Beachin' Trip

Beachin’ Trip

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.

***** Arrival *****
The moment the convertible parked in front of the large beach house, Joey jumped out. "Use the door!" Seto yelled, but Joey was already running. Yugi was close behind him, but the fact that he had used the door, and his short legs, gave Joey a lead.
Seto took a deep, calming breath. "Oh, relax Seto, they are just excited," Ryou said opening the trunk. Seto didn’t respond, but his glare faded as Joey climbed up on the wall that separated the ocean sand from the houses and shouted his delight. There was a flash of light beside Yugi as Yami appeared and helped his hikari up onto the wall. Ryou and Seto grabbed some bags and started towards the door.
"You guys should come see this!" Yugi yelled.
"We will!" Ryou answered with a smile and a wave.
"It’s only water," Seto muttered as he unlocked the door. They entered into the sitting room and sat down the first load of bags. Within moments, Joey, Yugi, and Yami came running in. Following Yami’s example, Bakura appeared beside Ryou in a flash of light.
"Wow Seto, this place is beautiful!" Yugi said looking around.
"There are three bedrooms, each has a queen sized bed and its own bath. Who’s sleeping where?"
"I call Yugi," Yami answered wrapping his arms around the shorter boy.
"And I get Ryou," Bakura answered with a frown. "So that leaves you two."
Joey shrugged. Seto’s eyes went wide. "No. No! I am not sleeping with Joey!"
Yugi giggled. "Nobody said you had to sleep with him, Seto. You just have to share a room."
Seto glared. "I. Am not. Sharing a room. With Joey." Joey suddenly found his shoes very interesting. Ryou was surprised; Joey would normally be objecting also.
The tone of Seto’s voice made Yugi frown. "Well, if it bothers you that much, I guess Yami and I could sleep merged and I can bunk with Joey."
Joey looked up suddenly and glanced at Yugi, then turned to glare at Seto. Seto could read that glare like it was written down on paper. It stated ‘If ya make Yug do dat I will pound ya.’
"I’ll bunk with Joey," Seto answered through clenched teeth.
"Good man!" Joey said smacking Seto on the back. "I don’ snore, I swear."
"It’s getting dark," Ryou pointed out. "Why don’t we bring in our bags, and settle in. Then we can be up first thing tomorrow."
*****
A few hours later, Seto looked at himself in the mirror that hung in the bathroom connected to the bedroom he and Joey would be sharing. It really hadn’t occurred to him that they would end up bunking. Before, when Tea and Tristan were going to come, both Yami and Bakura would have had to sleep merged with their other halves and they would just have enough spots. But Tea and Tristan decided to go north together instead. He really couldn’t bring himself to miss them.
Taking a breath, he opened the door and walked out of the room. He was just in time to see Joey pulling on a white tee to top his boxers. Groaning inwardly, he quickly found some other place to look.
"What’re ya wearin’?" Joey asked with a questioning look.
Seto looked down at his black bottoms. "Pants."
"Ya sleep in pants? Wait a minute, are dey silk?" Seto felt himself blush as he nodded. Joey chuckled. "Dat is so you, Seto." Heppedpped onto the bed.
Glancing at Joey, Seto weighed his options. Within a moment, he had decided he couldn’t handle it. Grabbing a pillow and a blanket, he threw it on the large window seat.
"Wha’ are ya doin’?"
"I’m going to sleep here," Seto answered without looking at Joey. There was silence from the other boy as Seto shut the window. When he finally looked up, Joey’s back was to him. With a sigh, he turned off the light and climbed onto his makeshift bed.
An hour later, Seto was still staring at the ceiling. He shifted again, but it didn’t help. There was enough padding on this bench to make it nice for a window seat, but never to make a comfortable bed. He shifted again, when something made him jump.
"Seto, fer da love a’ God, get ova here. I can’ sleep wit all da noise yer makin’, and yer obviously not comfortable. I swear I don’ snore, I don’ stink, an’ I don’ bite. I won’ touch ya, I promise."
Seto starred in Joey’s direction, though he couldn’t see through the darkness. Slowly, he stood up and grabbed his pillow. He sat down on the empty side of the bed, and Joey flipped over so that his back was still to him. It was amazing how quickly sleep claimed him after that.
***** Day One *****
Yami smiled down at his hikari’s face in the faint light of false dawn. "Yugi," he whispered.
In response, Yugi groaned and turned over. "Is too early," he muttered.
"I know it is," Yami said, reaching down to scoop the other boy up in his arms. He also grabbed the blanket, and it showed how tired Yugi was that he hardly reacted to being picked up. Not that Yami could blame him for being anything but exhausted.
He carried the younger boy through the kitchen and sitting room and out onto the front porch that looked out over the ocean. The morning air was cold, and Yugi’s chest was exposed, which woke him enough to look up at Yami.
"Wha’er ya do’n?" he asked, his speech slurred with sleep.
"There’s going to be an amazing sunrise in a few minutes." Yugi smiled sleepily at Yami, making him laugh slightly. Carefully, Yami climbed up onto the wall of the porch. It was wide enough for him to sit cross-legged without any limbs hanging over the edge. With Yugi slightly more awake, it was easy for him to sit down, Yugi in his lap, and wrap the blanket around them both to protect from the morning chill.
