Joey, Seto's puppy

Notes: This isn't the first yaoi fic I've posted, and it isn't the first YuGiOh yaoi fic I've written, but it's the first YuGiOh yaoi fic I've posted. …did anyone understand that? ^-^ What I mean is, I'm sort of 'testing the waters' here. Some of my friends will kill me for writing this, but I really want your input!

Seto-Joey is the main pairing, but if you want to think so, look for hints of Yami-Yugi. Kawaiiness!

(Pg13 is a sign of extreme paranoia. It's probably not that high)

*~*~*

"What's with you?" Yami asked, arching a brow at Yugi. His hikari had just come stomping through the door of the Game Shop, looking rather put out.

Yugi's small features were twisted into an uncertain pout, and he ignored his yami. "Joey!" he crooned instead, holding the door open and beckoning to something outside. "Come on in, Joey."

Yami furrowed his brow. Was Joey okay? Why did Yugi feel the need to baby-talk to him?

"It's okay, honey," Yugi said sweetly. "Come on inside."

Yami's brows shot up. Were Yugi and Joey- no, no. He shook his head to emphasize his point.

"If you come on in, Joey, I'll feed you and give you a belly rub. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Joey? Come on…"

At this, Yami's jaw dropped. What was going on? Why was Yugi offering to give Joey a belly rub? Were the two dating? Why hadn't Yugi informed him of this?

"Joey, here," Yugi said firmly, pointing inside. A black nose appeared in the doorway, level with Yugi's knee. Then a soft padding was heard and a golden dog slowly entered the Game Shop. The dog stood in the middle of the floor, staring quizzically at Yami with large amber eyes as Yugi flipped the 'Closed' sign on the door and shut it.

"What is that?" Yami yelped.

"This is Joey," Yugi said calmly, kneeling down to scratch the dog's ear.

"Joey?" Yami stared at the dog. "Kaiba and Bakura had something to do with this, didn't they?"

"No, it was Rebecca." Yugi said, giving him a funny look. "See, she and her grandfather were in town for a while, and Rebecca found this puppy in a pound. Professor Hawkins would never let her get a pet, because they move around so much, but she picked Joey out and hid him in her closet. Of course, Professor Hawkins found out after a few days." He paused, and Joey took advantage of the moment and rolled over. With a small grin, Yugi began giving the dog the promised belly rub. "But Rebecca wouldn't let Joey go back to the pound, so she begged me to take him." He sighed again. "I wonder what Grandpa will say."

"Oh," Yami said blankly. "I get it. At first, I thought…"

"Hm?" Yugi asked distractedly.

"Never mind," Yami said hurriedly. He watched his hikari give the dog a final pat and climb to his feet.

"Hungry?" Yugi asked, looking from Joey to Yami.

"Yugi, what do dogs eat?" Yami asked, following him into the kitchen.

"Uh…" Yugi stopped, and turned to give Yami a sheepish grin. "Usually dog food. But tonight, I guess he's eating chicken."

"So you're keeping him?" Téa squealed, planting a kiss on Joey's (the dog's) forehead. Joey, who had taken a liking to her, started licking her face as she kneeled down to pet him.

The human Joey, dressed in his casual blue jacket, leaned against a tree and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Cute dog," he said, grinning. "What's his name?"

Yugi winced. He, Yami, and their friends had met in the park the day after Rebecca had given him Joey. He'd explained the situation with Rebecca, and told them that Grandpa had given him permission to keep the dog, but had avoided saying the name so far. "Joey," he said reluctantly.

"What?" Joey asked, running a hand through his hair loosely.

"No, the dog's name is Joey," Yugi tried to explain. "Rebecca named him, not me."

Tristan and Duke burst out laughing. Serenity, sitting on the ground between them, tried her best to stifle her grin. "Hey!" Joey protested, shooting them a dirty look. "Very funny, guys!"

"Kaiba will have a field day," Duke remarked, leaning back on his hands. Abruptly, Joey's face flared red. Duke eyed him in mild alarm- "You okay, Joey?"- while Serenity suddenly ducked her head. Yami caught sight of a wide smile on her face and furrowed his brow. Odd.

"Great," Joey grumbled good-naturedly, apparently recovered. "Hey, c'mere, Joey!" He whistled, and the dog jumped off of Téa and ran over, wagging his tail. "Good-looking fellow," he grinned, scratching Joey's neck.

"I don't know much about taking care of a dog," Yugi confessed, looking around. "I need to get some dog food tonight, and a collar or something."

