It's been a long time since I've written just a good ol' one-shot, but after writing it I never published it. So instead, I sat and sat on this story and I've finally decided to upload it as a sort of prelude/flashback to Seto and Joey before the accident in the rest of the story. I have other ideas floating around in my head, so if this one is well-received, I might upload more.

IIIII

Joey Wheeler came back from an afternoon at the arcade with Yugi, Tristan, and Tea, feeling both rejuvenated from spending time with his friends but also tired from being out all day. "I'm hooome!" he called out, not knowing or caring particularly who heard him. He kicked his shoes off as soon as he got inside the door, as he always did, and put his green jacket inside of a coat closet.

"Mister Wheeler, sir?" a rather proper-sounding voice said to his left.

Wheeler looked over and saw Fuguta standing next to him. "Hey, Fuu!" he said to the other man, using a nickname that had become common for the blonde. "Still not used to you being so quiet. Least I didn't jump out of my skin this time."

Fuguta nodded. "My apologies, sir. I wanted to let you know that Mister Kaiba wishes to speak with you as soon as you're able. He seems...upset by something." He said with some difficulty.

Joey rolled his eyes. Honestly, Kaiba might have been much more in-control of his emotions and rarely showed them to people, but Joey of all people knew exactly how to push his buttons. The other man was surprisingly easy to tease. "Looks like I might be sleeping on the couch tonight. Any idea what the problem is?"

"When Roland brought in the day's mail, sir, Mister Kaiba became very angry with something he received." Fuguta shook his head. "I don't know what it was, however."

Joey shrugged. "I'll go talk to him." he said, heading upstairs right away.

The mansion was a maze and it was only by the grace of Joey living there for years that he knew how to get to the other Kaiba's study. He knocked on the door a couple of times before he opened to door anyway and walked inside. "Hey, Seto! Fuguta said you wanted to talk to me when I got home? You coulda just - -" he stopped when he saw Seto's position. He had his laptop closed, his elbows on his desk, fingers laced together tented over his mouth. He usually only looked like that when something was very deeply bothering him.

Seto glowered at Joey before he took an envelope decorated with gold filigree and an eye of wdjat and tossed it at the other man's feet. "Care to explain this, Joey?"

Joey looked excited to see it, however, gasping happily. "Awesome! This must be from Industrial Illusions!" He picked it up and opened it up, starting to read it.

"You applied for a position there?" Seto asked pointedly, as if he were accusing Joey of something far worse.

Joey nodded. "I didn't want to tell you about it until I got the job, and looking at this, it looks like they want me to come and try something out before - -"

"Joey." Seto said tensely. "Why did you apply to work at Industrial Illusions behind my back?!"

Joey looked at Seto, confused. "'Behind your…' Seto, what are you talking about?" He asked. "I just told you that I didn't want to tell you, anyone really, until I knew I got the job."

Seto suddenly stood from his desk and stalked over to Joey, getting very close to the other man. "You want to work for my biggest competitor? And you did this without bringing this up to me at all?" He asked venomously. "Explain. Now."

A normal person might be intimidated by Seto glowering at them, his icy eyes hardened with anger, his fists at his sides clenching as if he were about to reach out and wring the neck of the next person to foolishly anger him. But Joey wasn't a normal person, and he wasn't intimidated.

He was livid.

"Excuse me?" Joey asked. "If I want to get a job instead of sitting around on my ass wondering when the hell you're gonna be able to tear yourself away from your job to come home to me and Mokuba, then I have every right to!" He shoved the letter at Kaiba's chest. "And how the hell did you even know I applied?! You didn't open it, so how did you know?"

"I called Industrial Illusions personally." Seto answered. "Curiosity. And good thing I did or else you would have started working for my enemy without me knowing."

Joey just looked at Kaiba incredulously. "Do you even HEAR yourself, Seto?! You're sounding like I cheated on you or something!"

Seto jabbed his long index finger into Joey's chest. "You went behind my back and applied to work at Kaiba Corp's biggest competitor as a beta tester, a job that would mean you would be actively involved in the process of making their products better, and you somehow don't see anything wrong with that?!"

Joey snarled, baring his teeth at Seto and slapped his hand away. "No, Seto. They had a job opening and I wanted a job. Put two and two together, genius boy!"

Seto folded his arms. "If you wanted a job so badly, we have positions open in our quality assurance team in Kaiba Corp."

Joey blinked. "So that's what this is about!" He said, making a disbelieving noise, taking a step back and shaking his head with his hand in his hair. "Y'know for being so smart, you can be really dumb sometimes."

"What?" Seto spat out.

"I don't want to work for Kaiba Corp!" Joey said. "How weird would it be having my fiance as my boss for god's sake?"

"Why do you need a job in the first place?" Kaiba asked. "I make more than enough money for each of us to live comfortably. Or did you forget whose mansion you're living in?"