Yugi sighed contentedly as he leaned against Yami and looked out over the ocean, where purple rays were starting to appear on the horizon. Yami took the time to look around. There were two other large, privately owned beach houses on either side of them. Neither looked occupied at the moment, no cars, no lights. These were the kind of houses that people like Seto owned. Too much money, and not enough to do with it. The best part was that people who owned these houses very rarely had children. The beach to them was a view, not a toy. They would have it all to themselves.
The two sat in silence as the golden orange sun peeked up over the ocean, bringing with it every shade of purple, pink, red and orange onto the blue sky. The ocean glittered and reflected it back, acting as the sky’s mirror. Slowly the even the brightest of the stars started to disappear.
"I love you, Yami," Yugi whispered.
"I love you too, Hikari," Yami answered holding him tighter.
*****
It was hard to say what woke him, but quite suddenly, Joey was completely awake. His honey eyes popped open, and they were a mere three inches from another set of wide blue eyes.
Both Joey and Seto blinked, and then they both jumped, and screamed.
"Wha’ da hell are ya doin’ on ma side!" Joey yelled.
"Your side? You were on my side!"
"I wasn’ on yer side, an ya weren’ on mine eitha. We were in da middle," Joey answered. He shut his eyes and put a hand over his heart. "But man, ya scared da shit outta me."
"Sorry," Seto muttered, standing up and walking over to the window. He pushed it open and breathed in the cold salty breeze that hit his bare chest. He didn’t shiver however, Kaibas don’t shiver.
"It’ll warm up in a few, da sun’s out strong," Joey said from the bed.
"What made you think I was cold?"
Joey smirked at him. "Yer nipples got all hard."
Seto stared at the blonde for a moment before turning around. "You need to stop hanging out with Yugi. I’m going to go get a shower."
*****
With a running jump, Ryou landed on the sleeping Bakura with a thud. "Bakura!"
"What?" came the grumpy reply.
"Getupgetupgetupgetup! The beach. Comeoncomeon come on! I wanna go swimmin’!"
"Stop. Whining."
Ryou giggled. "You’re so funny." He jumped slightly, causing Bakura to go "oomph". "Get up Bakura."
"What is wrong with you, Ryou?"
"The beach!" He promptly jumped off of his yami and the bed, causing another interesting noise from Bakura. "Joey and Seto are already up, I heard them screaming. Yugi and Yami are out on the porch being all kissie. I think they watched the sun come up. You are the only one still asleep."
Sitting up, Bakura blinked at his lighter half. "What do you mean you heard them scream? And kissie?"
Ryou was pulling on swim trunks, and threw a pair at Bakura. "What did you think would happen when Joey and Seto woke up in the same bed? And you know, kissie. They aren’t making out, they’re just kissing and being all snugglie. You should be more kissie," Ryou said, pausing in his dressing to look seriously at his yami. "You aren’t very romantic, you know. It’s all or nothing with yHaveHaven’t you ever heard of foreplay?"
Bakura looked down at the blankets and muttered something that sounded like ‘time waster’. Ryou ignored him, throwing a shirt at him. "Get up, get dressed, I wanna go swim!"
Bakura growled as he pulled himself out of bed. "We are never coming to the beach again. I forgot water makes you nuts."
*****
Twenty minutes later, six boys were walking out onto the beach. It was warm, but not too hot. Yami carried a large blanket for them all to sit on. Yugi and Ryou carried a bin of beach toys so large it took both of them to carry it. Seto carried a pile of towels.
Bakura looked warily at the ocean. "I don’t get it."
"Neither do I, really," Yami answered. "We didn’t do anything like this in Egypt. But Yugi is very happy, so I am too."
Both Bakura and Seto rolled their eyes. They spread the blanket out on the sand, the beach was completely empty. "Whahoo!" Joey yelled, bolting towards the ocean and strippingn ton to his trunks on the way. Yugi and Ryou waited just long enough to leave their shirts on the blanket before running after him.
Yami followed far enough to collect Joey’s discarded garments before returning to the blanket. Seto took off his shirt, but laid down on the blanket instead of going into the water.
"Come on guys!" Yugi yelled, but both of the yamis shook their heads. Seto had his eyes closed and was paying attention only to his tanning.
The three sixteen year olds waded into the water, and Yami couldn’t help but bite his lip. How were they supposed to stay standing with those waves crashing on them?
A wave crashed in front of Joey, sending cold water up to his waist. "Whoa, shrinkage!"
"Joey!" Yugi and Ryou exclaimed, then burst into laughter.
"Wha’ is it ‘bout da ocean tha’ makes us act like wer six?" Joey asked.
"I don’t know," Ryou answered, then giggled. "But you should have seen me this morning. I gave Bakura a leap-frog wake up."
"What, you jumped on him?"
Ryou nodded. "Repeatedly."
The three braved the strong waves. There was a full moon that night, which made the waves rather powerful. A particularly large one crashed in front of Yugi, and knocked him off his balance and down under water.
