Walking into the gym, twinkling lights and dangling polaroids there to greet her, Caroline feels as though she’s floating. She’s thankful that for once, Klaus has chosen not to crash an event. She isn’t sure she can take his gaze while in this dress for any longer than she already has. He offered her enough compliments as his tongue drew patterns on her inner thigh earlier in the afternoon. She has to keep herself from thinking about that, tries to focus on how sweet it will be to see Elena’s face instead. With her humanity off, the reaction is minimal but it’s a small victory nonetheless. Stefan’s the only one who needles her about its origins and as much as she wants to lie, procuring a dress so exorbitant is not realistic for her. When she begrudgingly admits it, Stefan jokes, tells her she has Klaus wrapped around her finger. She tries to dismiss it, laugh it off, but it’s a troubling possibility. Untangling her own feelings and keeping them to herself is a lot easier than untangling and facing his. She isn’t so sure he’ll even say them out loud...and that’s the scariest part of all.
prompt: “are you kidding me?”
fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters
pairing: Joey Wheeler/Seto Kaiba
rating: teen
warnings: takes place against the backdrop of a pandemic, that while not explicitly named, is very similar to current circumstances
a/n: a socially-distanced dating AU, part 2
April bled into May, and Joey spent most of that time drowning in concept sketches and 3D models for the new levels that the creative lead had specced out.
To his surprise, Seto didn't ghost him after the first few conversations.
They didn't talk every day, but close enough.
Like the weekly trip to the grocery store and occasional walks in a nearby park, talking to Seto had become one of the few bright spots in quarantine life. Every time his phone buzzed with a new notification, Joey hoped it was a new message from Seto.
Joey quickly deduced how much of an early riser Seto was by his early morning replies to Joey's messages from late in the previous night. Seto rarely responded to messages between nine and six, which led Joey to wonder if he often skipped lunch like several techies he knew. Seto had yet to provide any specific details about where he worked or what he specifically did, but based on how he responded when Joey talked about his work, Joey had him pegged as a programmer of some sort.
Three weeks after they first matched, they moved their correspondence off the dating app when they exchanged Instagram handles. Joey wasn't surprised to see that the account was private and followed less than a dozen people. The fact that Joey was now on that shortlist made him feel a bit giddy.
Seto was not a frequent poster, and his account contained very few selfies. He always shared the spotlight with a raven-haired teenage boy, who must be the aforementioned little brother, in those photos. At least the Seto that appeared on the account matched the man in the dating app's profile, so Joey could take comfort that he wasn't being catfished. The rest of Seto's posts mostly contained scenic photography.
Maybe Seto actually worked in consulting? Because he appeared to have traveled regularly before the pandemic.
The most curious photo was one that captured the complicated, inner guts of an open Duel Disk. That lent credence to Seto's claim to work in tech because most people didn't crack open a Duel Disk for fun.
In comparison, Joey's Instagram was a public account that chronicled his extended stint through art school. The photos ranged from selfies taken with friends and former classmates, doodles from his sketchbook and napkins, and strange and exciting things that caught his attention on the street of New York. He recently used the account to document his cross-country move and his explorations around his new city.
He hadn't posted anything new since March, though. The last photo was one of his work-from-home setup taken two days after the studio office closed.
But he knew for a fact that Seto had gone through his old posts because he'd liked the last photo Joey had taken with his sister before leaving New York. When he first saw the notification, he'd rolled around on top of his bed for several ecstatic moments.
He had no idea what Seto sounded like, but Joey slowly found himself falling for Seto's quick wit, intelligence, and even his seriousness. Was this what old-timey courtship, when people had been limited to writing letters to each other, felt like?
If they could actually meet, that'd be Joey's highlight of this entire freaking miserable year.
Joey
I'm gonna shrivel up and die if I don't get some socialization soon
Seto
You socialize every day with your coworkers.
You call your sister every week.
Joey
Yeah, but I haven't talked to anyone in real life besides my roommate in forever
I wanna talk to my coworkers about stuff other than work
I miss people, okay?
Seto
If you all wear a mask and stay far enough apart, you can more or less safely go hang out with your coworkers.
Joey
I'll bring it up to the others, maybe they're going as stir crazy as me
What about you? How are you holding up two? Three months into this bullshit?
