#i've had the image of seto and joey kissing after a duel in my head since i first got into this fandom 3 years ago

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it’s @joukaiweek officially and i plunked away at my keyboard so i didn’t miss it. this is incredibly rough and i need to take a hammer to it, but i still wanted to post for day one so here it is!

The Final Countdown

rating T

characters joey wheeler/seto kaiba, appearances by yugi muto, mai valentine, and (unfortunately) maximillion pegasus

tags Secret Relationship (sort of), Commitment Issues, Love Confessions, Emotional Rollercoasters, Actual Rollercoasters (It’s Kaibaland Babyyyy), The Characters Actually Duel

1/19 - origin || conclusion

Joey and Seto’s relationship goes full circle when they attend “Return to Duelist Kingdom”. They’re forced to face their own emotional issues so they can move forward, or let it all fall apart.

Joey shielded his eyes as he stepped through the entrance of the large dome. The glass enclosure poured in the bright California light, and tall trees spread wide branches. The space was completely transformed with long brick paths tucked along flat ferns and bushes overflowing with flowers. A waterfall made a winding river underneath the pathways. It was easy, for a moment, to be transported to another realm entirely, except for the Slifer coaster peeking over the dome top, and the shouts of excited park goers as they tried to peer in at the duelists.

“Kaiba really knows how to go all out,” Yugi said from where he stood at Joey’s side.

Joey only nodded mutely and started down the path.

It’d been something of a surprise to receive the invitational to the Return to Duelist Kingdom a few months back, and even more of a shock to see it was being hosted at Kaibaland America. Considering the original tournament had been little more than a farce to steal souls and further corporate takeovers, it’d been regarded as a sort of dark time in the dueling world, before Battle City standardized the rule sets. Both Joey and Yugi had listened to Seto rant about how all Pegasus was capable of was making cards, while he made the game. In a long list of all the things they’d been through, Duelist Kingdom ranked fairly low on the trauma scale, depending on who you asked, but all in all their group decided it was best to leave it in the past.

Not that anything really got left in the past around here.

At least this time they weren’t on an abandoned island in international waters more likely to die from dehydration than from the psycho eliminators roaming the place. No, Kaibaland put them up in swanky five star resort rooms, complete with comped meals. If there was anything Seto Kaiba was good at, it was showing up the competition. Only those that had made it through the gauntlet were actually competing, with free Kaibaland tickets awarded to the past participants who’d been soundly kicked off. It was a rematch of sorts. There were a few people Joey wouldn’t mind getting his hands on again, now more experienced and with a top notch ranking. Bandit Keith, from whatever hole in the ground he decided to crawl out of, and Pegasus himself, still sitting on his throne, and then there was–

“Kaiba!” Yugi shouted and bounded towards the all too familiar shape of Seto Kaiba. Joey’s footsteps slowed as his best friend tossed his arms around his long time rival. The coordinator he’d been speaking too had a shocked look on her face and quickly tamped it down. Joey almost laughed. Normally touching Kaiba was a death warrant, but Yugi got a free pass.

“Oh, good,” Seto sighed. “You’re here.”

“Had to see what all the hype was about,” Joey said, tugging on the strap of his backpack. The tournament wasn’t until tomorrow, which gave them free reign over the amusement park the rest of the day. “This place is fan-cy.”

“It looks cool!” Yugi released his prey, eyes going up to the ceiling. “This wasn’t here last time.”

“Pegasus’ inane idea coincided with the opening of the new Enchanted Forest.” Seto adjusted his coat, despite the warmth from the sunlight. He looked the same as he always did, tall and lean and anemic, probably. Telltale bags sunk in his eyes. Joey wondered how much sleep he’d been getting. “Normally I wouldn’t entertain the old man’s fancies, but the marketing seemed worth the effort.”

“Is that all this is?” Joey asked, raising a single eyebrow. “Marketing?”

Seto’s eyes met his for the first time. Older, and more tired, he still had the steady steel gaze he’d always had since he was a child. Joey held it.

“That,” Seto admitted, “and I thought it might be fun.”

A grin stretched across Joey’s face. Seto looked away.

“You’ve already seen your accommodations,” he said. “If you’d like to see the tournament floor, it’s through there. The rest of the park is yours.”

“I guess you don’t have any time to ride rides with us,” Yugi said dejectedly.

