100 Puppies and Dragons

Forever and a Day

It had felt like forever since he'd seen his lover.

Actually, in human standards, it had been.

Joey went to the barred window and grasped the cold metal, leaning his head against them sadly. "…Seto…"

He watched the moon traveling across the dark sky and sighed, brows furrowing together. 'I remember when I used t' be up there with ya.' He closed his eyes tightly and sighed again to keep from sobbing instead. 'I remember the way you'd smile at me as ya drove by in your chariot. I remember the way ya made your horses slow down whenever ya passed. I remember that one moment during that eclipse when ya leaned over just enough to…' He released one of the bars to trail his fingers over his lips. '…Then that one night ya got someone t' drive your chariot for ya and ya spent that entire night with me.'

That one night—their only night—had been the most beautiful thing he'd ever experienced. And then the gods had gotten angry and had imprisoned him in this tower for distracting a bright god like Seto from his duties. He had been punished, and Seto had gotten off with a slap on the wrist and then taken back to his chariot to resume his duties.

He wondered if Seto had thought of him at all while he was locked in the tower, but he didn't think too much about it. He didn't want to dwell on the thought that maybe it was just a flighty fancy for him.

Watching the moon disappear behind the curve of the earth, Joey sighed again and turned back to his room. As a star, they'd given him a beautifully furnished room, but that didn't stop it from being what it was—a cell that he was trapped in.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto pet the silver stallion's strong neck and smiled a little as he led it into its stall. The celestial horses had stamina even the gods admired, but that didn't mean they could continue for eons and eons. Just what humans considered forever. Perhaps forever and a day. The chariot was being yoked with fresh horses now.

He gave the horse one last pat before turning and looking out the window, toward a black spot in the sky where a star should have been but wasn't. He frowned. "Joey."

He was being promoted to a higher god-ship. Some lower god was taking on his job. Perhaps he could plead his case with the Old Ones. He could explain that he'd been young and foolish, that he hadn't known the consequences of his actions and had been acting with his heart and not his head. He could argue that it wasn't fair that Joey had been the only one punished when Joey had merely allowed him to stay with him for that night and Seto had rudely intruded in his space.

It hadn't been fair. Whenever he'd passed the tower Joey had been imprisoned in, he'd looked for him, and had seen flashes of blond hair before the star had moved from the window. Perhaps he was angry or jealous that Seto had been allowed to go free again while he'd been trapped in that tower.

He didn't blame him.

Seto remembered the one night of passion they'd shared and hoped that Joey remembered it just as fondly.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Joey turned in surprise as he heard a key in the lock, wondering who had come to visit him. No one did, really, except a few of the other stars that had been nearby. The gods didn't really bother with the stars unless they were distracting them.

Maybe it was Yugi. Yugi had promised to visit again soon.

He stood as the door creaked open, for some reason feeling nervous even though he knew he really had no reason to be. "Didja bring me anything? I've missed havin' those things humans make, those cokies or whatever!"

"Sorry." The brunet offered him a crooked smile. "I just brought me. I don't know what cokies are, otherwise I might have brought some for you."

"You… I… Huh…?" Joey blinked at him slowly, then gasped, rushing over to throw his arms around his neck. "Oh, Seto!"

Seto hugged him back tightly. "Joey…"

"I'm glad ya didn't get in too much trouble." Joey pressed a kiss against the god's throat. "'m sorry, Seto."

"You're sorry?" Seto frowned. "But you didn't even—" The star looked up at him so earnestly that it almost hurt to return his gaze. "…I missed you," he finally sighed, realizing that Joey wouldn't allow him to take any blame—at least not right now, not after he'd been locked in a tower by himself to think about what had happened. "I love you."

Joey kissed him and moaned, enjoying the feel of the brunet's lips against his. "I missed ya so much… Please… Please, keep touchin' me…" He shivered as the god's hands moved over his skin, almost reverently slow. "Oh Seto… Seto, I've been alone so long… Please…"

Alone so long without anyone to touch him, to talk to him, to be intimate with him.

Seto kissed him again and led him over to the bed. "I love you."

Joey moaned. "A human forever has never seemed so long," he whispered helplessly. "I wanted t' be with ya so much, Seto."

The brunet laid him on the bed and smiled. "It was a human forever and a day. Not that I was counting or anything."

"Or anything," Joey whispered, the tears in his eyes from joy rather than loneliness for the first time since he'd been imprisoned. "Seto. I love ya. It hurt so bad t' see ya every night and not have ya see me. I almost wished we'd never made love just so I coulda been out there with ya—"

Seto kissed him again before he could finish. That one night had kept them apart for forever and a day, but the Old Ones had assured him that their dues had been paid and that they would have many more forevers to spend together. "We're together now. That's all that matters."

The star made a soft sound of pleasure and pressed against him. "Yeah. Together. Seto…" He kissed the brunet's shoulder and sighed. "Yes…"

Seto cupped his cheek and smiled before drawing him into another kiss, wondering if it was wrong to want to keep the blond in the tower for another forever just to keep him to himself. He wouldn't act on that, of course—he wouldn't force the star to stay trapped for even a day—but the thought was there, and he had to admit that keeping Joey to himself wasn't a terrible idea, but it would be if carried out in action.

But as Joey hooked his legs over the brunet's hips, he decided Joey probably wouldn't mind, either.