Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's First Christmas ❯ Joey Claus? ( Chapter 6 )

Title: Seto's First Chrsitmas 6/6
Author: Kris Ice
Beta: Katbcoll
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): SetoxJou
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or anything associated with it.
Summary: Seto has never liked Christmas, but this year is going to be a bit different.

Shortly after Seto left, Tristan excused himself from his conversation with Yami and started folding up the tables left over from the feast. He couldn't help wondering what had gotten in Tea. Usually, she wasn't so ... so bold. He shrugged, deciding it really didn't matter. He knew she wasn't on drugs or drinking or anything. He smiled. It could be that she was finally starting to take his advice and being herself instead of the perfect little girl everyone felt she should be.

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Tristan looked up in surprise, recognizing the sultry drawl. Duke stood a couple of feet away, playing with one of the locks of hair that fell beside his face. The brunette looked away trying not to blush as he carried the table over to lean it against the wall. "I haven't been hiding, I've been helping out. What are you doing here anyway?"

Duke shrugged, watching Tristan work. "I bought a ticket. Helping this place out is a good cause."

Dark brown eyes looked up from folding the legs of another table and briefly touched dark green before looking away. "Yeah, that's why I decided to volunteer." Tristan shivered, conscious of the way Duke's eyes followed his every move as he finished with the remaining tables. "Why are you still hanging around?" he asked as he leaned the last table against the stack.

Slim shoulders shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you."

Tristan blinked, looking down at the slightly shorter boy in confusion. "Why?"

Duke sighed in exasperation. "I can't believe you're so blind." When Tristan looked even more lost, the older boy grabbed the brunette's shoulders and pushed him back into a doorway, out of immediate sight of the rest of the occupants of the room. "I've been trying to tell you something for months now and I'm getting the impression the subtle approach doesn't work with you."

The taller boy blinked, surprised by the sudden outburst. "Joey says that it takes a sledgehammer to the head to get me to pay attention sometimes."

Green eyes closed as Duke laughed. "A sledgehammer, eh?" He smiled. "Look up."

Following the command, Tristan looked up to see the branch of mistletoe that Tea had asked him to hang the night before. He looked back at Duke, not quite getting it, but before he could say anything, warm lips covered his own. For a moment, he froze, not knowing what to do. But when Duke started to pull away, hurt dimming his bright green eyes, Tristan grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him back, pulling him into a deeper kiss. When the lack of air finally made them part, Tristan discovered he had one hand in Duke's hair, the other around his waist.

"I don't want pity."

Tristan blinked before glaring down at the boy whose arms were around his waist. "Who say's it's pity? Maybe I've thought about it before but never had the guts."

Duke pulled back, needing to see the brunette's eyes. He relaxed as he saw affection, desire, confusion, and perhaps the beginning of love.

Tristan's hand slid from Duke's hair to his cheek. "Let's just take this slow, ok? If we're going to do this, I want to do this right."

Duke laughed, hugging Tristan before letting him go. "Alright, just as long as you are going to give this a chance."

The taller boy leaned forward, giving Duke a light, almost chaste kiss. The uncertainty in the black-haired boy's voice tugged at his heart. "I am."

Tea smiled, leaning on Yami's shoulder as they watched the pair. "I'm glad that Tristan is finally finding someone. He's been lonely for too long."

Yami nodded, lightly touching Tea's arm and nodding toward Joey. "We'd better see if he's ready to go. If we don't get home soon, Grandpa and Mama are going to call the police to make sure we're alright, so if he wants to walk with us, we need to get going."

In the end, Joey turned down their offer, saying that he had a few things to drop off before he went home. Tea wanted to protest, to demand to know what could possibly be open at that time of night, but Yami pulled her away and bid Joey goodnight before practically dragging Tea out behind him.

The blond watched them go before glancing over to check on Tristan. The tall brunette was gathering up his stuff and talking with Duke. When his eyes met Joey's the blond waved goodbye and nodded toward the door. Tristan smiled, glad that his best friend understood that he wanted some time with Duke.

Joey quickly grabbed a couple of boxes from the office and shrugged into his coat before taking off to run his errand before hurrying home. He was almost frozen by time he found himself in front of a huge mansion. To his surprise the gate was open, but that just made it easier on him. He slipped up to the front door and grinned when he saw a mail slot that might just be big enough for the thin packages he carried under his arm. When he opened the flap to push the first one through, Joey discovered just how wrong he was. The slot was slightly too narrow for the box to fit through it. The blond growled, squeezing the box a bit, trying to force it through the hole. He didn't dare leave them out in the snow where they could get soaked or stolen, not after all the effort he'd put into them.

Seto stood for a moment, bemused by the creative cursing on the other side of the door as the 'intruder' tried to force a brightly wrapped gift through a hole that was clearly too small for it. Finally, after Joey started repeating himself, Seto unlocked the door.

Joey looked up, looking like a kid who got his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Um... hi, Kaiba."

Seto leaned against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow. "What do you thing you're doing?"

The blond blushed, looking down at the package in hands; the other was between his knees. "Just playing Santa."

The taller young man shook his head. "In that case you're supposed to come down the chimney."

Joey snorted. "And risk getting stuck or toasted, no thanks."

Seto chuckled and moved out of the doorway. "Come on in. You can put them under the tree and warm up before going home." The brunette paused and glanced around. "How did you get here, anyway?"

Joey passed by the taller boy, blushing again when he realized that Seto was in a robe. "I walked. Road's too icy for a bike."

