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The bed at Duke’s place was wildly comfortable, Joey had learned a long time ago. Better than the futon at his, with a little more space to move around each other, which was probably why he spent more and more time there after they started dating. Duke never minded at all, even when he came in late, even when Joey spent the whole day there because it was off season and he didn’t have anywhere else to be. Even before they were together, they claimed they hated to go to bed alone, and Joey now knew the truth of that revolved entirely what a grabby little cuddler they were. Duke was aggressively affectionate, constantly finding excuses to sit in Joey’s lap and hang their arms around their shoulders and press their face against his, and in bed, once they were both laid down for the night, they practically slept on top of him, face buried in his chest so he felt every sleepy sigh from their much smaller frame.
Joey’d never really been comfortable with it before, not in his romantic relationships. He’d always liked his own place, his own space, and the intrusion of someone else left him dashed with anxiety. Tristan would say that was his problem, some gibberish about “fear of intimacy” or whatever, and Serenity would start talking about their parents and he’d have to put a stop to that immediately. Things with Duke had escalated since their initial fooling around, but in ways Joey couldn’t have expected. They’d never given him a chance to pull away.
Which was probably why, when Joey woke up in the middle of the night to the electronic chime of Duke’s messages going off, and he didn’t immediately feel their weight on him, or their soft breath against his neck, or the curls of their dark hair getting into every available crevice, he started up, pushing the covers off of him. Duke’s bedroom was decent sized, and light from the street outside laid a thin square of light on the floor. It illuminated the desktop computer Duke kept on a desk, the thin glitter of their favorite dice they left spread around sparkling just a little in the streetlamp, and their closet door left open with their wide variety of outfits carefully hung and arranged. Duke was sitting on the end of the bed, curls in a messy tie that limped around their sharp shoulders. Their pale face was illuminated blue by their phone screen, an amused look on their face. Joey picked up his red frame glasses from the bedside table and slipped them on. They glanced up as he moved to their side, resting his chin on their shoulder.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Duke lifted up their phone, and he squinted as the light shone in his face. The messenger app showed five new text messages from a number Duke had only marked with a dragon emoji. Three dots told Joey a new one was incoming.
“Seto Kaiba,” Duke said in a mock whisper. “He’s wondering what we’re doing.”
“It’s 2 AM,” Joey said.
“I know!” They tapped the reply box, and their thumb hovered over the keyboard. “It’s a bootycall. He never talks to us when we’re in Domino, not unless he has to. He’s saying he’s leaving the KaibaCorp offices.”
“Burning the midnight oil,” Joey muttered and folded his arms around their waist.
“He says he can’t sleep.” Duke grinned at him. “What should I text back?”
“Tell him we’re both asleep,” Joey said and pulled them down as he rolled back into bad. They laughed, letting him pull them close to his chest. “Tell him if he wants to have sex he’s gotta schedule it with your secretary.”
“Who’s my secretary?” they asked.
“Me,” he said. “I’m wearing my secretary glasses.”
“You’re wearing your dork glasses.” They twisted around to kiss him on the nose. “You like it when we see Seto. You asked last time we were in California. He wasn’t even in the same city as us and you said we could drive to him.”
“He took a helicopter to us.” Joey shook his head. “Kaiba’s crazy.”
“I know.” They went back to their phone. “I should tell him to come to the apartment. Do you want him to?”
Joey hesitated. It’d been a solid few months of regularly hooking up with Seto Kaiba, and Joey was seeing a trajectory in front of them. Things were escalating here, too, and he wasn’t really sure what that meant. The first time they’d had sex with Seto, he’d made it clear his one night stands were exactly that, quiet and kept out of the country where fewer people had heard of him. Joey hadn’t expected a repeat, he hadn’t even expected to talk to the guy again, beside a cursory nod. But they kept seeing each other, and with more frequency, and Duke wasn’t wrong. There were times when they’d both voiced their desire to have Seto in bed with them. But it was just sex, he’d told himself a hundred times. It didn’t have to mean anything. There were lots of people Joey wanted to have sex with, and Duke was usually eager to play along.
“How far away is he?” Joey asked.
Duke grinned. “I’m texting him the address. I think he can get here quick. He must be jonesing if he’s heading here straight from his office.”
“Probably looking at dragon porn on his computer,” Joey said, closing his eyes again.
“You think he goes to the same websites as you?”