"You'll need to register the dog," Téa informed him, dusting golden fur off her shorts. "Then you can get a tag saying that the dog has been registered and has gotten rabies shots and everything."

"I've got an idea," Joey said, reaching for the dog tag around his neck. "Check it out!" He removed the tag and clasped it around the dog's neck. "It says Joey on it! This can be his temporary collar!"

"That's pretty cool," Téa said, tilting her head to the side. "It fits Joey well?"

"Yeah," Joey said proudly.

"Joey looks like Joey," Serenity commented, stretching her hand out for the dog. He ran up to her, sniffing her neck happily. "See the similarities? Blonde, amber eyes…"

"Open and friendly," Téa added, smiling at Joey.

"And too hungry for his own good," Yami put in, remembering how Joey had stolen his food last night.

"I guess Yami and I should take Joey to the vet tomorrow," Yugi said thoughtfully. "I'll get his food tonight though. I don't think Yami likes having to share." He grinned cheekily.

"You want company tomorrow?" Téa offered hesitantly. "I don't want to intrude."

"No, it'll be fun!" Yugi chirped. "Does anyone else want to come?"

"Oh, I will!" Joey volunteered. "The poor thing will need moral support." He gave an exaggerated sigh. "I wouldn't want to make my namesake suffer alone." As if Joey (the dog) understood him, he stopped sniffing Serenity and gave Yugi a whimpering look.

"It won't be that bad," Yugi assured the dog, cocking his head to the side. "But Yami and Joey and I should be going home now. I'll call you tonight, Téa and Joey, okay?"

"Sure!" Téa called, blowing Joey (the dog) a kiss good-bye. "See you tomorrow!"

"I don't think he liked the shots," Yugi said sheepishly, coming out of the veterinarians. He'd stayed in with Joey (the dog), while Yami and Téa and Joey (the human) wandered into the store next door to find a suitable collar, in addition to other toys, for the dog.

"That's too bad," Téa said sympathetically. "But we found some cute stuff! There's this one adorable toy; it's a really soft plushie!"

"It's for Joey to rip apart with his teeth," Joey said solemnly, earning a playful whack on the arm from Téa.

"Yugi, what is this Joey's been telling me about 'house-training'?" Yami asked, wide-eyed. Yugi flinched a little and blushed.

"Er…" Yugi glared at Joey, who grinned cheekily at him. "I'll tell you about it later! I have to go pick up the tag for Joey! Can you watch him, Yami?" Without waiting for an answer, he dashed back into the building. "Thanks!"

"I think I'll, uh… go with Yug," Joey said sheepishly, evading Yami's questioning glance. "Why doesn't Téa explain house-training to you?" He waved at Téa as he trotted away.

"So what is it, Téa?" Yami questioned, as Joey sniffed around his ankles and whimpered a little.

She blushed. "Well, you see, Yami… Dogs, uh, are like little children. When you first get them, they don't know much about our standard of manners. Including, say, where to go to the bathroom. You have to teach them not to… er, 'go' on the floor…"

Téa tried to explain the process of training Joey to Yami, while the former Pharaoh listened with wide, rather horrified eyes. But when Yugi and Joey came trotting out of the veterinarian's office, collar and leash in hand, the dog was gone.

Joey wandered into the 'classy' section of town, feeling horribly out of place. And a bit foolish, as he called out "Jo-oey!" repeatedly. Good thing he didn't know anyone here.

Joey's (the dog's) collar and leash were in his jacket pocket, and he patted them worriedly. Yugi had been crushed when he found that Joey had wandered away, and of course Yami and Téa had felt terrible. The four of them had split up and begun searching right away. "Joey!" he called again.

Mokuba walked his bike up to the gateway that lead to the Kaiba mansion, only to find a dog complacently sitting by the entrance. "Hey!" he exclaimed, stopping short and staring at the dog.

The dog stared back.

Mokuba started giggling a little. "Hello, buddy!" he said happily. "Who's dog are you?" Of course, he received no answer.

"I wonder if you're the neighbor's dog," he said thoughtfully. "I should go ask them." But then he glanced at the dog again, and noted the lack of real collar. There was only a cheap dog tag strung around the golden dog's neck; something his neighbors would never stand for. "I guess not."

He wasn't sure what to do, but one thing was for sure. Mokuba was not about to leave such a cute puppy out here all alone. "Sshh," he whispered as he opened the gate and ushered the dog inside, leaving the bike lying on the ground outside. "You can hide in my room while I figure out what do to with you. But we can't let Seto find out, okay?"