Yami jumped to his feet when he saw Yugi go under, but before he could even take a step, Ryou and Joey were pulling their shorter friend up. Yugi, once standing, bent over double. At first Yami thought he was coughing, but the string of emotions that bonded them proved that Yugi was in fact laughing, so hard that Joey had to hold him up.
"Let’s do that again!" Yugi yelled, causing Joey and Ryo cra crack up. Bakura just looked at Yami, who promptly sat back down.
//Are you okay?// Yami said into Yugi’s mind.
Yugi looked up at them fthe the ocean. /Take off your shirt./
//What?//
/Take it off./
Confused, Yami pulled off his shirt, throwing it into the pile of clothes the the other boys had made. Yugi waited until he was knocked over by another wave, then started to run up to the blanket. Bakura seemed to guess what he was going to do, because he moved away from Yami.
Dripping wet, Yugi landed on Yami, pushing him from a sitting position to a laying one. "Yugi, you’re soaked!"
"If you won’t come to the ocean, I’ll bring it to you." He kissed Yami, while wringing out his hair onto his darker half.
"You taste like salt," Yami said with a smirk. Yugi grinned at him, before jumping up and standing above him. He waited just long enough to wring out both sides of his shorts before turning and running back to the water.
Seto had watched the whole thing through a cracked eye. With one hand, he reached behind his back and threw a towel at Yami. "Thanks."
"Don’t mention it. You might want to throw it back though, because here he comes again."
Yugi continued to run up to Yami, shed all water that he possibly could, then run back, until Yami was completely soaked. Yami couldn’t really bring himself to stop him because every time he came Yugi treated him to a salty kiss.
Eventually, the boys left the water in favor of three very large sand shovels. They started to dig the worlds biggest hole, in turn making the worlds biggest pile of sand right beside the hole. Yami didn’t understand it, but he didn’t question it either. He was getting a chance to dry.
The boys seemed to think that the hole was big enough, because they stopped digging, and sat down beside it talking. Eventually, Ryou got up and started to walk back up to the blanket. He didn’t step on the blanket, because he was covered in sand. Instead he squatted in front of Bakura, in a way that was just, so.
Leaning foreword, Ryou kissed Bakura gently on the nose. "Come with me," he said, lowering his voice slightly. Seto and Yami both looked over, they knew what effect that kind of voice would have. "We don’t have to get in the water, just come with me."
Ryou managed to get Bakura to stand, and was starting to lead him down towards the ocean, coaxing him with kisses. Joey and Yugi turned to watch with large grins on their faces. The both moved a few feet away from the hole.
Ryou was walking backwards, so he had to be very careful where he put his next foot. He went to step back, and his foot met air. He had been expecting it, and he was able to reach farther back and step over the hole. Bakura however, stepped on the very edge, and it gave under his foot, causing him to slip down into the hole. Yugi and Joey were over in seconds, pushing the large pile of sand into the remainder of the hole, successfully trapping and burying Bakura from armpits down, his arms trapped against his sides.
Yami started laughing, causing Seto to look up at the group and now trapped Bakura. "You think it’s funny now," Seto said flipping over to allow his stomach to get some sun too. "But in a minute it’s just going to get mushy."
Bakura could have gotten out if he had struggled, but he refused to struggle. Instead, he glared at Ryou, who smiled. Ryou laid down on the sand, his face only inches away from Bakura’s. "Now, my dark one, I’m going to teach you how to be kissie."
As Ryou was giving Bakura his first ‘lesson’, Joey and Yugi were hopping back into the ocean to rinse off the sand that digging that very deep hole had plastered on them. On the way, Joey grabbed a large bucket. He glanced at Yugi, and no words were needed. After they were rinsed, Joey filled the bucket up with water.
Very quietly, Yugi and Joey sneaked up behind Ryou and Bakura. They dumped the water on both of their heads, then ran. Ryou started to laugh, but Bakura growled at them. "I’m going to kill both of you!"
"I highly doubt that, given your current predicament!" Yugi answered, causing Joey to bend over in laughter. Bakura probably would have retaliated, but Ryou quickly reclaimed his attention.
"Joey, I’m going to go spend some time with Yami," Yugi said glancing up at the blanket.
"Alright, Yug, I’m gonna go back in ata.ata."
When Yugi reached the blanket, he promptly laid down and closed his eyes. Yami smiled at him. "Yo soa soaked, chibi ichi." (Hikari Ykarzel: It means literally ‘little one’.)
"And too tired to move. Dry me off."
Another towel promptly smacked Yami in the face, thrown there by Seto. "Nice move on the water, Yugi," Seto said without opening his eyes.
"Oh, well, we were going to do it to you, but we would have had to dig the hole deeper, and we couldn’t figure out how to get you down there. Plus, Bakura was more fun once he was caught. None of us were going to teach you how to be kissie."
Yami used the towel to dry off Yugi’s face and chest. "I see you’ve dried," Yugi noted, looking Yami over.
"No thanks to you."
Yugi grinned at him. "Come on, you know you liked it." Yami chuckled, then threw the damp towel back at Seto.
"I wouldn’t be so full of it if I was shirtless and pinned down by somebody who knew all my sensitive spots."
