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It was hard enough living in Domino City, with Kaiba’s face stamped on every billboard and bus, before he pulled a full Jurassic Park and invented real life dragons. They came out just in time for the holiday season, costing more than any reasonable person should have to spend, and the line at Kaiba Land grew exponentially after announcing three live Blue Eyes White Dragons were there. The ones for the public were cat sized, and the billboards changed to Kaiba with one curled around his shoulders like he was some kind of Bond villain.
Last Joey heard, there was a wait list for them. He heard it from Yugi, who seemed pretty unbothered by the whole thing. Just another in the long list of wild things Kaiba’s done.
It didn’t come up again for a while. Not until Seto Kaiba himself was standing in Yugi’s living room, white coat and everything, with a pet carrier. Joey eyed it suspiciously while Yugi got sodas from his kitchen.
“You must be getting really bored up there,” he said as he tried to peer into the carrier.
“I find ways to entertain myself,” Kaiba said, with that dumb smirk Joey always wanted to knock off his face.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Yugi said as he came back into the room. He tossed a melon soda at Joey and handed the other to Kaiba. Yugi could pretend it wasn’t absolutely surreal having Kaiba in his house, dressed up in his CEO outfit, the flare of the white coat threatening family photos, picking at the tab of the can like he wasn’t one hundred percent sure what to do with it. Instead Yugi sat, curling his legs up under him, and said, “I think our neighbors got one. Grandpa was complaining about it the other day. We were talking about going to Kaiba Land and seeing the ones there--”
The pet carrier shook, and a small rasping sound came from inside.
“--for ourselves,” Yugi finished and leaned half an inch away from the carrier.
Joey leaned in, eying Kaiba as he did. “Whatchya got there, moneybags?”
Without a word, Kaiba reached down and unlatched the carrier. He held out his arm, and something stirred from within. Joey expected the shining smooth scales of the Blue Eyes, but instead a thin black claw tapped the table. A beak-like snoot poked out, and gingerly a black dragon emerged, holding tight enough to Kaiba’s arm that he grimaced in response. The dragon peered around, squawking in irritation, and then looked at Joey with two big red eyes.
“Holy shit,” Joey said. “You made a--”
“Red Eyes Black Dragon.” Kaiba held out his arm. The dragon clung on with three large claws. “She’s the only one we will be making, I think.”
Joey gave him a look as he moved closer to examine her. “You made a ton of Blue Eyes.”
“Her appearance has an unfortunate side effect of making her--” He winced a little as she moved, her black wings spreading out. “--very pointy.”
“Is that the scientific term for it?” Joey extended out a finger to her. The dragon squawked again before sniffing at him.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. “I’m giving these to children. The Blue Eyes I don’t have to worry about lacerating anyone. We are working on some Kuribohs.” He looked to Yugi. “I thought those might interest you.”
Yugi gave a nervous laugh. “Grandpa might have another heart attack.”
The Red Eyes latched onto Joey and he sucked in the hiss of her little claws against his skin. Her wings fluttered, and she lifted off Kaiba’s arm onto his, inspecting the sleeve of his shirt. He could see Kaiba’s point as her tail curled in the air, the thin ridges on her back raised up. She didn’t have the cuddliest look. But she crawled up his arm, making her way to his shoulder. He was grinning. Kaiba may be a megalomaniac in desperate need of a hug, but his ideas always managed to knock it out of the park.
The Red Eyes curled around Joey’s neck, kneading with her claws, and then she settled. He looked up, and Kaiba was watching him.
“The project’s taking up most of my time,” Kaiba said, “which means I don’t, at the moment, have a suitable home for her.”
The Red Eyes let out a sleepy squawk and rested her head on his shoulder. Joey stared at him.
“Oh,” he said. “I don’t--I mean, I don’t even know if my apartment allows… dragons…”
“Obviously it’s a responsibility to take on,” Kaiba said, that same annoying smirk returning. “I can understand if you don’t feel up to it.”
“I didn’t say that.” Joey reached a finger under her chin, scratching it. She let out a trill.
“What do you need to take care of a dragon anyway?” Yugi asked, always the reasonable one.
Kaiba waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll provide you with the basics. And I’ll want to inspect your place.”
“What?” Joey narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Because I’m handing you something that represents millions of dollars worth of research,” he said, “and you have the attention span of a kindergartner.”
“Does every dragon come with a home visit by Seto Kaiba?” Yugi asked with a smile.
“Wheeler’s just lucky like that,” Kaiba said.
Joey made a face at him and went back to scratching the Red Eyes.
---
These were all the things a genetically designed dragon needed to be happy: the KC branded dragon food, which Joey could not figure out the ingredients of; some ping pong balls that ended up in every corner of the apartment; fingers to gnaw on every morning with baby kitten teeth; a tiny hammock he’d set up in front of one of his windows.