The dog wagged his tail but didn't bark, and Mokuba took that as a good sign. The two of them snuck through the room, narrowly avoiding the maid, and dashed up the stairs. "Whew!" Mokuba giggled once they were safely in his bedroom. "That was close." He fell to the ground, and the dog jumped on him, licking his face. "Hehehe!" he giggled. "That tickles, buddy!" He mock-wrestled with the dog a while, laughing: Seto was great, but rarely shed his composed demeanor.

"Ah!" Mokuba cried, falling back. "I give, I give!" The dog jumped off him and licked his ear a final time. Mokuba giggled and sat up. "Hold on, I'll get you something to eat!" he told the dog, clambering to his feet. "Oh… I need to bring in my bike, too. But I'll hurry back!" He patted the dog on the head and dashed out the door, closing it behind him. But he dashed down the hall without waiting for the telltale 'click' of the lock.

Back in Mokuba's room, Joey sniffed the crack. By nudging it with his nose, he managed to open the door enough to slip through.

Joey quickened his pace, hoping to get out of the area with the huge mansions as quickly as possible. Ahead of him, a small boy opened the gate to his mansion and began dragging a bicycle inside.

"Mokuba?" Joey asked.

"What?" The black-haired boy spun around. "Oh, hey! Joey! What are you doing here?"

Joey sighed. "I'm looking for a dog, actually. You haven't seen him, have you? A golden retriever, pretty young?"

Mokuba's head drooped a little. "I saw him," he admitted. "Actually, he's up in my room. I thought he was a stray."

"That's great!" Joey exclaimed. "You're not kidding?"

"No," Mokuba said sadly. "I kind of wish he could stay longer, though." He sighed.

Joey looked at Mokuba's depressed face. "Oh, you like dogs?" he asked, rubbing his head. "I hate to take him back from you, but he's not mine. He's Yugi's, and Yugi is pretty upset about losing him."

"He's Yugi's dog?" Mokuba asked. "How long has Yugi had him?"

"Only a day," Joey confessed, grinning. "He's a pretty cool dog, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Mokuba responded, smiling back. "Hey, if he's Yugi's dog, do you think Yugi would let me come and see him sometime?"

"I think that'd be great!" Joey said cheerfully.

"Goodie!" Mokuba beamed. "What's his name?"

"Eh-heh," Joey grinned sheepishly. "Actually, the dog's name is Joey too."

Mokuba smothered a giggle. "Oh. That's cool. So you wanna come in while I get Joey?"

"All right," Joey responded automatically, starting to follow Mokuba inside. But about halfway to the mansion, he gulped as a thought occurred to him: "Um, Kaiba's not in there, is he?"

"He's working in his room," Mokuba said, skipping ahead. "Come on, Joey." He held the door open: "You can wait here while I get the dog, all right?"

"Sure…" Joey said slowly, stepping in the front hall and gazing with awe at his surroundings. Mokuba's footsteps echoed on the huge staircase for a few seconds, then faded from hearing.

"Joey," Mokuba crooned as he approached his room. His heart plummeted the second he saw the open door: he just knew it. "Joey?" he asked weakly as he peered into the empty room. "Jooooey!"

Seto rubbed his neck to get the annoying ache out and decided to head downstairs for something to eat. But as he stepped out of his office, he was confronted with… well, something he hadn't expected.

Sure, he'd fantasized about a golden haired, amber eyed puppy waiting for him, wearing nothing but a collar. But… well, he hadn't really expected it to be an actual dog.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the dog blankly, wondering even as he asked why he bothered. He was obviously suffering from serious tension. Mokuba was right, he shouldn't be working quite so much.

"Um… come here," he told the dog cautiously, reaching out. To his surprise, the dog didn't back away. He grabbed the collar- a simple chain, he noted. A familiar-looking chain. His cool blue eyes furrowed as he fingered it, and he turned the tag over.

In simple block letters, it read Joey. And nothing else. He knew now that he definitely recognized it; it was the dog tag that Wheeler always wore.

The thought flashed through his mind that Mokuba was playing a joke on him; testing him. But he was fairly sure he'd kept this new and unexpected obsession well hidden. That left the slightly more illogical explanation…

"Joey?" he asked softly, running a hand through the dog's fur. In response, the puppy licked his hand. "Is that you?" he asked cautiously. "Did something happen?"

'Joey' licked his hand again, and he abruptly stood up. No, he was just going crazy. Proven by the soft voice he heard, floating down the halls: 'Jooooey!' His mind had obviously become warped. "Go away," he told the imaginary dog. "Go away and stop haunting me. I don't care about Wheeler. You're wrong."