Yugi’s eyes popped open and went wide when he realized that Yami did have him pinned, his knees holding down Yugi’s hands without hurting them and his butt on Yugi’s knees. "No, no, Yami, please, no!" Yugi’s words were lost in laughter as Yami attacked his sides. Yugi squirmed, but he couldn’t get away.
Yami released Yugi’s arms, but they didn’t do him much good. He couldn’t protect everything at once. Eventually, howevYugiYugi’s squirming successfully convinced Yami to stop tickling him and start something else.
Seto was very tempted to tell them to go get a room, but he didn’t want to spoil their fun. He looked away and attempted to find something to occupy his attention. He averted his eyes from Ryou and Bakura. Where was Joey?
He spotted the blond in the ocean, jumping a particularly large wave. Seto couldn’t help but blush. Joey should wear green more often. Or maybe Joey should just go shirtless more often.
A large wave came up and crashed practically on top of Joey, and he went under. Seto waited to see where he would come up, but he didn’t. He sat up strair, br, but he didn’t see Joey. Jumping to his feet, he scanned the ocean, and spotted a mark of green, Joey floating face down in the water.
"Joey!" He took off like a shot. By the time Yugi and had had looked up, Seto was half way down the ocean. They took off behind him.
Seto dived right in and reached Joey’s floating body in seconds, but it seemed to take hours. He pulled Joey’s face out of the water, but he didn’t have to check to know he wasn’t breathing.
Yami and Yugi grabbed Joey from Seto and laid him down on the shore. Yugi placed his ear by Joey’s nose. "He isn’t breathing!" Ryou and a now sand covered Bakura stood behind Yami.
"Get out of the way!" Seto fell down to his knees beside Joey. Holding his nose, he blew air into the blonde’s mouth, then placed his hands over his chest and pushed. He repeated the action again. "Knock it off Joey. God, Joey, please don’t do this to me." He went to breath into his mouth again, when the boy jerked and started to cough. Seto pulled him into a sitting position and patted his back as he started to breath for himself.
"Are you alright?" Seto asked.
Joey looked at him, and nodded slowly, then coughed on his hand. Yugi fell down beside him and threw his arms around his best friend.
"Joey, I’m so sorry! I should have been out there with you!"
Joey, unable to talk, patted his friends hand. Yami pulled Yugi back. "Give him some air, Yugi."
Swallowing and clearing his throat, Joey spoke. "Sorry guys. Tha’ was really stupid of me. Tried to let da wave flip me, musta hit ma head." He reached up and touched his head, then hissed. "Yeah, hit ma head."
Gently, Seto parted Joey’s hair where he had touched his head. "It isn’t bleeding, just bruised." He turned a very serious look on Joey. "You’re probably thirsty, there’s bottled water on the blanket. And you should probably lie down for a few minutes. And take a painkiller. Can you walk?"
Joey started to nod, then stopped and hissed. "Yes, but I’ve gotta headache the size of China."
"Are you sure you’re alright?" Ryou asked.
"I’m fine." Yugi and Yami helped Joey stand up. He put a hand to his temple, staggered, and fell backwards. Yami and Yugi tried to grab him, but Seto was already behind him. He caught Joey gently, and carefully picked him up into his arms.
Joey opened his clenched eyes and looked at him. "Thanks."
Seto didn’t respond, but when they reached the blanket, he laid Joey down with numerous towels and shirts to cushion his head. Yugi handed him a bottle of water, which he drank in two large gulps.
"I probably jus’ swallowed half da ocean, why am I thirsty?"
"Salt," Seto replied, laying back down on his back to sun his stomach.
"I have sand in places I didn’t know I had," Bakura said with a glare at Ryou. "I’m going to go wash off in the ocean."
"I’ll help!" Ryou said brightly, causing Yami and Yugi to laugh. Joey smiled, but knew better then to laugh. Seto ignored them all.
As Ryou and Bakura headed down toward the water, Joey glanced over at the tanning Seto. His headache was already beginning to fade, which proved that he wasn’t seriously hurt. Seto had saved his life. Not only that, but Seto had brought him back to life. And carried him. And he was really hot in black swim trunks.
It wasn’t anything new to Joey. He had known he was gay for months now. In fact, it was checking out Seto that had clued him into the fact. But Seto had given him mouth to mouth. Both Yugi and Ryou knew how, the same way Seto knew how. It was taught in gym. And yet, Seto had done it, no questions asked.
Seto opened an eye and looked at Joey, who was looking at him. Joey blushed and looked away, and Seto smiled slightly.
*****
Bakura walked slowly out in the water. This wasn’t so hard. You just had to brace yourself. He let the waves wash off the sand. But there was sand in his suit, and the waves were not getting it out. He made sure that no matter how small the wave, he would be in the water from waist down. Then carefully he pulled his trunks down, trying to rinse the sand out. That was when he realized his mistake. It’s hard to brace yourself when you trap your legs together with your trunks.
He had enough time to take his breath and close his eyes, but the water knocked him right over and spun him around. It washed him right up onto the beach, but he was alive and fine. Thank Ra.
His trunks were missing.