The Red Eyes was a weird little beast. About the size of a house cat, her skin was leathery and warm. Her legs were short and stubby, and she sort of half-hopped everywhere. She enjoyed the hammock the most and digging into any plastic bags he left out. In the mornings she annoyed him until he got out of bed, and then spent most of the day perched on his shoulder. He’d taken some pictures and sent them to Serenity and Tristan and Tea, and their responses varied from worried to excited.
It was, in small words, extremely cool.
It took three days for Kaiba to make good on his promise of a home inspection. Joey cleaned best he could before he arrived, but he doubted ever living up to Kaiba’s standards. Kaiba managed to surprise him by showing up outside of his work clothes, just a simple collared shirt and a look like he was on his sixteenth cup of coffee. He walked around Joey’s not very large apartment, a dissatisfied expression on his face the whole time.
The Red Eyes made a happy caw at him, at least. She swooped across the room and landed lazily on Joey’s couch, which she’d already put to work destroying.
“She can’t really fly,” Joey said.
“No.” Kaiba ran a hand down her back. She chirped in response. “The wingspan doesn’t support it, but they glide well.”
“I never took care of a dragon before,” he continued. “How am I doing?”
Kaiba’s gaze made another pass around his apartment. The square box living room didn’t offer much, but the kitchenette was clean. The whole thing could probably fit in the living room of one of Kaiba’s penthouses he undoubtedly occupied. He’d thought he’d done a pretty good job of organizing the whole thing so it looked like a professional duelist lived here and not a whacked out college student. He’d never had any pets before, not even a goldfish, but he figured that was okay when it came to raising dragons.
“Passable,” Kaiba said in that infuriating deadpan. “I don’t think you’ll kill her, at least.”
“A real vote of confidence.” Joey rocked back and forth on his heels, watching him continue to pet her. He looked so weirdly human right now. It was probably why the next words out of his mouth were, “Do you wanna stick around? I can make coffee or something.”
Kaiba withdrew his hand. “I’ve got a lot of work that needs to get done.”
It was the answer he’d expected. Joey shrugged his shoulders. The Red Eyes made a pitiful noise now that no one was paying attention to her.
“I gotta come up with a name for her,” he said out loud. “Got any suggestions?”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something. Here.”
Kaiba pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to him. The front was the usual white and blue KC logo with his office information, but on the back, hand scrawled in black pen, was a phone number.
“In case something comes up,” he said. “I’d rather know about it first hand.”
Joey rubbed his thumb against the raised cardstock of the paper. “You’re trusting me with a lot here, Kaiba.”
“Don’t make me regret it,” he said, in an unexpectedly tired voice.
Joey only grinned at him. Later, sitting on his couch, the Red Eyes resting with her head on his leg, he entered the number into his phone and sent a test text. He wondered if Kaiba would actually give him his personal number.
Five minutes later with an annoyed response back, he found out the answer was yes.
---
The lines at Kaiba Land went around the block. Yugi had friend privileges, so he and Joey and Serenity and Tristan walked past the screaming kids and exhausted adults without too much worry. The thirty foot statue of Kaiba had been removed, and the entrance to Adena’s Castle was now guarded by three full sized Blue Eyes White Dragons. A thick sheet of glass separated them from the crowds of people dying to get a glimpse. All Joey could make out over the heads of people around them were the flash of white wing and the occasional roar.
“They can’t stay out here all day,” Serenity was saying as she read over the park brochure. “You think they have like a cave they go into or something?”
“I figured Kaiba just took them home,” Tristan said.
The crowd was slowly shuffling forward. Joey looked at the pamphlet over Serenity’s shoulder. A page decorated with Blue Eyes art explained some of the scientific process behind creating them.
“I don’t think they’d fit in Kaiba’s house,” Yugi said. He was trying his best not to hop up and down to see over anyone’s head. Joey admired his self-restraint.
“You think he has one at home?” Serenity asked. “He has to.”
“He’s got one in all the pictures I’ve seen.” Joey’s gaze swept back ahead of them. They were getting close to the glass now. Rising above the crowd was the long neck of a dragon, which peered out at them before yawning lazily and settling back onto the ground.
“This is crazy, right?” she continued, looking to the others for validation. “I’m not the only one who thinks Kaiba making real life dragons is crazy.”
“It’s pretty crazy,” Tristan said, “but pretty in character of him.”
The families in front of them moved out of the way, and they were up against a railing looking into the enclosure. Joey wasn’t really sure what he expected, but it looked like anything they’d see in a zoo. Tall broad trees offered shade to a grass covered and hilly space. He worried it wouldn’t be wide enough for three of that size, but they seemed happy. Two of them were curled around each other, tails waving in slow patterns. The third seemed more riled up, stalking back and forth. Her wings were large, but he thought about what Kaiba had said about flying. Probably for the best. Domino had enough problems without its air space being disturbed by giant dragons.
