100 Puppies and Dragons

Summer Haze

"Joey, are you okay?" Yugi asked nervously. "It's been a mild summer."

Joey hummed slowly, staring up at the ceiling blankly. "I'm fine. I'm always fine." He blinked, then sat up straight and turned to look at his friend. "Why?"

Ryou laughed nervously. "Oh, no reason! We just noticed that you weren't really into extreme heat and summer fun this year!"

The blond leaned his head on his hand, frowning, then turned to look into the crystalline pool that served as their eyes to the human world. It was clearly warm down there, enough that a haze skewed the scene a little. He sighed when he saw all of the people running around and ran a hand through his hair. Last year, it had been so hot during this part of the day that the humans hadn't been able to leave their air-conditioned homes.

"Damn. It really is affecting me," he whispered, frowning, and ran a hand through his hair.

Yugi frowned. "What's affecting you, Joey?"

"Can we do something for you?" Ryou asked.

Joey hugged himself and jerked his head away. "No, I'm fine. Ryou, I think I'm gonna go for an early autumn. Is that okay?"

The white-haired boy frowned. "Of course it's okay, Joey. A mild autumn, then?"

"…No. I'd really just like to go visit my sister in the other hemisphere," the blond replied quietly. "Please."

The two smaller boys glanced at each other nervously before quietly agreeing and going to make the necessary arrangements.

Joey leaned his head in his hand again, unable to hide the frown that came to his face after they'd gone.

"I really like ya, Seto."

Seto blinked slowly, then tilted his head. "You don't have to resort to that for an early summer, Joey. I don't mind."

Joey frowned. "But that's not what I— …Okay," he whispered, ducking his head, then turned to walk away.

He didn't want to see the winter spirit. He just wanted to go visit his sister.

That way he didn't have to feel so rejected.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto twisted around to pop his back, then stretched his arms over his head, yawning. "Why did you want an early winter anyway, Ryou? I thought we'd be in for a mild autumn and winter. Joey wanted an early summer."

Ryou blinked, frowning. "No, he actually wanted to get out of here before you showed up. Did you guys have a fight or something?"

The brunet blinked. "…Well, no, but… Oh." His eyes widened. "Oh."

The smaller boy frowned as the winter spirit promptly slapped a hand to his face. "What's wrong, Seto?"

"I get to give someone an apology." Seto sighed in annoyance. "Goody."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"So how are those humans—Oh!" Joey yelped, springing back and holding his hand to his chest in surprise. "Where the hell did ya come from?"

Seto frowned, looking down at him in annoyance. "You didn't tell me that you were confessing to me. I thought you just wanted an early summer."

The blond frowned. "…I would have figured it was a confession when I said I liked ya, stupid."

"You give me too much credit. No one wants to be stuck with a winter spirit. I'm used to false confessions just so people can get what they want." The brunet's frowned deepened. "I am quite upset that you didn't correct me. You're usually not so meek."

Joey scowled. "I thought ya rejected me, asshole. If ya didn't want me I wasn't gonna force myself on ya."

"Why in Seasons' names would make you think that that was a rejection?" Seto asked, quite appalled by the assumption that he was that much of a dick. He realized he could be a jerk, but he liked to think he could at least let people down gently.

The blond narrowed his eyes sourly. "…Because ya never liked me anyway and I'm a summer spirit."

"…I like you." Seto tilted his head. "I find you quite tolerable, which is more than I can say for quite a lot of spirits. Also, you're much more attractive."

Joey's brows furrowed together. "You find me quite tolerable?"

The brunet frowned. "Was that wrong?"

The summer spirit huffed. "Very."

"…But I got the attractive part right, didn't I?" Seto asked after a moment.

Joey sighed. "Yeah, I guess ya did."

The winter spirit shrugged awkwardly; he'd never done this before and he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do now. "…Sooo… Would you like to go somewhere?"

The blond tilted his head skeptically. "Where?"

"…The… human… world?" Seto grimaced when the younger spirit shot him a disbelieving look. "I don't know. I've never actually wanted to explore attraction to someone like this. Usually it's just sex and then we go our separate ways."

"…You're hopeless," Joey muttered, scowling. "But I guess I'm a little hopeless, too, because I think that's kinda cute."

The brunet tilted his head. "So what to people actually do when they want to explore a relationship?"

Joey sighed. "I suppose they go out for dates. I've never really done more than have sex with people either."

"…We could cuddle," Seto suggested after a moment. "I've heard people do that."

The blond frowned. "I've only heard that they do it after sex."

"Then we could have sex and cuddle."

The two spirits looked at each other for a few minutes in awkward silence. Finally, though, Joey nodded. "Alright. I have a bed here if ya wanna try it now."

Seto hummed, then nodded. "Okay. Lead the way."

Joey turned to lead him to his bedroom, then paused, frowning. "…I feel like we're doing this wrong."

"You watch the humans too much," the winter spirit replied, reaching down to cup his rear and give it a squeeze. "It's different for seasonal spirits."

"Maybe I do," the blond mumbled thoughtfully, then huffed. "Could you at least wait until we're in my room so my sister doesn't walk up on her brother bein' groped?"

Seto scowled but slid his hand around to hold his hip instead. "Fine." He slid his hand up and down his hip slightly, then tilted his head, unable to help a smirk as he pulled the summer spirit up against his side. He leaned in to nuzzle the top of his head. "—You smell like a summer breeze."

Joey blinked, blushing a little, then turned to nuzzle the brunet's shoulder. "…You smell like a frosty morning."

"Oh? And what does a frosty morning smell like?" the winter spirit asked playfully.

The blond looked up at him and smiled. "You."

Seto snorted and rested his forehead against the smaller boy's. "Touché."

Joey tilted his head up just enough to touch lips with him. "Don't worry. It's a good smell."

"I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it. But that's okay." The brunet kissed him again softly. "I thought you said you didn't want your sister to see you in a compromising position."

The younger boy blinked and hummed in confusion. "What?"

"Joey, you've somehow managed to get my thigh between your legs and your hands are on my ass," Seto deadpanned. "And we've only kissed twice. They weren't even that deep."

Joey blinked again, cheeks burning bright red in embarrassment as he pulled away from him. "It might have been a while since I've last had sex."

"Hmm." The brunet slid his arm around him again. "Well, if you show me to your room, I could fix that. And don't complain about my hand on your ass because after what you just did, this is pretty tame."

The summer spirit sighed quietly. "I suppose it is."