"Bakura!" His head whipped around to see Ryou, holding up a wet article of blue clothing. "Missing something?"
"Ryou, give those back, now."
Ryou grinned, turned around, and took off. Bakura groaned.
Screaming at the top of his lungs, Ryou held the garment up in the air and started to run around the beach.
"What has Ryou got?" Joey asked, sitting up slowly. Yami dug into his bag and pulled out his pair of binoculars.
"It looks like a suit." He shifted his gaze and snorted. "Bakura seems to have lost his." Bakura, having no ce, we, was trying to chase Ryou without showing anything. In response to being chased, Ryou started to run towards the blanket. Bakura refused to come any closer to them.
Ryou stopped in front of them, taunting Bakura to come and get him.
"Hey Ryou," Yami said. "As Bakura looks just like you, isn’t his being naked just as bad as you being naked?"
Ryou looked at Yami, then grinned. "You’re right."
They all watched with jaws dropping as Ryou pulled off his trunks, stuck an arm through each pair, and started running around the beach, flapping his suit clad arms like wings.
Yami, Yugi, Joey, and even Seto, broke into hysterical laughter. Bakura, crouched down in the sand, beat on it with a fist. Ryou continued to run around in circles, trying to fly.
"Yami, hand me those," Seto said, taking the binoculars from Yami. He focused them, then snorted. "Hey Ryou! I didn’t realize you could have white hair down there!"
Ryou stopped, looked at Seto, grinned and waved, before starting to run again.
"Somebody is gonna see dem and kick us all off da beach," Joey pointed out.
Yami stood up. "This is not a nude beach!" he yelled. "Please don your clothes!"
"Great, now that the whole world knows about it," Seto muttered.
Ryou threw Bakura’s suit at him, then ran around once more before putting back on his own.
"You know," Yugi said sitting up. "I think it’s time to go inside."
The others nodded as they listened to Ryou roll in the sand in laughter.
*****
Yami, Yugi, and Bakura sat at the kitchen table. The sitting room and kitchen really had no wall to separate them, only a change from carpet to tile. So Joey was able to lay on the couch and still be included in the group. Ryou was taking a shower in the bathroom connected to his and Bakura’s room. Rolling in the sand had made him rather uncomfortable.
Seto was cooking.
Joey couldn’t help but grin as he watched Seto move about the kitchen with every aspect of familiarity. This was something he did often enough to know where everything was. For some odd reason, that made Joey smile. Seto had yet to change out of is black swim trunks, as had Joey yet to remove his green trunks.
Bakura suddenly jumped out of his chair, and took off down the hall. He ran into Yugi and Yami’s, and Joey and Seto’s rooms, and flushed both the toilets in their bathrooms before running back out onto the kitchen. There was a moment of silence, the quiet before the storm.
"BAKURA!!!!" There was a loud bang as Ryou threw the door open. He walked out into the kitchen. He held a towel around his waist with one hand. His hair was slicked straight, and dripping not only water but also soap. Water ran down his body, collecting in tiny puddles around his bare feet. Steam rose from his skin to disperse quickly into the air.
"Don’t you ever weaotheothes?" Seto asked rolling his eyes.
Ryou ignored Seto and glared at Bakura. An interesting look came across Bakura’s face as Ryou stood there panting.
"I know that was you, and it was your sad attempt to get back at me for trapping you in the sand. But your plan is so backfiring because I am standing here in a towel, dripping wet, and steaming, and you know you are so turned on. Now get your sorry little ass in this bathroom so I can thoroughly punish you for attempting to boil me."
Bakura quite obviously didn’t want to follow, but his body betrayed him, causing him to stand and walk out of the room.
Yugi td tod to look at Yami with raised eyebrows. "Later my hikari, later."
*****
Several hours later, Seto was in the shower, or at least he was still in the bathroom. Joey was changing for bed. It was much warmer tonight than last, so Joey left the window open and left his tee shirt off.
There was the sound of a door opening and a rush of humid, hot air that meant Seto was out. Joey braved a glance. Seto was wearing his silk pants again, but deep navy blue this time. Joey couldn’t help but wonder how many pairs he had.
Seto tried to find something to do with himself in front of the mirror. He was prolonging the inevitable, he knew, but he wasn’t ready to face Joey just yet.
"Seto?" Joey asked looking down at his hands which were folded on his lap. Seto replied with a grunt. "Why’d ya save me?" The words were hardly above a whisper, but only because he didn’t trust his voice.
Seto rolled his eyes. "Despite common belief, I don’t want you dead, Joey."
"Yeah, but," Joey paused. "Both Yugi and Ryou know mouth ta mouth, ya didn’ have ta do it."
Seto felt his cheeks heat. How could he explain it? The fear of losing Joey. The fear of never getting a chance to tell him. The fear of never finding out if his feelings were returned. The cold panic that shot an arrow at his heart.
"You’re right, I should have let you die, I don’t know what came over me." Seto glanced up at the mirror just in time to catch the crushed look on Joey’s face. He looked quickly down at the floor, his mouth going dry. He had to apologize.
Seto turned around. "Joey-" but the boy was gone. The door hadn’t opened, but Seto’s eyes were pulled to the large open window.