“Kaiba could’ve given you one this size,” Tristan said, elbowing Joey.
“Then I’d know he wanted to kill me.” His eyes followed the movements of the dragon. It joined the other two, nudging one with its snout before flopping down bodily on the ground.
“They have names,” Serenity said, reading her pamphlet. “Fivespot, Largeflower, and Littlefoot. They’re named after species of the nemophila flower, commonly known as ‘baby blue eyes’.”
“That’s almost sweet,” Tristan said. “You think Kaiba named them himself?”
“He’s usually pretty involved in these things,” Yugi said. “Did you end up naming your Red Eyes, Joey?”
He shook his head. “Can’t come up with anything. I’ve just been calling her Red.”
“This is crazy,” Serenity repeated. “Let’s get a picture.”
They had all of five minutes before they were shuffled away, but it was more than enough time for pictures. They walked around the park one more time before finding somewhere to sit. Serenity showed them off to Tristan, and Joey scrolled through a few of the ones he’d taken. One of his selfies had caught a dragon mid-yawn, her jaw open wide and teeth on display. His fingers hovered over the phone screen for maybe a minute before he put the picture in a message to Kaiba and added underneath: Blue Eyes White Dragon Burst Stream!
He closed his phone screen and didn’t look at it again until they left. Read but no reply. He didn’t really know what he expected.
---
It was weird how having a dragon became somewhat normal. After a month, Joey set into a routine with Red. Feed her twice a day, play with her in the afternoons, make sure her nails were trimmed. He took her on walks on occasion to the delight of the neighbor kids next door, who all cooed and rounded her and took pictures on their phones. It made him more popular with them than his dueling career.
Kaiba surprised him with a text one afternoon, asking if he’d be home that evening. I want to see if you’re taking care of my dragon. Joey resolved to sock him in the face when he showed up, but his hand was stayed when he arrived with Mokuba at his side. The kid was about to hit eighteen, and he’d shot up, reaching Kaiba’s shoulders. It was bizarre looking at him when Joey still pictured the sneaky little runt in his mind.
“Hi, Joey!” Mokuba said, waving a hand excitedly. “Where’s your dragon?”
“Hey, kid,” he said in reply, but Mokuba had already run past. Not that different after all. Red had been snoozing in the window, but now that there was activity, she yawned wide and half-crawled, half-fell out of her hammock.
“I thought you would’ve seen a million of them by now,” Joey said as he stepped back, letting Kaiba in.
“Not Red Eyes.” Mokuba dropped to his knees, extending a hand out to let her sniff it.
“Mokuba’s been visiting colleges,” Kaiba said. His eyes were focused straight ahead to where his brother played. His hands remained at his sides, back straight. Even in just a peacoat and scarf, he exuded Kaiba-ness.
“She’s so cool,” Mokuba said, scritching under her chin. “Seto won’t make Turtle Tiger for me.”
“Imagine the lawsuits,” Kaiba drawled.
“You need a guard dog for when I’m gone,” Mokuba said. “Keep you safe.”
“You don’t got a Blue Eyes at home?” Joey asked.
He snorted. “Of course Seto got one for himself. I don’t see her intimidating anyone, unless you’ve got an aversion to tummy rubs.”
Joey laughed and looked to Kaiba, who had an amused expression as well. Red quickly lost interest in her new friend and padded over to her food bowl, which she dug into with gusto, littering food pellets all over the floor.
“Well?” Joey asked.
Kaiba glanced at him. “Well what?”
“You wanted to see if I was taking care of my dragon,” Joey said. He walked across the room to stoop down beside her. He scratched between the spiked shoulder blades, and she trilled in response. “What’s your verdict?”
“Yeah, Seto,” Mokuba piped up as he returned to his side. “What d’ya think?”
Kaiba rolled his eyes as his brother elbowed him. He did another once over of the apartment before announcing, “You, as always, manage. I’m pleased things are going well.”
Joey couldn’t remember a time when Kaiba admitted to being pleased without a cackling laugh or dramatic speech. A grin stretched across his face as Kaiba continued to avoid his gaze. Red chose that exact moment to hop onto Joey’s arm, earning a shout from him. He scooped her up, scrumbling her into his arms, and she trilled happily as she pushed her claws against his chin. He laughed and dropped her back down on the ground. Mokuba was laughing as well. Kaiba remained still.
“We should get going,” Kaiba said.
“We’re gonna get food,” Mokuba said. “You should come with us, Joey.”
