of his ass. “You ok?” Mokuba asked him, and Kaiba nodded.

“Yes, I just need to get this done.” He stated, rolling his eyes as he continued filling out some paperwork.

“I can’t believe you haven’t finished that yet.” Mokuba stated.

“I’ve been distracted.” Kaiba admitted, tapping the desk.

“I get it.” Mokuba said, smiling at his brother. Kaiba opened his mouth to make a comment, but his brother’s phone rang and Kaiba picked it up, his brow furrowed in annoyance.

“What is going on out there?” He asked, waiting for someone to answer. “Fine, send them in.” Kaiba said, smacking the phone down.

“Leeann is here.” He muttered.

“The HR rep from ZRO?” Mokuba asked in confusion. She had been handling the merger, working on packages for those who decided to leave the company.

Leeann walked in a moment later, smiling at the Kaiba brothers. “I hope you two aren’t busy.” She said quietly.

Mokuba waved her in with a smile himself. “Hi Leeann. Come on in. What’s going on?” Leeann smiled, pulling out some paperwork. “I’ve just come to drop this off. I was told Mr. Kaiba needed to approve this hire for our team.”

Kaiba frowned when he looked at the paperwork, realizing it was for the job he had offered Joey. “Are you sure these are the right papers?” He asked after a minute, surprised that Joey’s name was still on them.

“Yes. Mr. Wheeler had several interviews with us last week, and we are convinced he’s the right man for the job. We just need your approval on the hire.” Mokuba took the paperwork out of his brother’s hands, reading it himself.

“This looks good Seto.” He said, glancing at the brunet. Wordlessly, Kaiba signed the papers when his brother gave them back, handing them to Leeann.

“Mr. Wheeler is waiting for you in the lobby. I’ll send him in.” Leeann said, smiling at the brother’s before turning to leave. Mokuba too disappeared, leaving Kaiba standing alone in his office when Joey strolled in like he owned the place. The lovers stared at each other in silence before Kaiba finally broke the stalemate.

“You’re here.” He muttered to Joey’s nod.

“Yes. I’ve decided to stop being an idiot.” Kaiba barked at that, rolling his eyes.

“I’m sure that took a lot of time.” He said, crossing his arms as Joey walked up to him.

“It did. But I needed to get things in order before I came and talked to you again.”

“I see.” Kabia muttered, sitting down at his desk, tipping back to stare at the blond.

“I needed to work through some things in my head. I needed to understand why things were bothering me so much before I could take the steps to fix them. Of course, it all led back to one thing- my crappy childhood and how it affected every aspect of my life. I’ve been in the papers since I was a kid, between getting into fights, CPS reports on my dad, to being in the gang and then fighting alongside Yugi. All I’ve wanted was to have a quite adult life, away from all the drama, and what do I do? I start dating the freaking CEO of Kaiba Corp.” Kaiba snorted at that, looking away. He knew where this was going, and he was trying to remember where he had put the ring he had brought Joey. “I’m never going to be full of beauty and grace. I’m never going to be the spouse on your arm that makes all the papers applaud you for your choices. I’m rough around the edges, I say stupid things and do even stupider ones, and you’re going to have to accept that.”

“You know I already have.” Kaiba said, getting up to walk into the bathroom, coming back out with a little black box. “I knew who you were before we started dating Joseph. It’s not like any of this was a surprise to me.”

Joey snorted, walking over to pull his boyfriend into a kiss. “Bakura promised that you will have final say on the bachelor party.” He said when they pulled apart. “I think he’s desperate for us to get back together so he can get his alone time with Ryou again.”

Kaiba laughed, opening the ring box and presenting it to Joey. “I hope you don’t expect me to ask you again.” Kaiba said, and Joey laughed, pulling the ring out and putting it on his finger.

“I can’t wait to hear what the tabloids have to say about this one.” Joey snickered, reaching over to pull his fiancé into a kiss, only breaking apart when Mokuba flung open his office door to yell

“It’s about freaking time!”