*****
Joey watched as the full, orange moon reflected into the ocean. There were footsteps behind him that stopped just a few feet short of the wall on which Joey sat. He didn’t bother to turn around. "Why’d ya come afta me?"
"I-" Seto stopped, realizing he couldn’t answer that question without giving himself away.
"Ya don’ hate me. Why do ya act like it all da time?"
Seto closed the distance between them. He jumped up so he was sitting on the wall the opposite way as Joey. "I’m afraid," he answered.
"Afraid of what?"
"This." That was all the warning Joey had before Seto reached in and caught his lips. Joey was shocked still for a heartbeat, but within moments he melted into the kiss. Seto wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, when the sound of cheering was heard from above.
The two parted and looked up to see Yugi, Yami, Ryou, and Bakura, all on the balcony cheering and cat-calling.
Joey flushed a hot red, but Seto wasn’t quite ready to give up the moment. He caught Joey’s chin in his hand and turned his face so that chestnut met cerulean. He then kissed him again, deeper this time.
*****
Yugi crawled into bed and spooned up against Yami. His darker half responded by wrapping his strong arms around his hikari, and burying his face in Yugi’s hair. Yugi smelled like shampoo and the ocean. The scent of the ocean was everywhere, even showering didn’t allow you to escape it. Not that Yami really minded the smell.
"They were so cute!" Yugi and been overjoyed at the prospect of Seto and Joey. The idea of either of them being gay had never really occurred to him.
"You’re pretty cute yourself, you know."
Yugi snorted. "Like that means anything coming from you."
Yami grinned. "Hey, come on, you’re cuter them I’ll ever be. I want it that way, that is why it is."
"How come Bakura and Ryou look almost exactly alike, but we look different?"
"Because my appearance is what I see myself as. I had to try very hard at first to make it stay. Bakura really didn’t do that, because at first he wanted us to think he was Ryou, so he still appears as he sees himself."
"Mmm," Yugi said, his attention quickly being pulled elsewhere as Yami’s hand traveled from his chest to his very sensitive side. A shiver when up his spine, but he tried not to react. Reacting would only encourage him.
Yami’s hand twisted and he did something with his pinkie. Yugi could never figure out what exactly he did, but it always had the same effect. He giggled into the pillow. Yugi knew his mistake as soon as it left his mouth. Yami loved to hear him giggle.
Yami repeated his action, and within moments, had Yugi in a fit of giggles. However Yugi had learned that the best tactic was not to try and defend, but rather to squirm like mad. It was a long time before either went to sleep.
*****
Seto shut the door with a small snap. They had come inside. It was warm enough to sleep with the window open, but it wasn’t really warm enough for Joey to sit out on the beach in his boxers for any length of time. Besides, the moon had clouded over.
Joey sat down on the bed, his back to Seto. He was tense, Seto could tell from where he stood. Seto had an idea why. They couldn’t go too fast.
He climbed onto the bed, and Joey went stiff. Seto crawoverover to the other boy, and wrapped his arms around him to pull him up onto the bed.
As Seto’s arms enclosed Joey, he felt his heart jump. He wasn’t scared, he was lost. He didn’t know what to do.
Seto laid down, bringing Joey with him, and pulled the covers over them. He kissed the back of Joey’s neck once, before settling down and preparing to go to sleep. Joey remained tense for a moment, then relaxed against Seto. They were just going to sleep. He knew how to do that.
He would really need to talk to Yugi tomorrow.
***** Day Two *****
Ryou’s eyes fluttered open as the pitter-patter of rain on glass reached his ears. He turned over and looked at the still sleeping Bakura. He smiled faintly at his yami, the frowned again.
It was raining.
It took an extreme amount of effort to pull himself out of bed. He hated the rain. He was the only one awake, or rather, he was the only one out of bed. He frowned at the window and the gray clouds that lay beyond it.
This was definitely an oatmeal morning.
*****
Yugi felt a cool wet breeze tickle his face. His eyes opened at the same time as his ears started working.
Yami had an arm wrapped around his torso, one leg over his waist, and was still sleeping soundly.
"Yami?" Yugi asked quietly.
"Hmm?" came the groggy reply.
"It’s raining."
"Mmm."
"We won’t be able to go down to the beach."
"Mmm."
"I slept with Ryou."
"Mmm." Yugi gan ean exasperated sigh and shifted so he could watch the cursed rain. "So was he any good?" came Yami’s voice.
Yugi je aro around to look into Yami’s smiling eyes. "Yami! I thought you were asleep!"
"Hey, you slept with Ryou."
Giggling, Yugi snuggled up against Yami. "Now, where on Earth would I have found enerenergy to do such a thing after last night?"
Yami shrugged as well as he could while lying in bed. "You just must be a sex machine."
Yugi chuckled into Yami’s chest and waited for the moment to pass before he changed the subject. "What are we going to do today? It’s raining."
Yami looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I can think of about four things to start off with." With that, he attacked Yugi’s lips.
*****
Joey slowly drifted from sleep to mild awareness. He was warm and comfortable, and that was plenty of reason not to move. A cool breeze encouraged him to wake a little more. That was when he noticed he wasn’t alone.