Seto blinked in surprise as he led Joey into the den where a six foot tree was standing. "You couldn't get someone to drop you off?"

The blond shrugged as he set the packages down by the tree and knelt in front of the fireplace. "It's no big deal. I walk a lot."

The young CEO watched his unexpected guest for a long moment before breaking the silence. "Why?"

"Hmm?" Joey looked up startled, the warmth of the fire and the softness of the rug had started lulling him to sleep.

"Why would you bring me a gift?" Seto elaborated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Joey looked back at the flames and for a moment, Seto thought he wasn't going to answer. "Because it's Christmas, and because I think I'm finally getting to see the real you." Warm chocolate eyes looked up into chilled sapphire. "You're so good with those kids, so warm and giving. It's like...like you finally let your mask down for awhile. Did you know that Sam practically worships you? He swears he'll be as good of an older brother as you are." Joey drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on them. "I think the first time I saw you laugh was when you were working there, and I realized that there was more to you than what I gave you credit for." The blond looked up and blushed, shrugging self-consciously as he fell silent. "I saw someone that I'd love to get close to. Maybe even be good friends or more with." When Seto didn't say anything, Joey stood. "Thanks for letting me warm up, I'd better get going."

"Wait." Seto laid a hand on Joey's shoulder, causing him to turn and regard the brunette curiously. The taller young man wasn't sure what to say. He'd never learned how to express himself in words and had been forced to prevent any emotion from showing. Still, looking into dark chocolate eyes, Seto found that he wanted to do something, anything to get rid of that hopeless expression. He stepped forward, his other hand coming up to rest on Joey's other shoulder. "I..." he paused before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I think I'd like that too."

Joey stared as his bottom jaw dropped slightly. He was sure that this was just a dream and he would wake up any moment, hard and aching.

Seto gingerly wrapped his arms around Joey's waist and when the blond made no objections, leaned in for a tentative kiss. For a moment, nothing in the world existed except for the pair of them. The kiss was slow and dry, neither ready to be the first one to taste the other. The sound of giggles startled them and the pair jerked apart to see a mischievous little boy grinning down at them.

"Oh, I saw Seto kissing Joey Claus, underneath the mistletoe last night! Oh, they didn't hear me creep, down the stairs to take a peek. They thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep!"

Seto blushed bright red. "Mokuba!"

Mokuba laughed and darted upstairs, secure in the knowledge that Seto wasn't going to chase him. The elder Kaiba might get his revenge later, but the little imp was sure that Joey would keep him distracted for a good long while. His voice drifted back down to them as he danced his way down the hall to his room. "Oh, I saw Seto kissing Joey Claus, standing by the fire on Christmas Eve! Oh, what a laugh it would have been, if everyone could have only seen, Seto kissing Joey Claus, that night!"

The blond laughed, holding Seto so he wouldn't go after his brother. "Calm down, moneybags, the kid's just having a little fun."

Seto snorted and mock glared at the blond. "Haven't we moved past 'moneybags' yet?"

Joey grinned. "Only if you've gotten past 'mutt' and 'monkey'."

The brunette pretended to think about it for a bit. "How about a compromise, I'll stop calling you a monkey and only call you mutt when I'm teasing you."

The blond pouted. "In that case, I get to call you moneybags when I'm teasing."

Seto chuckled and hugged the shorter boy. "Deal." He hesitated, raising a hand to cup Joey's cheek. "Do you have to go home?"

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you moving a bit fast?"

Seto blushed again and glared at the blond. "I wasn't implying that. I just thought it would be better for you to sleep on the couch instead of risk getting ill walking home."

The shorter duelist grinned. "In that case, I accept!"

Hours later, as the sun was topping the horizon, Mokuba slipped downstairs and grinned before racing back up for a camera. Several minutes later, he was raiding the fridge humming along with "Jingle Bell Rock" an image of the scene in the other room safely stored on his camera. In the den, Seto was stretched out on a couch that was a bit too small for his long frame. His arms were wrapped around the blond that slept on his chest.

After making some toast, Mokuba flipped on the TV to catch the Christmas parade that was broadcasting from New York. He had just taken his fifth bite when he saw something that nearly made him choke. "Seto! Seto get in here!"

Startled by his brother's cries, the older Kaiba jerked up, nearly dumping Joey on the floor. The pair quickly scrambled up, racing for the kitchen, visions of blood and gore in their heads. To their surprise, everything seemed fine. Seto groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "What's wrong?"

Mokuba blinked at his big brother, clearly not realizing what kind of images had been playing in his head moments before. "Look!" he said, pointing at the TV.

The two older boys looked at each other mystified before looking at the TV. Moments later, Joey was on the floor laughing his head off. Seto didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There, on a gaudily decorated float was a seven foot tall plushy Blue Eyes White Dragon with a huge red bow on its neck. Other Duel Monsters were also present, each with some sort of festive addition. It took a moment for Seto to tear his eyes from the monstrosity someone had made of his beloved Monster. The next one to catch his eyes made his jaw drop. Standing next to the Blue Eyes was a Dark Magician, but this one was animatronic and dressed in red and green with a Santa hat and was waving at the crowd. Seto blinked and started snickering. "I wonder if Yugi is watching."

Mokuba grinned. "If he's not, I set up the VCR in my room to record it so we can show him later."

Seto laughed before turning to help Joey up off the floor. As soon as the blond was seated at the table, the brunette pulled out some more eggs and other ingredients and started making a proper Christmas breakfast, the first one he would enjoy.