Kaiba shot his brother a surprised look at the same time Mokuba offered up a cheeky grin. A silent conversation was happening that Joey couldn’t read, if only partially because Red was attempting to climb up his leg.
“I don’t know if--” Joey started but he was stopped by Kaiba’s dull tone as he said, “If you’d like.”
Joey stared at the two Kaiba brothers, one grinning, one rested in a deep frown. He should take a raincheck. Kaiba didn’t want to spend anymore time with him than he had to, and he was only being nice to indulge Mokuba, which was the only reason he ever hung around him or Yugi or anyone in their friend group. Joey didn’t need to make the poor guy suffer.
Except, well, this was a rare opportunity, and Joey always liked to push his luck.
“Where’re you headed?” he asked, visions of fancy restaurants and steak tartare and high priced wine lists dancing in his head.
“We’re going to Burger World,” Mokuba said, and Joey let out a relieved laugh.
Shoes shuffled on, hoodie around his shoulders, the trio made their way to the nearest fast food place. Mokuba complained the whole time about the food abroad, leaning over the backseat to talk to Joey as Kaiba gently reminded him to sit down every few minutes. Kaiba drove, eyes focused on the road, both hands on the steering wheel. Mokuba continued to avail them both with tales of America, which he’d just returned from visiting, even as they took up a booth in the far corner of the restaurant. Before their food arrived, Kaiba had to take a call. They could both see him on the other side of the window, and they took turns making funny faces until he turned his back to them.
“You think you’re gonna end up in California?” Joey asked as they settled back into the seats.
“Probably.” Mokuba put his chin in his hand, still watching his brother argue with someone on the other side of the glass. “I worry, you know.”
Joey followed his gaze. Kaiba’s back was straight, his shoulders tight. A breeze tugged at the end of his scarf and swept through his brown hair.
“Kaiba’ll be fine,” Joey said. “Plus he’s got his dragons to occupy his time now.”
“Yeah.” Mokuba’s usual cheery smile had changed to a concerned line. “He loves making his own distraction.”
Joey considered this as he flicked his balled up straw wrapper to Mokuba’s side of the table. “Breaking the laws of nature seem like a lot for a distraction.”
Mokuba gave a dry laugh. “It’s a very him way to do it, though.”
Joey could agree to that. Their trays were brought out to them with both Mokuba and Joey’s hamburgers, and Kaiba’s overrun with chicken nuggets. Mokuba grabbed a handful of them and stood up in the booth, banging a hand against the glass. Joey laughed as several startled diners looked their way. Kaiba turned around, still talking into the phone.
“I’m gonna eat them all!” Mokuba shouted through the glass and stuffed one in his mouth.
Kaiba gave a muffled shout and darted back inside, phone call now ended. Mokuba laughed as he fell back into his seat, releasing his prisoners onto his brother’s plate. Kaiba jumped into the booth and pushed down Mokuba’s head before retaliating by eating his fries. Joey laughed, and he was startled when he saw the smile on Kaiba’s face. It was genuine in a way he’d never seen before, with him barely hiding it behind his hand. It was amazing how it changed his whole face. Joey couldn’t stop staring.
Kaiba’s gaze rested on him, and Joey ran a hand through his hair, blaming the heat on his face on the laughter. At least that made sense.
---
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. Joey’d been texting with Yugi, setting up a time to playtest a new game, but beside that he hadn’t done much of anything. Brewed some coffee in the morning, done a little bit of tidying up, looked into something to put on the corners of his couch so Red would stop tearing them up. She slept now at his feet, her thin beak curled into her back legs as her tail wrapped around her. He was texting a response to Yugi when he heard a quiet and reedy sound. He lifted up his head and looked at Red. She remained ensconced in a perfect circle, her little chest rising and falling, and her lip twitching just enough as she let out another long snore. Joey grinned, slowly pulling his feet back, and he raised his camera phone to capture her.
After replaying the video two times, he moved back to his messages. Yugi’s icon waited patiently for his reply, but a few spots below that was KAIBA. He tapped the message, the last of which was Seto’s warning that he was coming by and Joey’s emoji only response. Forcing himself not to think about it, he sent the video, quickly tapped back to Yugi’s message, and then closed his phone.
Fifteen minutes later, when he was digging around his pantry for something to snack on, he heard his phone ding with a new notification. He set aside the bag of chips he’d been tearing into and reached for it. Kaiba’s name popped up on screen. There were no words attached to it, just a picture of a cat sized Blue Eyes sitting in front of a window, looking at a bee that buzzed outside. Despite not being in motion, he recognized how her tail was twitching in response. He’d watched Red do the same thing when a spider got in last week.
Joey debated for a minute his response. He returned to the kitchen, pouring the chips into a bowl and grabbing a drink from the fridge, and when he sat back down, Red was already sniffing around with interest. He was pretty certain people food was a no-go, and he guided her away as he picked his phone back up. He typed a message, deleted it, typed a different one, and then tried one more time.