The dog gave him a look of pure confusion, and suddenly jumped up and dashed down the hall. Seto clenched his eyes, willing himself not to…

Well, what would he do? Run after the imaginary dog that his mind had obviously based off of Joey Wheeler and declare his love for it? Not likely.

So instead, he just stood there.

Joey furrowed his brow: did he hear Mokuba calling his name? Or was he calling the dog? He stood in the hallway, undecided, when Joey galloped down the staircase. "Joey!" he said in relief, kneeling and stretching out his hand. The golden dog trotted over and greeted him with yet another lick on the face.

"Okay," Joey said, petting the dog. "Let's get a real collar on you, first of all." He pulled it out of his pocket and clasped it on. "You've still got my dog tag," he grumbled jokingly, removing that. In the process of putting it on, Joey the dog apparently heard something. Before Joey the human had a chance to grab his new collar, or take the leash out of his pocket, the dog had run off again. "You're kidding," Joey sighed, almost laughing. He stood up slowly, bracing himself to head into the labyrinth that was the Kaiba mansion, when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He glanced up to see Seto Kaiba slowly making his way down. Seto was wearing a black trenchcoat, and his dazzling eyes were lightly closed. He was rubbing his temples, as if he had a headache.

And Joey froze.

Seto was trying to banish images of the golden haired, amber eyed, Joey-puppy from his mind. He headed for the kitchens, arguing in his head about how much harm a drink would do him. But when he opened his eyes, the golden haired, amber-eyed Joey-puppy was standing at the bottom of the staircase, gaping up at him. He was still wearing the tag, but with one difference.

He was in kissable- and ravishable- form.

It was obviously a figment of his imagination. So it really couldn't hurt if he actually went and kissed- or ravished- Joey, right? But he didn't do anything.

He froze.

Mokuba managed to circle the house in record time after realizing that Seto wasn't in his office. "Joey!" he called desperately, dashing from the back room into the main hall, where hopefully the human Joey was still waiting.

As he skidded into the foyer, he saw that indeed Joey was waiting there. He was standing by the front door, gaping at Seto, who was at the bottom of the stairs.

He probably could have explained that away. Unfortunately, the dog had heard him calling. With a loud bark, dog Joey came bounding into the foyer again.

Oops.

Seto's genius was legendary, and he sorted everything quickly, the foremost thought being that he wasn't insane. "Wheeler," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Is this your dog?"

"Eh…" Joey said, at a loss. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it's actually Yugi's."

Seto sneered at the mention of the name. "And why is it in my house?"

"Er…" Joey paused to look at Mokuba, unwilling to say anything that would get the boy in trouble. "Joey ran away from me and snuck inside," he finally said; at least there was some truth in that. "Mokuba was helping me look for him."

"Joey?" Seto echoed, glaring at Joey (the human).

"The dog's name," Joey mumbled. Unsurprisingly, this caused Seto to laugh. What was surprising, however, was that the laugh sounded natural. It was rather nice and Joey started to think that he liked it, but Seto caught on and stopped immediately.

"How fitting," he sneered. "The dog's name is Joey."

Joey crossed his arms and glared at him, temper rising. "Watch it, Kaiba," he snapped. He started to say more, but Seto cut him off.

"Why was the dog wearing your tag?" he asked coldly. "Hard as it is to tell you apart, I happened to notice that." He shot a glance at the dog; it now had a real collar.

Joey shrugged. "Long story."

"Excuse me?" Seto asked frigidily. He didn't accept evasive answers. "Wheeler, you're in my house. I don't allow dogs in it, and here I have two. I demand an explanation before you're allowed to leave."

Joey laughed, almost disbelieving. "You can't do that," he said, rolling his eyes. "Mokuba, I'm gonna take off now." He spun around and headed for the door, but Seto covered the distance between them with a few long strides.

"Wheeler, I will get an explanation!" he growled, grabbing his shoulder. "I don't let people walk away from me!"

"You're crossing the line, Kaiba," Joey warned. All of a sudden, he smiled: "You'd better let me leave. Joey hasn't gone to the bathroom in a while, and he's not house-trained yet."

Seto's eyes narrowed to slits. Afraid of what his big brother would say next, Mokuba spoke up: "I'll take Joey outside."

"He's staying in here," Seto shot back.

"I meant the dog," Mokuba said, looking at his older brother with large eyes. "Is that okay? You can talk to Joey and I'll take the dog outside?"

Seto scowled at Joey, but looked at Mokuba softly. "You do that, kiddo," he said in a normal voice. "Wheeler and I will go upstairs and have a few words."