“Not at the moment, no.” He took the clipboard his coordinator offered him, eyes narrowing as he went back to work. “Somehow you always manage to entertain yourself.”

“We’ll do that.” Joey scooped Yugi into a hold and noogied him. “We got more than enough yucks between the two of us to bother your skinny ass, eh, Yug?”

Yugi laughed, pushing away from him. “It’s true. Thanks for hosting us, Kaiba.”

Seto only hummed in response. Joey took his friend by the arm and pulled him along the path. It’d been a while since he’d been in a tournament with Kaiba, but he’d never forgotten the surly attitude he wore like spiked armor. Joey wasn’t going to spend all day in an amusement park not having fun. What was the point of that?

“Wheeler,” he heard Seto call behind them, and Joey turned. The same gaze hit him hard enough to make his breath catch. Seto eyed him for a moment, and then shook his head. “Don’t make a mess of my park.”

“No promises,” Joey called back and bounced away.

◈ ◈ ◈ ◈

It was a year ago when it started like this:

Hands and teeth and desperation. Joey didn’t know who made the first move, but it ended in messy sheets and heated air and quickened breath and hearts pounding. Seto told him he was worse than any rollercoaster, that Joey sent him reeling in ways that overwhelmed him. Joey’d worn the compliment with a sense of pride. Kaiba the legend, Kaiba the monument, but it was Seto that clutched his fingers into his skin and begged for more. It was explosive, it was heated, it was–

It was nice. Long nights became morning. Joey no longer felt a need to jump out of bed as soon as they were finished, which was all well in good because it turned out Seto was a cuddler. Mornings became breakfast. Breakfast became dinner dates. There were ups and downs. Joey was overwhelmed too, because Seto cared so much in ways he never could say. Affectionate and thoughtful, of all things. It wasn’t just sex anymore, but they both struggled to make it something else. What could it ever be, really? Seto was a public figure, who traveled for work, especially with the growth in Kaibaland America. The last thing Joey wanted was to be left behind again. They’d come to a forked road with no way back, not really, and neither were the type to let something stagnate. Go forward, brave an untrodden path, commit to something new, or let it all fall apart.

Joey, on his end, hadn’t made up his mind.

Dinner the night before the tournament took place in the Magician’s Mansion, at a long table nestled in a room overflowing with comically large books and holographic creatures flying overhead. Somewhere, an animatronic dragon screech sounded at regular intervals. The usual motley crew sat in a row down the length of the table. Joey sat between Mai and Yugi while Bandit Keith made the usual ass of himself. Pegasus stood and gave a speech that Joey made faces throughout. He glanced at the other end of the table, where Seto was hiding a smile. They were ushered to a viewing spot for the evenings firework display. Underneath the crooked top of the Magician’s Mansion, crowds of parkgoers peered past railings, or sat on their parents’ shoulders, or jumped up and down as the holograms raced across a manmade pond, reflecting bright points of color in all directions. A Dark Magician Girl stood in the center of the pond, waving her staff this way and that like the conductor of an orchestra. In the darkness of the alcove usually reserved for performers, it did feel like a whole different world. While the others laughed and cheered, Joey glanced up at Seto’s face. Reds and blues reflected off his pale skin. His face was the same sullen line it always was, but his fingers curled on the railing as his eyes lit up.

“Hey,” Joey said as the boom of another firework brought an array of bright pinks into the sky. Seto’s eyes turned down. His fingers curled tighter on the railing. “About–”

The crowd gasped together as a dragon joined the fireworks display, weaving between the lights and then flying down at the audience. The performer’s booming voice shouted across the park. The ever faithful Blue Eyes let out a screech and swooped down again. There was even a touch of wind as it flew past. Joey sucked in a breath as he watched the display. It was all so real. That was what Seto had always been good at. He made things into existence that others could only dream about, and he had all the means to do it. He was, in too many literal ways, the man who had everything. What did he need Joey for?

“About tomorrow,” his mouth finished, faster than his brain could function. He smiled up at Seto with uneasy, pained politeness. “Good luck.”

Seto opened his mouth, and then his eyes centered on their small group. The dragon climbed into the sky and roared.

“I won’t need it,” he said, and turned away.

◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ 

It was a beautiful bright day in California. Joey and Yugi shared a lazy breakfast at the hotel, waving at familiar faces and chatting with people who recognized them. Yugi hadn’t dueled in years, but he still carried the undefeated record. Joey’d started picking up sponsorship deals. Mai’d given him a run down of the business, and, well, it made sense. Still felt weird seeing his own face on cereal boxes.

The morning was dedicated to matches billed as old-timers versus newcomers. The familiar faces of old champs like Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood went toe-to-toe against new champions pulled from the Kaiba dueling academy and Industrial Illusions own ranked picks. They used the upgraded battle stages, which felt like dinosaur technology compared to the duel disks Joey was used to battling with. Yugi was called off to do some interview as the original champion of Duelist Kingdom, and Joey sat on stadium seating high above and out of the way, chewing on popcorn as he watched the strategies of the kids below. That was the real trick of this game. It was always changing, and someone always had a strategy you’d never faced before. Joey’d had to learn to change with it.

“Why,” came a dry voice from behind him, and Joey jumped straight up to see Seto waltzing down the steps, “did I think I’d find you here?”

“‘Cause you’ve got cameras all over this park,” Joey said, mouth full of popcorn. He swallowed it down and wiped his hands on his shirt. “‘Cause you’re a stalker.”

He tilted his head to the side, the only admission he would offer. He stopped at the end of steps, and it was a narrow pathway down the seats to where Joey lounged. Neither made a move closer.

“I still can’t believe you’re doing this,” Joey said. “I thought you were gonna hit Pegasus with a brick last night.”

“There’s still time,” he mused. He leaned forward on the railing, watching the matches below. “You’ve been oddly quiet this whole time.”

Joey set his popcorn aside, forced to admit his own guilt with a sigh. “I guess… I guess I don’t know what to say to you.”

His brow furrowed. “The answer isn’t yes.”

“It isn’t no either.” Joey closed his eyes, remembering the conversation the night before Seto had left to set up the tournament. Seto held Joey’s face in his hands and asked him point blank: Is there something here worth kindling? Did they have a reason to follow through?

Seto scoffed, his head dipping down so that his dark bangs covered his face. As he stood straight, it was Kaiba that came into view.

“I don’t know why I’m wasting my time on this,” he said in a hard edged tone. “I should’ve known you couldn’t commit.”

“I can’t commit? Me?” Joey jumped to his feet. “You’ve been gone for nearly two months! You spend half your time living on the other side of the world and then get mad when I don’t want to wait around! You can’t keep a dinner date, or a reservation–”

“I have obligations,” he snapped.

“So do I!” Joey shouted. “So does everyone! I take the bus to your place, but you can’t have your driver take you around?”

“Maybe,” Seto snarled, “it would be easier, if you didn’t decide to walk out every time you don’t get your way.”

Joey laughed. “You’re calling me selfish? You’re the one with a theme park with your name on it!”

“You feel a need to break up over every little thing,” Seto said. “If I’m late picking you up, when we can’t decide on a movie, when I pick up the wrong thing for dinner–”

“It wasn’t about dinner!” Joey shouted as he marched forward.

“Then you have to tell me what it is about!” Seto snapped back. “I can’t read your mind, and I never know what’s going to set you off, and I need you to tell me!”

“I need to know you think about me!” Joey said. His hand slid along the railing, the metal growing heated as he charged at his foe. Seto stood straight and tall like a brick wall, ready to bring him to a brutal stop. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you! I want to, god knows I tried, but I missed you! Every second you were gone! And I can’t stay up by my phone hoping I entered your mind long enough for you to call! I can’t let you hurt me like that!”

“Of course I missed you!” Seto shouted. “I’ve been in agony waiting to see you again! But you said you needed space. You said you wanted to figure things out. You can’t tell me one thing and mean something different entirely. It’s utterly infuriating!”

“Well I’m sorry!” Joey sucked in a breath, shoulders squeezing together, and then he let it go all at once. This wasn’t how he planned things to go when he got Seto alone. He hadn’t planned anything. Maybe that was part of his problem. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I wanted. I thought distance would make things clear, but instead…”

He trailed off, scraping his bottom lip. Seto released his own breath he was holding. His features softened in a way Joey was getting used to seeing.

“I want you,” Joey said, with an earnestness that made him wince. “I know that. But I can’t–I can’t take it anymore. Wondering. Knowing I’m not good enough for you. Waiting for you to cut me off. I’d rather have nothing than have that.”