"Gozaburo's?" Joey asked with a quirked eyebrow.

If Kaiba's face was a vision of anger before, he was enraged now. His eyes widened considerably and his lips thinned before he bared his teeth at the other man, blood starting to rush to his face. "You," he growled out, "know better than to mention that man so freely."

Joey sighed roughly. "Yeah, sorry." he said half-heartedly.

"You didn't answer me." Kaiba said tersely.

"You already answered your own question." Joey said, folding his arms.

"Then enlighten me, Joey." Kaiba said, walking forward and putting a hand on Joey's shoulder. "What is it about Industrial Illusions that you find so enticing?"

"Nothing." Joey answered honestly. "I just love games and I wanted to try my hand in a job where I get to help making games." He held up a finger before Seto could counter. "With a company other than yours."

Seto shook his head. "Why is it so important to you that you not work with Kaiba Corp? If you want to be a part of the process of game design, then you could easily be a part of Kaiba Corp's development team."

Joey scoffed and looked up, clearly aggravated that Seto didn't understand.

"Is there something wrong with Kaiba Corp money in particular that you don't like?" Seto squeezed his shoulder a bit harder to see if he could get a reaction.

"Is it because you think people will believe you're using our relationship for leverage?" Seto shook his shoulder a bit.

Joey finally got tired of the persistence. "I'm tired of leeching off of you!" He exclaimed.

Seto looked surprised at last and his grip on Joey's shoulder softened as Joey held up a hand to his face, covering his eyes like he'd just admitted some horrible secret.

"I know that you don't see it the same way I do, Seto, but I live in your house, eat your food, use your stuff, and even when you give me money to buy something it's still your money that you earned and that I'm spending. It's a matter of pride, I guess." Joey finally said. "I'm tired of you spending and spending and me taking and taking."

Seto nodded. "You're right. I don't see it that way." He said. "I let you do those things, Joey, because I care about you. Do you think otherwise? You wouldn't be anywhere near my home if I didn't." It was like pulling teeth to get Seto to say 'I love you' if it wasn't in the middle of a passionate night of lovemaking.

Joey took a moment to think about how to phrase what he was trying to say. "I hate that I don't give back to you. I don't want to feel like I should owe you anything back, even though you do so much for me."

"Joey," Seto began, "You don't owe me anything. People owe banks, not their fiances." He put his fist on Joey's chest. "I do this for you - -"

"And then I do something for you." Joey finished with a nod.

"No." Seto said firmly. "I do this for you and you repay me just by liking the things I do."

"I just," Joey sighed. "I want to be able to contribute to the house, y'know?" he finally looked at Seto, his golden eyes wide. "Even if I ain't putting millions in the bank every day like you are, I still want to feel like...like what we have is ours, not just that I'm taking from you. That we're building it up together."

Seto took a moment to process what Joey said. The two men had gotten engaged, after all, and now that they were going to be married, he wanted to feel like whatever future they had together, he was an active participant, instead of passively letting Seto do all of the work.

"Joey you do more for me than you probably realize." Seto said lowly. "But if you want to build something together, I have a way to do it." He walked closer, putting an arm around the other man. "Come work for Kaiba Corp as a manager of the quality assurance division." Joey looked up to argue, but Kaiba held up a hand. "Let me finish. You wouldn't earn a regular paycheck like a normal employee would. But when the company makes more money because of your skill in making the games we design even better, then you'll know that the new revenue we're earning, and that is going into our pockets, is because of you."

Joey didn't say anything for a moment, but Seto could practically hear the cogs turning in his mind.

"I'll have to think about it." Joey finally relented. "And...I'm sorry I brought up your stepfather." he looked away, feeling ashamed. "I was just angry and I knew that would sting if I said it."

Seto nodded, putting his arm down. "I forgive you, Joey. Now then, I'll take this." He said, snatching up the letter from Industrial Illusions.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?" Joey asked, still a bit stunned from Seto's proposition.

"This will make a good starter for the fire. It's supposed to get chilly tonight." Seto said plainly.

"Oh come ON!" Joey exclaimed. "I can't even respond to it?"

"You can call them if you're that serious about it." Seto looked over his shoulder as he walked out of the room. "But I think my solution to your job search is much more lucrative than an entry-level position under Maximillion Pegasus."

Joey crossed his arms and huffed. "You gonna decide when I can spend time with my friends next or something?"

"Don't tempt me."

Joey's eyes narrowed. "That's a sign of an abusive relationship, Seto." he pointed out.

Seto stopped mid-stride, turned on his heel, looked right in Joey's eyes and said, "You know that the only 'abuse' you'll be taking is tonight in the bedroom, Puppy." And with that, he left a furiously blushing blond sputtering in response as he left to incinerate the offending bit of paper that had started this whole mess.