Seto
I'm mostly frustrated on my brother's behalf.
He's due to start college in the fall.
Joey
Shit, that sucks a lot
Sorry for your little bro, no one wants to start college like this
Seto
Thank you.
As for myself, I have my work to keep occupied.
But I sometimes find myself actually missing those obnoxious meetings that required me to attend in person.
Joey
Yeah, I hear ya
Don't get too caught up in just working though. You gotta have fun once in a while.
Seto
Yes, sadly, tournaments are not going to start up any time soon.
Joey chewed on his bottom lip and cast a glance at his old Duel Disk that he'd dug out of his closet. Maybe this was his chance...
Joey
We can duel each other
I mean, dueling is like the perfect socially distanced activity to do outdoors
Seto didn't reply for several minutes, causing Joey's anxiety to shoot through the roof. When he finally did, Joey nearly cried in relief.
Seto
Is this a date?
Joey
If you want it to be
Seto
It's a far better choice than asking me out for a drink.
-x-x-x-
The following Sunday, Joey strapped his Duel Disk to his arm and biked out to Golden Gate Park. He locked his bike near the eastern entrance and donned his fabric mask before traipsing into the park. Joey then pulled on the nicest shirt he owned, a red short-sleeved oxford, to hide his sweat-dampened t-shirt. It didn't take him long to find Seto out on an isolated patch of grass with a black mask covering the lower half of his face. His gaze was focused on the phone in his hand, while the latest Duel Disk model in sleek silver and blue sat on his non-dominant arm.
Joey came to a stop at the requisite six-feet distance and called, "Nice to finally meet ya, Seto!"
Lifting his head, their eyes met. Seto's eyes appeared almost too blue under the bright afternoon sun. "Joey," he greeted in a rich voice that maybe had Joey swooning a bit.
For several moments, they studied each other from a distance. Seto turned out to be several inches taller than Joey, and he'd come to today's date dressed in a navy polo shirt over fashionably skinny black jeans. Feeling self-conscious, Joey reached up and tried to smooth out his hair, which was probably windswept from his bike ride.
"Shall we begin?" asked Seto.
"What? No ice-breaker?" Joey joked.
"The duel is the ice-breaker," replied Seto confidently.
Joey wondered if he was smiling underneath the mask. "Let's go then!"
As Joey suspected, Seto was an advanced duelist. He never seemed to lack counters to respond with. The duel's intensity kept Joey on his toes and had him sweating almost as much as the bike ride over. While he did his best, the goddess of victory did not favor him.
"Jeeze, you play like an absolute beast," said Joey after his life points ticked to nothing.
"I play to win." Seto's eyes shone in such a way that Joey was sure he was smiling viciously under the cloth mask.
"Ya coulda gone a little easier on me. Ya know I'm a bit rusty at the game, and it's our first date. Don't ya wanna make a good impression?" he pouted, but the effect was probably lost with the face mask.
Seto arched an elegant eyebrow. "My overwhelming victory didn't impress you?"
Joey laughed. Never had he been so happy to lose a duel.
-x-x-x-
Every other Sunday, they met at Golden Gate Park for a duel. They started bringing food and drinks with them to enjoy afterward as they talked about their week. They had become bonafide dates, except for the part where they always stayed six feet apart and couldn't touch.
Lounging on a blanket, he glanced longingly at Seto's long fingers as they gripped the neck of a single-serving bottle of wine. What would those fingers feel like against his skin? What would it feel like to pull that mask down and kiss him? These were the questions slowly driving Joey insane every time they saw each other.
To distract himself, he asked a different question that had been bothering him. "You've been playing a different deck every time. Have you been building a new one for each one?"
"I have. My main deck's—" Seto paused to consider his words. "Quite distinctive. Besides, you're not ready to face it."
"But I'm getting better each time! I almost beat you today. It's only a matter of time. I have someone from work giving me tips. He's a real pro. I doubt even you can beat him." He threw a broad grin at his date, forgetting that it wouldn't be visible.
Yuugi, the studio's tech lead, had won several national championships.
Seto sensed it, though, and may have smiled in return if the crinkling around his eyes were any indication. "Is that so? You're taking this very seriously for a hobby player."
"Well, there's this cute guy I'm trying to impress, ya see?" Joey winked.