“Joey,” Seto said, and his hand cupped his cheek, guiding his face up. This was how the whole thing started, Joey remembered. An argument. A touch in the right place. It’d taken this long to grow this tender. “I’m not–”

Horns sounded from the arena, and the two pulled apart. Seto’s eyes drew up, and Joey saw the white security camera clearly placed. Right. Even alone, they were in public. He’d almost let himself forget. Seto’s back straightened as the PA announced the Duelist Kingdom champions tournament. They both had places to be.

“Don’t sweat it,” Joey said, brushing off the pain like he had so many times before. “I know how important this place is to you. I just never liked being second best.”

“You’re not,” Seto said. “Not to me.”

Joey let out a dry laugh. “You better check the tapes on that one.”

“I mean it,” he said. “I’m–”

His jacket pocket started buzzing, and he groaned low as he dug in to find his phone. Joey shook his head.

“I’ll see you on the battlefield,” he said and waved off any protests as he trotted up the stairs. No, Joey Wheeler didn’t stick around, not when he wasn’t wanted. Seto could say all the words he wanted, but Joey knew how he acted when trying to get something out of his reach. If he wanted Joey, he’d have him, and the whole world would know.

◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ 

When Yugi lost, the crowd went wild.

Things had played out pretty much as Joey remembered it. No one had expected much out of Bandit Keith, and he was soundly dealt with. Joey’s battle with Mai had been close, and she’d nearly tipped his life points over the edge when she wiped his field of monsters, but a well placed ritual summon brought him back on top. Seto replaced Pegasus as the final match, and so he waited on the sidelines as Pegasus commented on the Battle of Brothers. Yugi versus Joey. Yugi’s usual duck and weave routine kept things interesting, but they hit the turning point when Joey used Enemy Controller to bring his Summoned Skull to his side of the field, and a fusion card turned him into Black Skull Dragon. It’d kept him on the ropes long enough for Joey to play Time Wizard. It’d destroyed his last monster and given Joey a clear field to destroy his life points.

As the crowd screamed, Joey glanced at where Seto sat with a wide-eyed stare. Everyone had expected the final bout to be between Yugi and Seto, a return to rivals old school fans dreamed about. As the platforms descended back down to the stage floor, Yugi and Joey had gone in for the traditional handshake. Joey had scooped him up instead in a big hug. That was best buddy after all.

Then it was Seto’s turn.

There was no catchy slogan for this match up, no big rematch to sell. As far as the world was concerned, Joey had been some newcomer nobody grabbing onto Kaiba’s coattails. There were more serious matches to care about. Even their so-called “Battle for the Bronze” in Battle City had technically been outside the tournament proper. There’d never been a reason for the two to face off. It was unclear, then, if the audience caught the tension as the two climbed up to their roosts. The life points clicked into place. The duel began.

It was clear from the jump Seto had set up his strategy to counter Yugi’s usual play style. It was a head on barrage expected from his beatdown deck. Even in the quiet of Joey’s apartment, when they lazily laid down cards sitting on the floor across from each other, Seto battled with his usual intensity. Joey’d struck blows but usually fell short of actually beating him. Winning hadn’t mattered in those moments. Now it felt like the only thing that did.

“You’re so predictable,” Joey said as he summoned two of his Blue Eyes in one move. The duelists wore mics, making his offhand comment rebound across the glass walls. Trash talk was a staple of duels. No reason to leave the crowd wanting.

“And you don’t know when to stop,” Seto fired back. “You’ve never backed down from a fight before. You should learn to lose with dignity.”

“Alright,” Joey said, activating his trap card as the Blue Eyes fired at his Flame Swordsman. Evenly Matched wiped the field. As the Blue Eyes shattered into digital dust, he grinned at Seto from across the playing field. “Show me how.”

Backed into a corner was when Kaiba was at his most dangerous, and this duel was no different. They went round for round, monster for monster. Battling him had always felt like hitting a wall, a feeling Joey’d never gotten past, but this time it was different. Fight for fight, they bashed head on, their tactics weaving around each other. Seto tried to keep his most powerful cards on the field, but Joey kept every trick up his sleeve. And the banter never stopped. Back and forth like a volleying shuttle, and little by little it unwound. The frustrated edge in Seto’s voice faded away. Joey answered his calls with laughter and an ace of his own. Their life points chipped away. Joey felt it as he drew the card he’d been hoping for. He could’ve placed it blind. He nearly kissed it.

