~*~

Joey Wheeler has never been very good at handling more than one kind of stimulus at a time-he's too excitable, too impassioned; his world is devoid of gray. And so, when Seto Kaiba sneered and shoved him against the wall, there was only one thing that could have meant.

Someone was about to get hurt.

It did not mean gasping in surprise as Kaiba's teeth marked his throat, or the shudder that followed Kaiba's fingers as they dug against his ribs. Kaiba's mouth was hot; his teeth were sharp; his hands were rough and ridged with papercut scars borne from years of familiarity with his cards.

Joey's mind promptly imploded.

Driven by the lone instinct he had that demanded he fight, Joey pulled hard on Kaiba's hair and darted closer, his teeth tearing into the older boy's bottom lip. The resulting moan sent Joey's brain spinning and the Fight instinct became OmigodYesMore as Kaiba's fingers tangled in his hair and jerked his head back and followed with a kiss that sent his blood running south. Another moan, another gasp, and Joey wondered vaguely just when he'd gotten his hands tangled beneath Kaiba's shirt, fingers running over flat planes of chest and stomach and Kaiba making no effort to stop him. This was obviously not real, and he was having one hell of a hallucination.

"Joey!" Serenity's voice called clearly from the hallway, and Kaiba dropped him, stepping away. Before Joey had time to do more than blink, Kaiba was already perfectly composed and heading toward the door.

"Your sister's calling, Mutt," he called over his shoulder.

Joey blinked.

Serenity burst in like a ray of sunlight, her words stumbling over each other in her haste to speak. "Yugi is fighting Marek and everything's dark outside and there's lightning and the cards and what if the world is going to end, big brother?? You have to get up here and help us cheer Yugi on--we'll probably all die if he doesn't win!!" She ran back out of the room, barely even registering Kaiba's presence in the room.

Joey blinked.

Kaiba shrugged fluidly, his coat flaring out as he turned back to Joey. "Did you hear that, Mutt? Yugi needs his cheerleader or the world will end."

Joey ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know where you get off-"

Kaiba strode toward him, two quick steps, and rested his forehead against Joey's for the briefest of moments. "I can't believe that life's so complex when I just want to sit here and watch you undress."

Joey's eyes widened in horror as Kaiba smirked. "We'll finish this later, Kaiba," Joey snarled, pulling away from Kaiba's grasp.

"Now you're getting it, Wheeler. Good boy." His eyes flickered briefly over Joey as he turned and left the room.

Joey grinned. First, he'd cheer Yugi, just like everyone else. And when that crisis was over, he'd show Kaiba that an old dog could be taught new tricks.

~*~