Shouldn’t you be working? , he tapped out and sent before he could change his mind. Slightly antagonistic, maybe a little sarcastic, but that was normal for them. Kaiba would go back to ignoring him for days and then---
Three dots appeared on his screen, letting him know the other party was typing. He sucked in a breath as Red dug her claws into his arm, hopeful to sneak a potato chip. He patted her head as Kaiba’s reply opened on his screen. It was clearly a picture of his work desk at home, laptop open to some spreadsheets with papers piled around. The downward angle put Kaiba’s knees in frame, and crawling up his lap was his Blue Eyes, whose tail was making a mess of the paperwork and clearly refusing to let her owner anywhere near the screen. A second, blurrier image appeared. Blue Eyes had pushed her face up against the camera of the phone. Joey laughed and held it to Red, who sniffed the screen curiously.
He drew it back, thumbs cycling over his keyboard as he stared at the image. Finally he sent: Where’s her diamond collar?
The three dots appeared and disappeared one more time. Kaiba sent back, She doesn’t have one. And in the next second another image appeared. It was the Blue Eyes in a dog hoodie that didn’t fit her entirely right. The hoodie fell along her long neck, and holes had been cut for her wings. Her head dipped forward and tail curled morosely. Joey snorted out a laugh. He leaned back, resting his head on a pillow. Red took the opportunity to climb onto his chest and nest there, kneading holes into his shirt with her claws.
They exchanged snapshots back and forth to each other for a while, Joey having built up quite a collection of Red Eyes photos, and Kaiba had a similar bottomless archive. Red went back to sleep while Joey typed message after message. Her feet twitched in a dream. He snapped another video, but he couldn’t keep his own soft laughter out of it. He sent it off to Kaiba.
Three dots popped up, disappeared, popped up again, and then trailed off into nothing. Joey waited, but his messages remained quiet. He sighed, letting his phone drop to the floor beside him, and he scooped up Red, who squawked and pushed against him, her wings fluttering, before she gave up and curled into his embrace.
---
Joey stared at the advertisement down the street from the Kame Game. Plastered on the wall were the promised Kuribohs, dropped into a fuzzy pile with large round eyes. Kaiba Corp stamped the corner in its simple logo. Red pulled on her leash. She hated to wait on him.
He took a picture, even though he was pretty certain Yugi would’ve seen it by now. He was still fiddling with his phone as the pair walked up the sidewalk to the game store. Yugi’s grandfather had a doctor’s appointment today, and Joey’d promised to look after the place while they were out. The last time he’d left Red alone for too long, she’d eaten the plants on his windowsill and figured out how to get to the treats on the high shelves of his cabinets. Better to look after her until he managed to dragon-proof the apartment. Plus, he’d told the elder Muto, maybe she might draw in some kids.
Walking a dragon had been a weird thing at first. Part of her starter kit had come with a harness that hooked under her wings, and it’d taken a bit of fiddling for the initial few attempts, only partially because Red kept slinking out of it. Finally wrangled, he’d put the leash on and felt a little bit crazy walking around with her. People definitely stopped to stare, and even now they weren’t common, especially in his neighborhood. But like many things in Joey’s life, the weirdness had worn away until this was common occurrence. Get the harness on (Red still fought him over it), hook in the leash, make a few rounds around the block. Red liked to chase pigeons, and she’d flutter up on benches and store fronts to investigate them, and she was constantly running ahead of him, but mostly she was well behaved and didn’t seem bothered by people or other animals.
It was what surprised him, now, when she started making a high pitched noise, pulling on the lead. A similar sound squawked from up ahead. Joey stopped as he saw Kaiba outside the game store, his own Blue Eyes on a similar leash, yanking him away from his conversation with Yugi. Her long neck craned as she tried to reach Red. Kaiba’s arm jerked, and he stumbled away from Yugi before pulling the dragon back.
“You ignore us for six months out of the year,” Joey said as he approached, keeping a careful handle on Red. “Now I see your skinny ass everywhere.”
Kaiba rolled his eyes, undermined somewhat by the Blue Eyes at his feet hopping up and down as she and Red made contact. “I see now how gracious you’re going to be every time I give you a gift.”
The two dragons sniffed around each other, tails twitching but not unhappily. Blue Eyes’ caw was a little deeper and cracked in the back of her throat. Red was high pitched in comparison.
“They seem to get on pretty well,” Yugi commented, kneeling down to look at the both of them. They were too interested in each other to be bothered by the King of Games.
“They remember each other,” Seto said matter of factly, and when twin gazes of confusion turned to him, he shored up his shoulders. “I’m genetically engineering predators. I’ve seen a movie before. Socialization is the first thing I focused on.”