"What?" Joey yelped, but was cut off by Seto dragging him away.

"I'm not going to let this go, Wheeler," he growled in his ear. "When you enter my house, you enter my territory."

Mokuba watched them go, then scurried outside with Joey. The golden dog cocked his head and stared at Mokuba.

"I know," Mokuba said, ruffling Joey's fur. "It looks like I'm leaving Joey in a bad situation, huh? But I don't know. Seto…" he hesitated. "You wanna know a secret?" he whispered in Joey's ear, and got a wagging tail in response. "I think Seto likes Joey," he whispered, then started giggling. "I hope Joey likes Seto too."

This would be a lot easier if he didn't secretly like Seto, Joey reflected. But as it was, he was shut up in a small office with him. The good news: Seto had yanked off the heavy trenchcoat and tossed it aside, revealing a tight- very tight- white tee. The bad news: Seto was currently ready to rip his head off, and not in a good way either.

"You're making too much out of this, Kaiba," Joey snorted, folding his arms defiantly. "I had nothing to do with the dog ending up in your house. In fact, I was trying to help you, by getting him out."

"You don't waltz in my house and disrespect me like that," Seto hissed. A curious thing had happened; he felt as if he'd been sucked out of his body and was watching the scene from afar. As a matter of fact, he was rooting for that angry-looking brown-haired boy to pounce on the sexy blonde one and begin to… well…

"Disrespect you?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow. "Kaiba, what did I do?"

"You and the stupid dog were messing with my mind," Seto hissed. "Acting out everything I've ever said or fantasized about. Having my little puppy Joey wait outside my door for me, only to find that it's actually a dog! To come down the stairs to find you standing there, only to find that it's because of that stupid dog! To poke fun at my insults to you, to flaunt my feelings for you!" His chest was heaving and his face was red, and this really, really wasn't what he'd meant to say.

Joey stared blankly at him. Maybe he was the one losing his mind.

Seto glared at Joey for a few seconds. When it became apparent that the blonde wasn't about to do anything, he took two big steps and stood directly in front of Joey. "Dog tag," he scowled, yanking on it. "Why do you wear this?"

The question was so unexpected that Joey couldn't do anything but gape at him. Unfortunately for Seto, this provided him with an excellent view of Joey's rough pink lips, and inviting tongue…

The day had been entirely unpredictable so far. Seto threw everything to the wind and yanked on the dog tag, forcefully bringing Joey's lips to his own.

"Joey!" Yugi called, dashing up the Kaiba lawn. "Mokuba!" he exclaimed upon seeing the black-haired boy sitting in the middle of the grass. "Why do you have my dog?"

"He ran here," Mokuba explained, standing up to greet Yugi. He smiled cheerfully. "The real Joey found him a while ago, but he's inside talking to Seto."

"Really?" Yugi asked, eyebrows raised, as he hugged Joey. "Talking to Seto?"

Mokuba frowned. "I think so," he said slowly, clambering to his feet. Yugi started to follow him inside. "Although at this rate, they're probably either beating each other up or making out."

"Mokuba!" Yugi exclaimed, blushing red. "They're- they-"

"Well, they've been in there half an hour," Mokuba said defensively. "They're not really talky people, are they? More action people." He pushed the front door open, and Joey leaped through and bounded up the stairs. "Oh no- not again-"

Joey took the stairs quickly, leaving Yugi and Mokuba at the bottom looking up at him in despair. He trotted down the hall, coming to a partially open door and nudging his way into the room.

Seto still had a grip on Joey's dog tag with one hand, and the other was running through Joey's blonde mop of hair. They were sitting side by side, pressed tightly together, in the middle of the room. With a joyous bark, Joey jumped up to them and began pawing at Seto's leg.

The human Joey cracked an eye to see Seto glancing down at the mud stains on his dark pants, looking horrified. With a lazy grin, Joey lifted his face and kissed away the frown on Seto's face.

"Jo-ey!" desperate calls came from downstairs. The dog barked again, but jumped up and began licking Seto's face (the left side).

The puppy grinned again, and leaned up and began kissing Seto's face (the right side).

'S all good.

*~*~*

Notes: About the ending: don't ask. Well, not if you want to keep your sanity, anyway.

Remember… ::chibi eyes:: I'm looking for feedback. If I get a positive response, there's another longer yaoi story in the making that I'll post sometime. (Yes, Seto/Joey is one of several couples!) But if I stink, please tell me… ::blushes::

Thanks to everyone who read this! ~_^ And thanks in advance to all those who will give me an honest review! Love you all!

~DarkShadowFlame