His heart fluttered when he spotted the hints of a blush seeping out from under Seto's mask. He was officially dying to touch his date.
-x-x-x-
"Is this what touch-starved feels like?" Joey bemoaned as he stared at the living room ceiling.
After retrieving the PS4 controller from across the room, his roommate returned and gave him a skeptical look. "Do you need a hug or something?"
"Maybe?"
His roommate plopped down on the couch next to him and gave him a quick hug and a pat on the head as he pulled away. Joey flopped listlessly against the sofa arm.
"Guess that didn't help," muttered his roommate.
"No, it was nice," sighed Joey. "But you're not the one I wanna touch and hold."
"Ah! I get it now. This is about the guy you've been seeing on Sundays. Take it that's been going well if you're moping like this."
"Yeah. God, I really, really like him. I wanna touch him and kiss him so much I could die."
"A little overdramatic, but I get it," his roommate said sympathetically.
Joey sat up again and wailed. "This pandemic is the fucking worst. Why did I meet him now?"
His roommate fell silent for a while as he booted up The Ghost of Tsushima. "Well... you both work from home, right?"
Joey nodded.
"And it sounds like he's been pretty careful overall, just like you. You can try and get tested, but we know what a crapshoot that's been. If you two agree to be, well, exclusive, maybe you guys can move to the next stage," suggested his roommate.
"You'd be okay with that?"
"I mean, it's all about forming social pods, right? If the two of us are clear and he and his immediate family are clear, then we should be okay."
"He lives with his little brother, and I think he's been pretty strict about the kid quarantining too."
"It's not that much different than getting tested and talking about STDs and stuff when you think about it. Be honest and check in with each other. See if he'd be comfortable with the idea first."
Joey chewed on his bottom lip. "I'll think about it. I should probably ask him what his last name is..."
"Oh my fucking god!" His roommate exclaimed and chucked a cushion at his face. "Are you for fucking real?"
-x-x-x-
At the end of their monthly playtest meeting, the studio director, Atem, dropped the news. "We have a new minority investor in the company. Please don't be alarmed. This changes nothing about the way we operate or the creative choices we make in our products. More money and more resources mean we'll be able to invest more in our games."
Ryou, the art team lead, raised a tentative hand in his video square before asking, "Can you tell us who it is?"
"It's KC," replied Atem calmly.
Joey's ears crackled with the team's various reactions, ranging from soft gasps to exclamations of "oh my god."
"Wait, the KC as in the Kaiba Corporation? The one that makes Duel Disks?" Tristan, the office manager, asked for further clarification.
"Yes. Don't forget they have a video game publishing division as well," reminded Atem. "The point is that it's an investor relationship. They're not acquiring us. There'll be no change in management. The company is impressed by the quality of our work and wants to help us continue to grow. So really, it's thanks to everyone's hard work on this call that we were able to secure this opportunity."
It was hard to share a look with coworkers when everyone was in disparate locations across the Bay Area. Some of them, Joey included, tried.
Atem continued, "The reason that I'm bringing this up now is because the announcement is being made tomorrow. I wanted you all to know first before that happened, but please remember to keep it on the down-low until then. I'll also be putting a meeting on the calendar for tomorrow, where we will have a brief meet-and-greet with some representatives from KC. Again, don't panic. Okay, thanks to everyone for your thoughtful playtest feedback. We'll be going through all the comments and converting the high-priority concerns into action items you'll be able to see in Asana soon. Bye."
The meeting ended with the always abrupt dialog box stating, "The host has ended the meeting."
Yuugi was in his Slack DMs in seconds.
Yuugi
Omg omg, I knew Atem was looking for investors for a while, but even this caught me by surprise!
Joey
dude shouldn't he have told you? you're like tech lead
Yuugi
Like Atem said, it's a minority stake. It doesn't give them the right to do tech diligence on us or anything.
Joey
so you're not worried at all?
Yuugi
No, this is probably the best possible outcome. Atem already has a working relationship with the CEO. They were active in Duel Monsters around the same time.
I've met him twice too. I think he'll be more hands-off than you think.
It'd be another story if we were acquired.
Joey
cool cool cool still not totally freaking out about meeting the bigwigs tomorrow
shit, i gotta iron my good shirt
Yuugi
Lol don't worry, it's not like Kaiba himself going to come to the meeting
-x-x-x-
As it turned out, Yuugi was dead wrong.