Joey went stiff. Seto. Had his arm. Around him. And he, Joey. Was pushed. Up against Seto. In a way. That left little. To the imagination. I promised I wouldn’t touch him!
With a squeak, Joey jerked away and rolled over, but suddenly there was nothing there to support him, and he fell to the floor in a tangle of blankets.
Wakened by Joey’s sudden movements and the loud thud, Seto’s face appeared over the side of the bed.
Joey rubbed his aching bottom as the memories of the night before started to return. He was an idiot. How could he forget? Seto blinked sleep out of his eyes and looked at Joey. "Do you need any help?" he asked with a yawn.
"Rubbin’ my ass? No, I’m doin’ a fine job on ma own."
"Why did you fall out?"
Joey blushed and looked at the floor to hide it. "I’m not really used ta wakin’ up wit someone," he muttered.
"Oh," he replied. The moment could have turned awkward, if not for the loud crash in the kitchen.
*****
Ryou stuck a spoon in his oatmeal. He had a secret weakness for the soft mush. It had been his comfort food since he was little.
Bakura walked into the kitchen, and slumped into the seat beside Ryou. He looked down into Ryou’s bowl. "What are you eating?"
"Oatmeal," Ryou said shortly. Bakura didn’t know about this, and Ryou wasn’t about to tell him. He knew Bakura hated the rain too, and he would be grumpy until somebody cheered him up. Ryou would most likely get a lecture on how he shouldn’t need a comfort food, or how if he had to have one, it should be chocolate, not baby food.
Bakura stuck his finger in the bowl of gray goop, then put it in his mouth. He made a face, and spit his finger out. "How can you eat that stuff?"
"Well, this is rather plain. It’s better with apples and cinnamon," Ryou said, shoving a spoonful into his mouth, and smiling slightly.
"Not the taste, though that wasn’t all that great. The texture. That’s nasty."
Ryou grinned and swallowed another spoonful. Bakura growled under his breath, and slumped on the table. He hated rain.
Ryou scooped up another spoon of the tepid substance. He turned the spoon backwards, and used it to shoot the oatmeal at Bakura.
The gooey food smacked Bakura on the face. He jerked up and looked at Ryou, who smiled coyly at him. At first, Bakura was too shocked to be angry. What in the world had possessed Ryou to do that?
Bakura wiped the moff off his face, and looked back up at Ryou to yell at him. But Ryou wasn’t there. His head whipped around quickly, but the boy wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Suddenly, another wet glob smacked him in the arm.
Behind the counter.
He hardly got a chance to process the thought before another portion of gray mush flew through the air and landed on his neck. It was more instinct then thought that made Bakura go into the defense. He grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it over. It made a deafening crash, but it provided protection from the assaulting oatmeal.
Joey and Seto came running into the room. "I call Joey!" Ryou exclaimed, darting from behind his shelter of the extended counter to grab Joey and drag him behind it. Bakura motioned Seto over.
"What’s going on?"
"Ryou goes nutsy when it rains," Bakura offered by way of an explanation, as he looked around for some kind of ammo. His eyes landed on the bowl of fruit that had been on the table before he flipped it over. He’d save the bananas, they would make the best. Instead he grabbed an apple.
It was much to hard and much to large as it was. He took a large bite out of it, chewed hard for a moment, then spit the contents back into his hand.
"Mature," Seto commented.
Bakura glared at him. A well aimed glob of oatmeal flew over the table and landed in Seto’s hair. Bakura smirked as Seto’s eyes went wide.
"Hand me one," Seto said, reaching for an apfromfrom Bakura.
Yugi and Yami, looking as if they had dressed rather quickly, came running into the kitchen.
"YUG!" Joey exclaimed. "I need yer help." Dodging a handful of apple-spit, Joey ran out from behind the counter and grabbed Yugi, dragging him quickly bbehibehind the shelter. Yami was about to follow, but Seto’s hand reached out and grabbed his ankle.
"No you don’t, these sides need to be even. You are with us."
Joey sat down against the cabinet doors. He pulled Yugi down beside him on the floor. "Yug, I need yer help. See-"
"Joey, wait a minute." Yugi took a deep breath, and let it out very slowly. It was then that Joey first noticed his best friend was flushed, sweating, and panting.
"Bad time?" Ryou asked as he scooped up another handful of oatmeal.
Yugi swallowed and nodded. "Just give me a minute to recover, will you Joey?" Joey blushed and nodded, as Yugi sat there with his eyes closed.
"Think about Mrs. Marchett, it always works for me," Ryou offered. Mrs. Marchett was their current math teacher, and she must have already been dead four years she was so ugly and old.
"Thanks," Yugi replied weakly. Several deep breaths and apple-spit balls later, Yugi opened his eyes, and looked at Joey. "Now, what?"
Joey felt himself turning very red. "Um, Yug, how," he swallowed. "How do ya be gay?"
Yugi stared at his best friend, and Ryou, who had been peeking over the edge of the counter, turned around to give Joey an odd look.
"Joey," Yugi said slowly. "I don’t know if I can tell you how to be gay-"
"No, no, no. I know how ta be gay, I mean, I am, but, I- I don- don’ know how..." he flushed a very deep red.
