Shounen-ai: Kaiba x Joey
Created 8th March 2005

It was sometimes a long time – perhaps too long – before Seto Kaiba would have another one of those dreams.

His reaction was different to most other people's dreams. Kaiba did not toss and turn, nor did he call out or scream, nor even did he cry (CEO's did not cry).

It started, instead, with the shaking.

Gentle at first, it was a mere shiver, a twitch of the fingers and toes, a clench of white-knuckled fists. Then it became more violent, until his entire form was shivering and convulsing as if it were being frozen from the very inside – and, to Seto Kaiba, it may well have been the case.

Then the breathing began to alter. The deep, slow breathing of one whose sleep was untroubled was banished; in its place was uneven, ragged breaths – louder and louder as his dreaming continued.

And finally, there would be one small sound – a whimper, a vague noise in the back of his throat, a tiny, almost undetectable grunt as the brunette was brought back into sudden, and very welcome, awareness.

What was truly amazing was the fact that Joey Wheeler, the CEO's blonde 'puppy', was always there with him at those moments, fully awake and ready to either go back to sleep and pretend he never awoke in the first place if Kaiba's pride could not take a bruising that particular night, or gently inquire as to whether he would perhaps like a cup of hot chocolate.

"I don't drink hot chocolate", Kaiba would say on some nights that he had gone through one of those dreams. His voice would be filled with as much disdain as he could muster, but Joey was never fooled.

So, without question or comment, Joey would get up, curse softly at the cold floor beneath his feet, and pad off to the kitchen. And upon his return, Kaiba would accept the steaming mug, despite his earlier protest, and sip, while trying to suppress the tired smile on finding the pink marshmallow floating on the liquid's top.

"Better?" Joey would ask.

Kaiba would nod – a 'yes' was beyond him, but a 'no' would be a lie – and Seto Kaiba never gave a direct lie, not to Joey.

"Good", Joey would say.

And it was always good, even (or perhaps especially) to Kaiba, although he would never admit it – because the next part would be the best part.

Joey would pull the sheets back over them both, and the duvet with dragons all over it that the blonde seemed to favour, and after that it would grow quiet. Joey would hold Kaiba, one arm around a slim waist, the other almost but not quite touching a pale cheek.

So quietly that it was nearly a simple breath of a whisper, Joey would begin to sing. Sometimes it was a nursery rhyme that came to mind. Other times it turned into something more complicated – a dance of words strung together to create a song of Joey's own imagination. The words would eventually blend into one another, until finally the song ended as it often began – a nearly tuneless yet oddly soothing hum.

The humming would continue until Kaiba's breathing indicated sleep again. When that happened, Joey would tuck the sheets more firmly around them both and sleep himself – because those dreams never occurred twice in one night.

In fact, one of those dreams rarely occurred too often at all – which was, to Joey, both a bad thing and a good thing. Bad because, obviously, he hated to see Kaiba in so much fear during, and after, a dream.

But good because, other than cold feet and Kaiba's own reluctance to admit to his fear, Joey loved both Kaiba and marshmallows – and when Kaiba slept, Joey would be able to taste both before sleep slowly claimed him also.