The Blue Eyes rolled onto her back and kicked at Red. Kaiba seemed unbothered, so Joey let them go.
“They get raised in batches,” Kaiba continued as he watched the two play. “Red Eyes was a special case, since there’s only one of her. Blue was her companion.”
Yugi rose to his feet as Joey repeated, “Blue?”
Kaiba’s chin lifted. “It’s not the most creative name, but it suits her.”
“Huh,” he said and watched the two dragons.
“Red and Blue,” Yugi said and smiled up at them. “They’re like sisters.”
Kaiba’s brow furrowed in his usual annoyed look, but Joey grinned. He reached down to scritch Blue on the head.
“In-laws with Kaiba,” he said. “Who’da thunk.”
The dragon purred beneath his affections. Red jealously butted her spiked head against his hand. Inside the shop, they could hear the grumblings of the old man inside. Yugi let out a breath.
“Are you staying, Kaiba?” he asked. “Joey’s watching the shop for a while.”
Kaiba paused. Blue and Red settled beside each other, both cawing quietly, and Joey smiled down at them.
“I will stay,” Kaiba said finally. “You’ve received the new booster sets, haven’t you?”
“I’d think you’d get those direct,” Yugi said with a wry smile.
“I like seeing them in the store,” was all he said.
Joey elbowed him. “Well you’re in for a madcap couple of hours. I restock shelves while entertaining middle schoolers.”
“That is,” Kaiba said, “one half of my job description.”
“There you go, finally on the same page about something.”
Yugi smiled at the two of them. “I can see the shop is in good hands.”
Joey waved off Yugi and his grandpa before settling behind the counter. Red and Blue prowled around the new space, exploring every inch of it. Despite what he’d promised the elder Muto, he’d already had to pull a foil packet of cards out of Red’s mouth.
“I’m surprised you stayed,” he said as Kaiba looked over the freshly packaged cards. “I thought without Yugi around you’d tell me to suck it.”
“You’ve proven entertaining so far,” he said. “You still duel, don’t you?”
Joey narrowed his eyes at him as he came around the other side of the counter. “I know you know I do. I’ve come in top three in several of your tournaments.”
Kaiba smirked as he began laying out cards. “Still struggling for number one?”
Joey snatched up one of the practice decks. “Oh I am going to kill you.”
He did successfully manage to beat Kaiba twice with the somewhat random decks Grandpa Muto kept lying around. Yugi and his grandfather returned to the pair of them arguing strategy while Red and Blue were fast asleep on the countertop, snoring. The time had passed quickly with Kaiba to entertain him. They meandered a while, catching up with the Mutos before Kaiba announced he’d been kept from the work long enough, and Joey figured he and Red should head back. They both stepped outside onto the quiet street. The sun was roaming towards evening, but it still felt early enough. Neither of them moved as the door closed shut behind them. Both dragons squawked impatiently.
“So,” Joey said, racking his brain for any talking points. He landed on, “Mokuba’s decided which school?”
Kaiba gave a single, unhappy nod. “He’ll be in Valencia at the start of the semester.”
“That’s cool.” They continued to stand there. Joey rocked back on his heels as Red tugged anxiously on the leash. “You’re gonna miss him, huh?”
Kaiba’s shoulders came up. He’d pulled at something too personal, he realized. Kaiba prided himself as untouchable, but there’d always been a hole in his armor, one that too many people had stuck a knife into. They let the topic settle in the silence between them, before Joey decided to just go for it.
“Um,” he said, and Kaiba’s gaze swiveled to him. “We should get coffee sometime, maybe.”
He watched the gears turn in Kaiba’s head, who managed out a, “Why?”
“Well,” he sucked in a breath, “I think I’ve figured out a move around your Ring of Destruction so I’m definitely gonna try that out, but mostly you’ve been… friendly, I guess, lately, and I think you’ll say yes.”
Kaiba was quiet. His mouth was a straight line. Blue lifted her head up at his feet, looking at him with the same curious eyes Joey was using.
“I mean, you don’t have to,” he backpedaled when the silence went on. “You’re busy and stuff and you probably don’t wanna see me so if you just wanna forget it--”
“Okay,” Kaiba said finally, stuttering Joey in his pace. His stance shifted. The armor coming off. “Coffee is acceptable. Name the time and place. Not Wednesday. I have a hundred meetings.”
Joey nodded mutely, scared if he said anything more it might talk him out of it.
“Okay,” Kaiba repeated and nodded in farewell. He turned sharply and stalked away. Joey let out the breath he’d been holding.
He glanced back to the store, and Yugi and his grandfather quickly ducked their heads down, pretending they were reading one of the magazines he’d left out. Red squawked at him, and she pulled him back towards home.