Yugi’s eyebrows suddenly flew up, his eyes went wide. Ryou suddenly started to laugh. "Don’t laugh at him, Ryou, it’s not funny!" Ryou tried to stop laughing, but that only caused him to snort, and break out in laughter again. "Ryou!" Yugi scolded.
At the hurt look on Joey’s face, Ryou was able to gain control of himself. "It’s not funny that you don’t know, Joey. It’s just funny to think of Yugi explaining everything." He was lost to laughter again.
An apple-spit ball landed on the floor beside them. Ryou picked it back up and chucked it over the counter.
Yugi took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy.
As Yugi started to explain, well, everything, Joey listened with a seriousness that made Yugi think he was taking notes in his head. Ryou was in hysterics, every time Yugi said anything he started to laugh again. This, however, didn’t keep him from hurling fruit and oatmeal across the kitchen.
Yami sat beside Seto and Bakura as they chucked food. He really didn’t see the point, and he really was not in the mood. What he was in the mood for was on the other side of the room.
//Yugi?//
/Hmm?/
//What’s going on over on that side of the kitchen?//
/.../
//What is it?//
/Um, I'm, explaining something to Joey./ The picture that Yugi sent with the message told Yami exactly what Yugi was explaining. He burst into laughter suddenly, causing Bakura and Seto to look at him.
"What is it?" Seto asked. Yami took a look at Seto, they burst into laughter once more.
"He’s talking to Yugi," Bakura said, his eyes narrowing. "TRAITOR!" Quite suddenly Yami found himself being pelted with food by ‘his side’. He ran out from behind the table, darted across the kitchen, and jumped behind the counter.
"They attacked me."
Ryou and Yugi grinned at him. Joey looked up at Yami, then blushed hotly.
/I think he just figured out that everything I just explained to him I do with you./
Yami chuckled, then grinned at Joey, who shrunk against the counter. //Poor Joey.//
Yugi moved over and gave Yami his spot against the corner, then sat down it Yami’s lap. Joey hid his face in his hands. "I’m neva gonna look at any of ya da same again."
The food fight continued on for a little while longer before Yugi stood up. "We really should stop before we ruin Seto’s place!" he called.
Slowly, they all came out from behind their shelter and assessed the damage. Somehow, they had managed to keep the majority of it out of the sitting room, and most of it in the kitchen.
"This is going to take a while to clean up," Seto said, looking disdainfully at the cabinets covered in oatmeal, apple, or banana.
"Wait, nobody move," Ryou said. He turned around, and pulled a small container out of the cabinet. He pinched some of the contents onto his palm, then walked over to Bakura.
Bakura had gotten rather covered in the war. There was oatmeal and apple all over his face. Slowly, Ryou sprinkled cinnamon on the mess covering Bakura’s face. They all watched him with looks that clearly stated they feared he had lost his mind.
Ryou grinned at Bakura, then licked his face. He swallowed and smiled. "Apple-oatmeal and cinnamon. My favorite."
Bakura made a face, and went to wipe the remaining mess off. "No, don’t! Leave it there," Ryou said grinning.
"Do that in your room!" Seto said as Ryou licked Bakura’s face again. "And shower while you’re in there."
As Ryou and Bakura walked out of the room, Seto ran a hand through his oatmeal-caked hair and sighed. "This is going to take forever," he repeated, now regretting their fun.
"We’ll all help!" Yugi offered brightly. He had managed to stay the cleanest out of all of them.
In the next hour, they all cleaned the kitchen, and/or themselves. Joey didn’t mind the work, it gave him some time to think about everything he had just learned. I didn’ know dat was possible...
Once the kitchen had been cleaned and scrubbed, Joey found himself alone in the bedroom with Seto, who was combing out his freshly-washed hair. Joey found himself unable to look at the taller boy.
"Is something wrong?" Seto asked lightly, but there was something strong and thick hiding under his tone.
"No!" Joey answered a little too quickly.
Seto turned to face him, but Joey continued to avoid his eyes. "Look, Joey, I-"
There was a knock at the door.
Growling under his breath, Seto stomped over and yanked the door open. He found himself looking down on Yugi, who smiled sweetly up at him.
"Yug?" Joey asked from behind Seto.
Yugi’s eyes moved from Seto to Joey. "Ryou says he knows you brought a deck of cards."
"Duel monsters?" Seto asked. The agreement had been no duels on this trip. Mainly to keep them from killing each other.
Yugi shook his head. "No, playing cards."
"Yeah, I brought them," Joey replied from behind Seto.
Yugi’s face split into a smile. "Great! Ryou says to bring them down and," he paused and blinked, "wear a few pairs of socks."
Joey grinned. "Gottcha Yug. See ya in a few."
Seto shut the door with a small snap when Yugi walked away, and turned back to look at Joey who was pulling on a second pair of socks over his first.
"What’s going on?"
Joey looked up at Seto, still grinning. "Wer gonna play a game." Once he had his third pair of socks on, he dug in his bag for his cards, tran ran out of the room, leaving behind a confused Seto.
*****