#except maybe one time when he gets rlly high with yugi

[translightyagami]

"do you believe in aliens?" seto/joey

this isn’t very romantic and also only adheres to the prompt marginally and also is way longer than i intended anyway this is basically a fic where joey and seto smoke weed 

106: “ Do you believe in aliens? ”

Joey blinked slow at first and then faster until his eyes were dry. Like a dryer full of socks, his head turned over itself again and again while he flicked the lighter on again. He lit the bowl and took a deep hit. Smoke spilled out of his mouth and clawed upward.

“Oh man,” he said. “That’s good stuff.”

“I know.” Seto snatched the pipe from Joey when he offered it. “It is my marijuana after all.”

“Why do you call it that? Why can’t you just say weed like everyone else?”

Eyes closed, Seto ignored him. Was this a bad plan? Doubt wriggled in Joey’s stomach and it shifted the more he thought about his whole situation. Okay, so maybe he did kind of want to see Seto’s house and, alright, he was man enough to admit that him having a medical card influenced his decision. Plus Yugi bugged him all the time about playing nice with the guy. What was nicer than having a smoke with someone? Yet he was still on edge with a body full of rough waters. What precisely set off these anxieties wasn’t clear. If he were less high, then maybe he’d know.

“Are you just going to stare into space the whole time?” The pipe was shoved into Joey’s line of vision. “Or are you going to take another hit?”

“Ah.” He reached for the lighter. His hand hovered there and then he set it back down. “I think I should take a break. The high is hittin’ me kinda fast.”

“Hmph. Figures.”

In one rapid motion, Seto whipped the pipe back to his lips and lit the bowl, pulling in smoke before expelling it in a curling grey cloud. Joey had the unoriginal thought that the smoke looked like a dragon. But everything Seto did had the curl of a dragon. He moved too sharp, too armored to be anything human.

“Don’t be a jerk,” Joey said. “Just ‘cause you’re used to this stuff doesn’t mean you can act all superior to me.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what it means.”

Silence blanketed them after that and Joey used that time to take in his surroundings. They were in Seto’s entertainment room, or at least one of them. When he came in the house, he nearly fell over from how huge it was. There could’ve been eight of his own little apartment fit inside Seto’s house. The room was pretty big too and there were five consoles all lined up underneath a massive TV attached to the wall. Speakers flanked the screen and next to the X-Box was a little wicker basket full of controllers. On the far wall were shelves upon shelves of video games. While Seto had been getting his weed out, Joey had perused the titles and his heart sank thinking about his own tiny collection.

“I’ve been meanin’ to ask you." Joey picked at the carpet and rubbed one socked foot over the other. “Why do you have a medical card, anyway?”

“It’s none of your business, Wheeler,” Seto said. His voice went hard like a giant wall shooting up and in-between himself and Joey. Putting one arm back, he leveraged himself up and walked over to his TV. He rummaged in the controller basket before looking over his shoulder.

“Which system do you want to play on?” he asked.

“Eh.” Joey rubbed the back of his head. “Nintendo?”

“Heh,” Seto chuckled. The sound activated Joey’s fight or flight response but he tried to smother the feeling. They were just getting high. There wasn’t a duel happening. No one was in danger. “That’s Mokuba’s favorite.”

The TV sparked to life while Seto set up the system and then went over to flick through his games. Joey’s eyes fluttered under their own weight. He sunk into the feeling of cement but his skin still prickled with Seto’s every move.

“Hey.” Joey opened his eyes, not realizing he’d closed them, and a controller was being shoved in his face. He snatched it from Seto and frowned. “Wake up.”

“I am awake,” he said. “Like I said before, you don’t have to be a jerk.”

“Whatever.” Seto dropped back onto the floor and leaned back on his couch. “Just choose your character.”

Joey rolled his thumb over the toggle and went from character to character. Whenever he played with Yugi, they played matching characters--Mario and Luigi, Peach and Daisy. What was the protocol for playing against a guy who spent most of his time yelling about how you suck at dueling? Sweat dripped down his forehead as Joey picked Toad. Seto picked Bowser.

Even before he’d knew knew Seto, Joey had known he was good at video games. He owned a god damn gaming company. But he was a revelation at Mario Cart. Not that Joey was too shabby at the game with a good handful of second place wins under his belt. The floating sensation of being high rose in his head and made it feel weightless.

“Hey,” he said. “You ever wonder what Bowser is?”

“What?” The music of the game chimed as Seto won another race. “No.”

“Is he an alien?” Joey’s mouth felt gummy when he talked. “Where’s he from?”

Seto was quiet and then put his controller down. He took his phone out and started to type at a rapid pace. Joey goggled at the device in his hands.

“Is that a Blackberry?”

“So what if it is?” Seto shot a defensive look at him. “It’s better than piece of tech you’ve ever owned.”

“Alright.” Joey threw his hands up. “Don’t lose your cool, Kaiba.”

“I’m not losing my cool, Wheeler,” Seto said. He flicked his thumb over the roller-ball and clicked something. “It says here that Bowser is a Koopa. So he’s not an alien.”

“Huh.” Leaning back, Joey let his controller rest in his lap. Head like a block of cement, he turned it to face Seto. “Hey. Do you believe in aliens?”

A blank expression fell over Seto’s face and for the first time, Joey could see how high he was. His eyelids were low and his movements were more stiff as though the air around him was molasses. With great difficulty, Joey almost saw someone he could be friends with.

“I don’t.” Seto rubbed his lips together. “Aliens. Just a bunch of paranoid nonsense. Not that I’m surprised you’re bringing it up since you and the geek squad are always going on about that mystical whatever.”

“Listen, Kaiba.” A bolt of anger cleared Joey’s high and he shoved a finger in Seto’s face. “Just because you’re too far up your own rear end doesn’t mean you get to act like what’s happened to us is fake. You’ve been there and you’ve seen it too.”

“What I saw was a bunch of nerds playing friendship is magic.”

“You see.” Joey threw up a hand and rolled his eyes. “This is why no one ever wants to hang out with you. ‘Cause you’re always a jerk about everything.”

“You’re hanging out with me right now,” Seto said. His expression was smug and Joey wanted to wipe it right off him.

“I’m only hanging out with you because Yugi wanted me to,” he said. For a second, victory flared up in his stomach as Seto’s face fell. But the feeling didn’t last and neither did the unhappy look on Seto’s face. It quickly reconstructed itself but remained filtered through distrust. Did that guy really think Joey had just wanted to chill with him? After what an asshole he’d been time and time again? Joey folded his arms across his chest and willed himself not to care. His efforts didn’t work.

“Jeez,” he said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so, uh, mean like that.”

“Don’t apologize,” Seto said. He didn’t look at Joey and kept his gaze steady on the TV. The highlights of the last race were playing on a loop. “You were being honest.”

“Yeah but it was still a dick move. And I try not to be a dick.”

A chuckle escaped Seto and it was light, a shade of his usual crow of a laugh. He crossed his arms too and they sat in silence for a while. Neither of them moved to start a new game. Finally, Seto went and reached for his grinder.

“There’s still more left,” he said and then looked sideways at Joey. “Do you want to do one more bowl?”

His face wasn’t that bad. If Joey ignored everything about Seto, he could see something nice about him. There was a sharpness to him that bordered on attractive--not that he would ever call the guy a work of art or anything. In this one moment, he got why Yugi wanted Seto to be better. Because behind everything, there was someone who wasn’t all that bad.

“Yeah.” Joey rolled his shoulders. “I think I can do one more.”