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The sun rose, and Kaiba did with it, just like every day. It was different today, though. He woke up with a major headache. His brain was pounding in his skull as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He groaned and as he rubbed his temple, he saw a messy head of bleached blonde hair. Kaiba stopped. He stopped moving, stopped breathing even. What was this mutt doing in his bed? Kaiba tried to think of the night leading up to this... the last thing he could remember was Pegasus making some stupid toast.
The duel monsters tournament Kaiba hosted had finally concluded. The winner? Joey fucking Wheeler. Since Atem had left, Yugi stopped participating in tournaments as much, and Kaiba had far too many responsibilities to just run off and play card games. Now here he was, standing at a party that, as usual, he was hosting. A party promised to be in the winner's honor. In Joey's honor.
Kaiba bit the inside of his cheek, doing his best to stay looking collected. He tried not to think too hard about how Wheeler's deck was mostly full of chance cards, or how it was highly statistically improbable for his win to lose ratio to be the way it was. Tried not to think about how annoying he Joey was or how insufferable he would be after this win. He also tried to ignore how good Joey looked in his suit, sitting at the front of the room in a chair that Kaiba had specifically commissioned for this event.
The straw that finally broke the camel's back, however, was when he heard the ringing of a champagne glass, made even worse by the fact that Pegasus was the one to stand. 'Oh gods.' Kaiba thought. He knew he wouldn't make it through the whole thing, and he was right. He wasn't able to suppress the many eye rolls that came from him and halfway through, he decided he needed a drink to even pretend to care about the rest. So, politely as he could, he pushed his way through the crowd.
Kaiba held his tongue as he pushed his way through the crowd, shoulder checking multiple people as he went. He didn't mind, though. Right now, alcohol was far more important than his reputation. The bar itself was almost completely void of people, which was good with Kaiba, fewer people to pester him about new projects and their own ideas. Everyone seemed to be focused on pegasus’ idiotic speech. He ordered an old-fashioned and sat at the bar stool, crossing his legs as he rested his hands on his knee, a practiced and perfect pose. As he waited for his drink, he couldn't help but notice the uptick in volume throughout the room. Apparently, Pegasus stopped talking. Either that or everyone was as fed up with his stupid toast as Kaiba was. He let out a soft puff of air at the thought, an almost laugh.
Shortly after Kaiba got his drink, there was a slam against the bar, causing the liquid in his cup to move and clink the ice against the side of the glass. Kaiba shot a glare toward the disruption, only to be met with the same bottle blond he was glaring at earlier. That boy's hair must be dead, fried to death from the years of harsh bleaching. Kaiba couldn't really tell from the distance he was sitting though. Kaiba leaned slightly closer, examining the other's hair. It didn't seem too dead, actually. Almost healthy even.
"So, killer party, right?" Joey smiled at Kaiba. Kaiba flinched, sitting back up and clearing his throat. Now he had to converse with this mongrel? Fine, so be it, but he wasn't going to feign politeness. He knew Joey could handle it, he always did. Kaiba took a sip of his drink and sighed, setting the glass back down and turning himself to face the other.
"It better be for the amount I'm spending on it." Kaiba stated.
Joey snorted out, "Yeah, well, for the amount you're spending on it, you'd think you'd be having a better time." He looked away from Kaiba momentarily to collect his martini from the bartender with a quick "thank you". Kaiba hadn't noticed Joey order his drink. He must've been focused on something else.
"I didn't plan this party for me. I planned it to be a party for the collective. A formal event to mark the conclusion of another successful duel monsters tournament. If you want fun, you can go to one of those street parties that I see you at in the newspapers." Kaiba quipped, earning a side eyed look from Joey. "Also, a martini? I didn't know you had any kind of taste." He added.
Joey rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know," he began, "that I only ordered this drink because it's the one James Bond drinks "shaken, not stirred" and all that." Kaiba opened his mouth to explain the difference between a vodka (the kind James Bond typically got) and vesper martini (the kind they were serving) but knew the information would probably fly over Joey’s head so, instead, he decided it would be better not to say anything at all.
After taking another drink of his old-fashioned, Kaiba looked out at the rest of the party, looking over the crowd, some of them dancing. He didn't expect that, but it made sense. Kaiba had provided music and alcohol.
"You know, it was kinda lame. The tournament I mean." Joey stated, gaining the attention of Kaiba back.
"What, because you didn't almost die since there were actually strict rules? Or is it because you think you're superior? Don't get cocky, Wheeler, it'll be your downfall."
Joey scoffed, "of course I don't, I just mean that- wait a minute, you're cocky as hell! Take your own advice, you ass."
Kaiba took a last drink from his glass before raising an eyebrow at Joey, ready to reply. "I'm not cocky, I just know I'm better than you and I think sometimes you need a reminder." Joey started groaning loudly halfway through Kaiba's sentence, causing him to have to get progressively louder until at the end of his sentence where he was yelling.
"Damn it Wheeler!" Kaiba slammed his empty glass down onto the bar, not hard enough to break it, but enough to make a noise. "You are so insufferable, how do people even-"
"do you wanna dance with me?" Joey cut Kaiba off.
Kaiba had drank before. It's not like this was the first time he'd ever had alcohol, that being said, he was 19 and didn't do it often. So, that's how he got here, dancing with Joey wheeler on what had been established as the "dance floor". It was ridiculous, the song playing wasn't even one that you would dance to, much less with another person. This fact did not stop Joey from spinning Kaiba and leading him through some kind of stupid dance he was making up on the spot, placing his hand on Kaiba's waist.
Kaiba would be lying if he said he wasn't having fun. Occasionally, he and Joey went back to the bar to get more to drink, but overall, that was how they spent their night. Even as the other people left, Joey and Kaiba stayed, dancing. From this close, Kaiba could see details of Joey's face he'd never noticed before. The faint scar on his right cheek or the spot on his eyebrow where the hair was just slightly thinner. He could see the flecks of gold in his amber eyes and how his natural brown hair was starting to show at the roots. When he smiled, Kaiba could see that one of Joey's teeth was chipped.
At some point, they started laughing as they danced. Kaiba's lungs ached from a joke he couldn't remember, but he didn't dare stop. As Joey dipped him, his chest was rapidly expanding and contracting while he had that stupid grin on his face. He held Joey tightly, slightly scared he might fall. Kaiba couldn't not kiss him. He cupped Joey's face in his hands and pulled him close. Their lips brushed gently before Joey decided to close the gap, pulling Kaiba's chest against his as their lips clashed together.
Joey tasted like a mix of different drinks, but the sting of gin is the thing he made out the clearest of all. Kaiba couldn't say that he hadn't thought of this before, after one of their many duels or the more common verbal arguments. He never missed how soft Joey's lips looked, even as he spat such sharp insults. Kaiba ran his fingers through Joey's hair, and it was so soft.
Kaiba grabbed Joey's hand, leading him to the elevator. He scanned his card and as the elevator pulled them up, Kaiba couldn't help but connect their lips together again. They fit together so nicely. Joey fit so well, his lips against Kaiba’s, his body in Kaiba's hands. Kaiba hated how well he fit. By the time that they had made it to Kaiba's suite they were both already halfway undressed and after Kaiba locked the door-
Joey rolled over in bed with a groan, facing Kaiba and slowly opening his eyes before sitting up quickly, keeping eye contact.
"Oh shit. Hi."