As soon as he joined the Zoom call, one particular black rectangle caught Joey's attention.
S. Kaiba
Video was off, and there was a red muted icon in the bottom right.
But with 30 plus people on the call, the rectangle fell quickly off the first screen as Atem greeted everyone.
Reflexively, Joey ducked out of frame and used his phone camera in selfie mode to make sure his appearance was more or less neatly. Like him, most of the team had chosen to dress a notch or two above their usual work attire of t-shirts and hoodies. Tea was wearing makeup for the first time in weeks. Several people, Miho included, had cleaned their rooms/offices or moved to a spot in their homes where there was nothing but a bare white-washed wall behind them.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us on such short notice," Atem began, calm and collected as always. "This meeting is meant to give us a chance to introduce ourselves and set us forward on the path to a smooth working relationship. As many of you know, my name is Atem Hussain, and I'm the director of Black Magic Games."
Another rectangle labeled "Megan Sullivan" lit up around its border as a woman in her mid-thirties and dressed conservatively in a business suit introduced herself. "Hi, everyone. It's such a pleasure to meet you. I'm Megan, the VP of Operations here at KC. We're actually lucky to have Mr. Kaiba join us today."
"Good afternoon," a familiar deep voice rumbled in Joey's ears, and he jumped out of his chair.
S. Kaiba, as in Seto Kaiba, returned to the top of the video grid. The same pair of deep blue eyes that haunted Joey's dreams of late stared back at him. Joey hadn't seen the bottom half of Seto's face outside of dating app photos and Instagram, but he recognized the smooth-shaven jawline on his screen. Seto was dressed in business formal, though he'd discarded the jacket for now. His ice blue tie popped against the dark gray of his neat button-up.
"Are you kidding me?" Joey screeched.
A dead silence followed on the call. He hadn't muted himself yet.
"Sorry," he apologized hastily, then muted himself and turned off his video for good measure.
Probably too little too late. If Seto hadn't noticed him before, he definitely did after that little outburst. Seto Kaiba was definitely the man he'd been playing Duel Monsters with every other Sunday at the park. Seto—23, 10 miles away—was none other than the CEO of the Kaiba Corporation.
Joey was an idiot. He wanted to die. He didn't know if he was more embarrassed by the fact that he'd never connected those two dots before or that he'd finally realized it now of all times. He barely paid attention to the rest of the meeting, only unmuting himself for 30 seconds to introduce himself at Ryou's urging ("Joey Wheeler. I work on art assets and modeling.").
He pulled up the Wikipedia page for the Kaiba Corporation, which he should have done yesterday when Atem first told Them. There, in the info box to the side, under "Key People"—CEO: Seto Kaiba. He followed the link through to Seto's page. The photo provided must be from several years ago because Seto was wearing that flamboyant trench coat getup that Joey remembered as defining "Kaiba" through much of his high school and early college years. Was that how he'd been fooled so thoroughly? Because Seto now dressed like a normal person instead of a supervillain?
Maybe he could blame it on the face mask?
The meeting was only scheduled for half an hour, but it felt like an eternity. Joey kept tabbing through photos he found of Seto Kaiba online and the Zoom window to compare them and kick himself over and over again. His only saving grace was he wasn't an active participant in the meeting. All he was expected to do was listen and stare.
He nearly had a heart attack when a message popped up on his screen with two minutes on the clock.
From S. Kaiba to You:
Stay on afterward. We should talk.
"Okay, thanks to everyone for joining us today. We look forward to supporting all the amazing work your studio has been doing. Bye," chirped Megan.
A chorus of "byes" rang in Joey's ear as people exited the Zoom meeting in droves. Soon, the only two rectangles that remained were his and Seto's.
Seto sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Will you turn on your video?"
With a shaky hand, Joey turned on his webcam again. They stared at each other over the internet. It was one of the strangest things Joey had done in a year full of nothing but weird strangeness.
"Did you know?" Joey blurted, fidgeting with nervous energy.
"What? That you worked at Atem's studio? No. Joey's a pretty common name, and you never gave me your last."
Joey buried his burning face in his hands. His headphones slipped forward over his forehead. "God, you must think I'm a fucking idiot. Seto. How many people on this planet are named Seto of all things?"