---
J: What did you mean ‘coffee is acceptable’
J: You look like you drink thirty cups a day
J: Your bones are gonna vibrate to the next dimension
J: You gotta have like a rabbit heart right? 160 bpm
J: Not that I worry about you
K: Coffee is casual and quick. If I’m going to devote that much time to leisure, I want the outcome to be worth the effort.
K: Coffee is fine, but dinner is preferred.
---
Kaiba Land was strangely empty this evening. A few families carried toddlers over their shoulders or carried wagons of kids back towards the entrance. They were between seasons, and the summer fireworks didn’t display, nor the winter spectacle. The air still had a bite of cold to it that made Joey hitch up his jacket as he was let in through an employee entrance by the familiar Isono. Apparently Kaiba had ended his day here, and he walked along the familiar pathways, now nearly empty except for a few devoted couples and a handful of high schoolers laughing loudly on the benches. Joey was told to head towards Adena’s Castle, and he slowed as he approached the huge pen of dragons. The moon managed to rise beautifully over the castle, and the three beasts lay in small lumps, draped across each other one by one. A couple of kids were still taking selfies in front of them. He stopped as he saw Kaiba’s figure standing on the far side, watching his creations with an unreadable look across his face. He looked weirdly normal in a simple black shirt and pants. He hadn’t noticed Joey yet.
Kaiba had messaged him about dinner. It’d turned into a bit of a negotiation. Joey didn’t trust any of his choices, and if Kaiba didn’t eat at a five star restaurant, then he was at a fast food drive thru. They’d settled on a spot near the park, small and quick. Neither of them had referred to it as anything other than dinner. Neither of them had given any hint that this might be more than two friends enjoying each other’s company, if Kaiba could admit to them being friends, which he didn’t. So it could be anything. It could be nothing. But it was something.
Trying not to vibrate into the next dimension, heart beating like a rabbit, Joey sauntered up to Kaiba’s side and called, “You invite me here to show off?”
He noted the way Kaiba rose at the sound of his voice, shoulders shoring. Joey only offered a grin up at him, curling his hands on the railing that surrounded the dragon pen.
“Were you even working,” he asked, “or just enjoying your park?”
“I can do both,” Kaiba said. He kept watching the dragons. A fraction of his stance eased. “And I do like to show off.”
Joey nodded and watched the dragons alongside him. One of the Blue Eyes opened her eyes and lifted her head, as if sensing them.
“It’s still crazy that you did this,” he said and hooked a foot into the bottom rail, lifting forward and off the ground. The Blue Eyes huffed. “Did you name them yourself?”
Kaiba nodded. Joey let out a laugh.
“Shoulda known,” he said. “They’re your babies. How long have you been planning this anyway?”
“A while,” Kaiba said. “It’s been on my mind.”
“Can I ask you something?” He rocked back and forth. Kaiba’s gaze slide to side eye him. When he said nothing, Joey soldiered on. “Why?”
“Why what?” Kaiba asked.
He threw a hand out, wobbling a little. “Why this? Why make ‘em real?”
Kaiba didn’t answer for a long minute, and Joey figured he’d just ignore him, push onto something else like usual. But there was something contemplative in his silence. The Blue Eyes tilted her head, as though asking the question herself.
“The Blue Eyes is important to me,” Kaiba said slowly.
Joey snorted in reply. “Yeah, no kidding.”
His stance picked up again, like he was putting on armor. He took a breath. “When Mokuba and I were under our adopted father’s care, we were separated. Sometimes, the only thing we had was Duel Monsters. We both latched onto the idea that the Blue Eyes would protect us.”
Joey dropped down to the ground, wincing as his sneakers hit the concrete. “That’s, uh, a more honest answer than I was expecting.”
Kaiba remained facing forward. “You did ask.”
He scraped his teeth across his lip. “But why’d you make them?”
“I suppose,” he said, letting out a breath, “with Mokuba leaving, I needed her. I suppose I never really moved past it.”
They watched as the Blue Eyes blink slowly, and she settled back down with her sisters. Kaiba didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t offer up embarrassment or regret at sharing that. Like with many things, he seemed to dare Joey to say anything in response, to try to dig the knife in. Joey wondered if he actually thought he would, or if it was just instinct honed from a lifetime of hardships.
“It’s kinda funny,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Me and my sister couldn’t see each other for a long time, and the thing that brought her back was Duel Monsters. I don’t know if I’d have half a chance without it.”
Kaiba still didn’t look at him, but his posture cracked by another half an inch. It was weird to think about. That they had so much shared experience. As they watched the dragons snooze, Joey made another bold choice, and he reached out and closed his hands around Kaiba’s. He expected him to pull away, or to prick him with sharp words. Instead they stood there for a long time, neither saying anything at all.