When he played Roulette Spider, Seto groaned, dropping his head in his hands as the animated creature appeared on the playing field. Only Saggi the Dark Clown stood between Joey and victory.

“If I lose because of Roulette Spider,” Seto said, “I’m going to kill you.”

Joey grinned wide and shouted, “Roulette Spider, go!”

The spider spun, same as it always had. Its arrow whirled around the arena, flashing past faces, past life points, whirling faster and faster.

And then it landed on Seto’s life points. The whole arena sucked in a breath as the life point counter ticked down, hitting zero.

“Holy shit,” Joey said.

The roar was deafening. Cheers from the front row where Yugi and Mai sat. Pegasus’ idiot voice still rambling. The podium couldn’t drop quick enough. Joey nearly fell off trying to get down. He couldn’t wait to see Seto’s face up close, couldn’t wait to rub it in his idiot face. No way he was living this one down. No way he was getting rid of him either. He wanted Joey to commit, then fine. He was committed to reminding him of this defeat every day of the rest of his life.

Lightbulbs flashed as Seto approached. His defeats were rarely public, but there was no denying this one. Seto’s whole face was furrowed as he strode purposefully towards the center to meet him. Oh god, he was gonna deck him. Joey almost wanted him to. Nothing excited him more than breaking that ice cold exterior. He wanted to take an ice pick to it with all his might, and for the first time he might’ve really done. Joey laughed, extending out a hand, and then shouted when Seto grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. Well, he said he’d kill him. This was honestly how he’d expected to go.

“I told you,” Seto growled as he pulled Joey close. “You aren’t second best.”

And then, to thundering cheers and with every flash going off at once, Seto kissed him. Right on the mouth. With the whole world watching.

Everything was white noise, the entire park their audience. Joey was laughing, tears dotting the corner of his eyes. Seto was smiling. There’d be interviews to follow, and an exhaustive round of questions where they were suddenly forced to define their relationship when Joey couldn’t say the word boyfriend without stuttering a week ago. Now they were on the record. Still, somehow, with Seto’s arms still around him, their faces still close, and everything else faded from view, this felt like the most intimate moment they’d shared together.

“You’re so stupid,” Joey said, and he kissed him again.

◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ 

Everything followed as expected. Hearty congratulations from their friends, siblings blowing up their phones, calls from agents and PR managers and marketing. Interviews, photos, partying.

Finally, it was just them.

The hotel room was dim, and the distant lights of the park cast blue shadows across the darkened floor. Exhaustion made them lazy. They kissed and touched and sighed, and then they held each other as the clock ticked closer towards midnight. Seto with his face buried in Joey’s hair, breathing slow, deep breaths. Joey closed his eyes as he listened to his heartbeat. Calm and steady. Everything felt alright.

Joey was drifting off to sleep when he felt Seto take in a sharp breath. The hamster in his head must’ve been whirring, he knew, but he let Seto take his time to say what he was thinking.

“Do you remember,” he murmured, “when you challenged me for the first time?”

Joey huffed out a laugh. “Don’t remind me. I didn’t have anything in my deck that could touch you.”

“You did,” he said. “Touch me.”

Joey lifted his head to look up at him. Light cut the edges of his cheekbones, the highlights of his eyes. It’d been years and years and years since Joey had tossed himself into the jaw of the lion. At the time, he hadn’t understood the full weight of what Seto was fighting for. Seto hadn’t understood how deeply those words managed to cut. It was an incident, a drop in their history, and the foundation of the mountain they’d had to climb.

“You’re stupid and brash and wreckless,” Seto said. “None of that’s changed. You never let your fear get to you.”

Joey laughed. “Is this your love confession?”

“Yes,” Seto said, too sincerely. He pressed his forehead to his. “I don’t know how long I’ve loved you. It feels like always.”

Joey looked at him. No quarter was given. Wrapped around each other, there was nowhere to go, no place to run, only the truth, as roughly hewn as it was. The words sat uneven and too sweet in Joey’s mouth. He’d always been a coward, that was true, but Seto was right. He’d never let it stop him before.

“I love you too,” he said, and kissed him.

And outside, the fireworks started.