"Maybe in America," Seto replied calmly. "It's not unheard of where my parents were from. I was actually glad when you remained oblivious to who I was. It was...refreshing that you had no preconceived notions about me."
Joey peeked at Seto through his fingers. "No wonder you were cagey about giving too many details about what you did. And yeah, your main deck with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon would have been a dead giveaway. Still doesn't make me any less of a dumbass."
"I did consider dropping some hints recently to see if you would put the pieces together," chortled Seto. It was nice to see the curve of his soft lips without a mask covering them. It made Joey want to kiss him even more.
Dropping his hands into his lap, Joey straightened. "So, what now? Are we, like, done then?"
His stomach plummeted at the thought. It was one thing to want to date Seto, who was already out of Joey's league, but to date the Seto Kaiba? Not to mention, wasn't this sort of thing a conflict of interest or something?
Seto considered him long and hard over the video connection. "I'm not your boss. Atem is. I wouldn't usually bother with meetings like this one if I didn't know Atem personally. At the end of the day, you're still Joey, whether you worked for Black Magic or another game studio."
Joey sucked in a deep breath. "Then, we still on for this Sunday?"
"Yes, if you would like." Seto's eyes darted to the side momentarily as he admitted, "I would like it."
Fuck, yeah, cute. Joey had no defense against those almost shy reactions. "Will you bring your real deck this time?"
Seto met his eyes again and smiled. "Yes, I suppose now's the time."
-x-x-x-
Sunday was another gorgeous California day, and the two of them met at their usual dueling spot. Seto's dragons were something to behold in person. They were bigger and more ferocious than Joey remembered seeing on streams, and they trounced his deck in an embarrassing number of turns.
After the duel, they cautiously approached each other. Every step that brought him closer to Seto made Joey's heart race faster. They'd exchanged phone numbers and had several long and honest conversations after that fated Zoom meeting. To Joey's undying delight, Seto had expressed similar thoughts about advancing their relationship, even going so far as to help Joey secure a test in the days leading up to today's date.
Both of them had come back negative as hoped.
"Great duel," Joey complimented and hesitantly removed his mask.
Seto followed his example and smirked at him. "Now that I know Yuugi's been the one tutoring you, I can read your moves too easily."
Joey rolled his eyes and punched him in the arm. "Shaddup, not all of us are national DM champions."
As he withdrew his fist, Seto caught his wrist. The feeling of those long, spindly fingers that Joey had admired from afar for weeks gripping his skin sent electricity racing up his arm and down his spine. Seto's pale fingers felt cool against Joey's tanned skin, now clammy from sweat and nerves. Joey's breath caught in his throat as he forgot how to breathe. Fuck, he wasn't dreaming. This was direct skin-to-skin contact.
"I should have asked first," Seto said and released him.
"No, come back."
This time, Joey reached out and grabbed Seto's hand. The palm pressed to his felt equally damp and seemed to tremble at the contact. Shifting his grip carefully, he intertwined their fingers and held tight. He swore he could get high off this simple touch.
He lifted his head and smiled softly at his date. "This is what we talked about. We both agreed we wanted this, right?"
Mutely, Seto nodded. His rounded eyes were still fixed on their linked hands. Joey looked back down, similarly enthralled by the sight. Distantly, he realized they probably looked like idiots to the outside observer, two men standing shellshocked in the middle of the grass while holding hands.
Several moments later, Joey loudly declared, "This means we're exclusive now. You hafta delete tinder right now."
That snapped Seto out of his daze. An arrogant smirk appeared on his kissable lips. "Moving a bit fast, aren't we?"
Joey lifted their clasped hands, marveling at the way their fingers laced together and the warmth between their flushed palms. "Man, we're touching, like touching-touching. That basically makes us pandemic married."
Seto laughed. It carried a note of the mania that Joey now remembered from his old duels, but it was also unexpectedly rich and warm. Feeling daring, Joey stepped closer and pressed his cheek to Seto's shaking shoulder and soaked in the delightful sound.
Check out other puppy/violetshipping ficlets I’m writing all #fictober20 long
Trump has barely been president for an hour and the LGBT protections page has been taken down from the Department of Labor website as well as the LGBT, Civil Rights, Climate Change, and Healthcare sections from the White House website.