It was Kaiba who finally broke the silence, removing his phone to check the time. He made a low noise.
“It’s late,” he said. “Are you still hungry?”
Joey smiled at him. “Let’s go.”
Their hands released as they walked towards the entrance, but the moment remained, falling behind them like a shadow.
---
They ended up at a small curry place with only a handful of tables, which was alright for the pair of them. Joey leaned back in his chair to watch the cook make it, and when it was set before them, he gave an enthusiastic thanks. They found idle things to talk about: the expansion of Kaiba Land, the tournaments Joey was entering, and, of course, the dragons. Running low on those topics, it felt time to tackle the big one.
“So…” Joey said, setting down his chopsticks. “Is this a date?”
Kaiba’s hands paused, but his face remained neutral. He seemed to consider his options before asking, “Do you want it to be?”
Joey pushed his empty plate away. “That’s not really fair. You were the one that suggested dinner. And then you paid. If it’s a date, it’s because you want it to be.”
“It puts you in an awkward position,” Kaiba said and resumed picking at his red sausage. “If you don’t want it to be.”
“Because it’s a date?”
Kaiba only stared him down as he chewed slowly. Joey kicked him under the table, and he shouted.
“Fine!” he snapped. “It’s a date. Happy?”
He grinned, picking up his chopsticks again to steal from Kaiba’s plate. “I was worried for a minute there.”
Kaiba ushered his hand away with his own cutlery. “You’re really very annoying.”
“And now we’re dating.” He popped a sausage into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Wait. You didn’t give me a dragon so I’d go out with you, did you?”
Kaiba scoffed, bringing himself upright. “I object to the idea that I’d waste Kaiba Corp technology and resources to impress you into dating me when the same affect could be achieved by a bouquet of flowers.”
“I don’t know.” Joey tapped his bowl. “Spending millions just to show me up and then treat it as a magnanimous gift is sort of your entire M.O.”
“Good use of magnanimous,” Kaiba applauded.
He bowed his head. “Thank you.”
“But no, your Red Eyes was an experimental model that needed a home.” He looked down at his plate. “Which you’ve done a very good job of.”
Joey grinned, accepting the compliment. “You know, it’s funny you gave those other dragons such flowery names, but the one you got at home is named Blue.”
“She was the first one,” Kaiba said. “At the time it seemed the easiest way to refer to her. I suppose I could give her a flower name, if it’s more in brand.”
Joey thought of his own dragon, curled up in her hammock back home. “I like it, personally. ‘Course I named mine Red.”
“You did,” he said slowly.
“Red and Blue,” Joey repeated. “They’re kinda like a match set.”
Neither of them replied to that. Joey remembered what Yugi said about them being sisters, and he swigged his water to swallow down the rise of anxiety. They’d just tricked each other into their first date. Conversations about kids, however joking, could wait.
“You are gonna give Yugi a Kuriboh though,” Joey said, bringing the conversation back to sturdier ground.
Kaiba grinned. “Oh, absolutely.”
“He’s going to hate that,” he said with a smile of his own, and as Kaiba launched into the mechanics of their April release date, he couldn’t help but laugh. It’d been a long, strange journey that led them here and now, and Joey couldn’t imagine it going any other way.
Kaiba walked with him to the train station, and they paused out on the street. They’d enjoyed each other’s company walking in pace with half an inch of open air between them. Now Joey debated his chances as he heard the chime of the approaching train.
“It was a pretty good date,” he said. “I could do it again sometime.”
Kaiba sucked in a breath and said, “There is one thing I think is customary for a date, if it went well.”
Joey’s face lit up with a smile, and he inched closer. “Yeah?”
Kaiba looked at him, brow furrowing, and then he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned down, pressing his lips to Joey’s in an uncertain but tender kiss. Joey lifted his head up to return it. The train rattled on the tracks behind them. Kissing Kaiba was different than he’d expected. Gentler. If he’d thought about it ( if! ), Joey didn’t know if he’d expect such softness to come from someone with so many hard edges. Kaiba pulled away first, standing to attention. Joey held in a laugh at the serious expression on his face.
“Pretty good,” he repeated.
Kaiba nodded in return. They said their farewells, and Joey headed back home, where Red was waiting patiently with a torn open bag of treats on the counter. She squawked at him and crawled after him the second he collapsed on the couch. He relaxed there for a minute, feeling buoyed by the good evening and simultaneously uncertain about the next step. Dates he’d always been good at, dating was hard. But as Red pawed at him, his phone went off, and he saw an image of Blue curled on the couch on a worn blanket that had clearly been nibbled on and loved. The message that came with it read, Exactly where I left her.
He giggled and showed Red, who cawed her approval and quickly curled into his lap.