“Shut up!” He pinched their side, and Duke squealed.
“I’m just saying,” they laughed as they wormed in his grip, “if he saw your Bad Dragon purchase history--”
“What, he’d come even faster?”
They grinned. “You said it, not me.”
“You’re so annoying,” Joey said and tried to pin them down, but Duke brought their arms up and pulled him into a kiss.
Their makeouts threatened to drag on, but Duke wriggled free and padded to the bathroom. Joey leaned back against the pillows. They’d spend their time freshening up, but the last time they were all together Joey was pretty certain Seto stole one of his shirts. He suspected the less he did, the better.
It really didn’t take long for Seto to get there. The knock at Duke’s door was abrupt, and Joey rolled his eyes as Duke went to answer it. Their conversation was quiet and far away, the soft sounds of Duke’s voice mixing with the low resonance of Seto’s. He sat up on the edge of the bed, running a hand through his hair, just in time for them both to stand in the doorway. Seto’s gaze caught his, and he offered a smile.
“Couldn’t stay away, huh,” he said.
Seto huffed and tapped the bridge of his nose. “Nice glasses.”
Shit. Joey reached up to take them off, but Duke held up a hand to him before hooking a finger in Seto’s shirt and pulling him down to press a kiss to his jawline.
“He’s cute, right?” They picked at his buttons. “You should tell him he’s cute.”
“I’ll pass tonight,” he said with a yawn.
Joey almost laughed at Duke’s startled expression. This was a rare reaction to their usual patter. They gave Joey a look, and he stood, pulling them to his side and planting a kiss on their forehead. He brought his other hand up to touch Seto’s cheek, and he inclined into his touch. It was unexpectedly sweet.
“You look like shit,” he said, and immediately Duke swatted him.
Seto’s eyes narrowed, but he wasn’t wrong. Dark bags made his sleepy eyes look even more tired, his white skin even paler than usual.
“It’s been a long week,” he said. “And a stressful one.”
“You should be in bed,” Duke murmured.
“I’ll say.” Joey withdrew his hand, and Seto, for a moment, followed the motion before righting himself. He leaned instead into Duke’s warmth. “When’s the last time you got a good night’s rest?”
“Never,” he answered dully.
Duke took both their hands and pulled them along. They pushed Seto down onto the bedspread, and he gave no protest as he sunk into the mattress. Duke descended on Joey, working his mouth open, and Joey grabbed onto their waist to pull them into his lap. Their tongue traced the line of his lips as they pulled at his shirt. Their eyes slid down to catch Seto’s gaze, to entice him no doubt, and then they stopped. Joey looked as well, and he had to stop from laughing. Seto had laid on his back. His eyes were closed. He was falling asleep.
“Okay,” Duke said. “Did you even come here to have sex?”
“I intended to,” he muttered.
“Alright, babe.” Joey shifted them onto the bed. “It’s late. Maybe we should all get some sleep.”
“You know,” they said as they leaned over Seto. “If you just wanted to cuddle you could’ve said.”
Seto opened his eyes sleepily and still managed to cut a glare. “I don’t want to cuddle.”
“Too bad.” Joey reached down and scooped him into a hug. “If you’re gonna sleep here you’re gonna have to get used to it.”
Duke flopped over onto their pillows. “I can’t believe you came here just to sleep.”
Seto started protesting again, but Joey pushed a pillow over his face. Duke snorted out a laugh and pulled the covers up. Seto was curled between them, still in his work shirt and pants, but he made no move to take them off. Duke rolled over again, wrapping their arms around him. Joey, on the other side, removed his glasses and settled closer. Seto sighed softly, and his head rolled to the side. Already his breathing had calmed nice and slow. Duke lifted up, tracing a finger over his chest. Joey laughed under his breath.
“He’s cute,” Duke whispered.
“And a dork.” Joey pulled on a string of Seto’s bang, brushing it out of his face.
“I can hear you, you know,” Seto said.
Joey grinned. “Goodnight, dummy.”
Duke leaned down, kissing his nose before laying back down. Joey laughed again, cuddling close to Seto, who settled back down. Duke’s hands reached across Seto’s skinny chest to rub Joey’s arm, and he smiled as he reached across as well. Between them, Seto made a happy sound. It was a strange set of circumstances that had led them all here, but as Joey squeezed a little tighter, he couldn’t imagine letting go.