SquidgeWorld Archive

"Please?" "No." "Please, Yugi?" Joey begged. Yugi scowled. "Absolutely not, Joey." "But I need ta know if the dress will fit!" Joey said, holding out the article in question. Yugi's normally never-ending patience finally ran out. They'd been arguing about this for over ten minutes and Joey wouldn't take no for an answer. "Then find a girl!" he burst out. "Despite my height - or lack thereof - I am a guy, Joey, and as such, I - don't - wear - dresses!" Joey sighed and slumped down on Yugi's bed, the dress crumpling up on the covers. "I know, I know, but Téa is taller than Serenity, and Mai is...curvier. I bought dis dress on sale and I only have a week ta return it if I got the wrong size, and Serenity's birthday is in two days, anyway, so I really need yer help, here." Still disgruntled, Yugi sat backwards in his desk chair, arms folded on top of the back. "Why don't you just compare it to one of her other dresses?" "You know my sister lives in Tokyo, Yug," Joey pointed out. "I get to see her a lot more now, but me and Ma aren't exactly on good terms, so I can't just show up and ask ta examine Serenity's clothes. I'm lucky I was able ta sneak a peek at the tag on her shirt last time we went swimming, otherwise I would've had ta guess at the size." "Ah, but if you got the right size, then why are you worried if it will fit?" Yugi asked. Cocking one eyebrow, Joey said, "You do remember the shirt she wore the last time we went swimmin', right?" Brow furrowing in thought, Yugi finally said, "Yeah...wasn't it a bit large?" Joey nodded. "At least two sizes too big," he agreed. "So I got one two sizes smaller, but I'm not quite sure of the fit. Yer not dat much shorter than Serenity, and you look about the same size, so if the dress fits you, then it should fit her. Please, Yugi, onegai?" he returned to his begging. Yugi's head thumped against the chair back, a -Why me?' expression pasted on his face. Finally he looked up, his gaze focusing on his friend. "All right, Joey," he said, giving in less than gracefully. "But if I come out of the bathroom to find you holding a camera, I will let Yami Mind Crush you." He glared and pointed a menacing finger at his friend. "No worries, Yug, you know I'd never do that to ya," Joey assured. Yugi nodded in reluctant acceptance before grabbing the dress and stalking off to change.

Ten minutes later, after removing all his buckles and stripping down to his underwear, Yugi stood in the middle of the bathroom, studying the dress. With a sigh, he slipped his arms inside the sleeves, glad that it wasn't a very tight, frilly, or, well...girly dress. It was a simple, knee-length sheath that buttoned up the front; made of soft cotton in a shade of blue violet which, Yugi confirmed with a quick check of his reflection, he noticed was rather close to the shade of his own eyes, though lighter. Frowning at the odd thought, he did up the buttons and smoothed the dress down his legs, making sure the skirt hadn't gotten hung up on anything, before surrendering to the inevitable and looking at his reflection. Damn. If he'd ever doubted the fact that he wasn't the most masculine of men, his doubts would have been eradicated by what he saw in the mirror. The dress did fit well, almost like a second skin, but not tight. The full skirt concealed the fact that he wasn't a girl, and combined with his bare feet, actually made his legs look longer, which, in turn, made him look taller. While the bodice of the dress was slack across his chest because he didn't have breasts, it wasn't that noticeable since the short sleeves puffed out slightly and gave him the illusion of not being flat-chested. His hair, normally spiking up in its cacophony of tri-colored locks, had been pulled back earlier that afternoon when he'd been cleaning out the storeroom downstairs. Now it hung in a red-black ponytail down his back, his blond bangs curving around his face and making his features softer than they already were, which pretty much cemented the fact that it wasn't just the dress that made him look like a girl. "Joey is so going to owe me for this," Yugi muttered before yanking open the door and padding out into his room.

Joey had flopped back onto the bed and was sorting through his cards while he waited, but at the sound of the door opening, he sat up. And stared, slack-jawed. Damn, I never knew Yug could look so sexy, was his first thought. His thought processes ground to a halt at that, arrested by the fact that he'd just had those kinds of thoughts about his best friend. Conveniently forgetting, of course, the times previously, when Yugi had been dressed as a guy, that he'd thought pretty much the same thing. He came back to himself to find Yugi with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at him. He looked eerily like Yami in that moment, which made his fierce expression all the scarier considering it was Yugi who was wearing that -I'm about to send someone to Shadow Realm' expression. And Yugi still looked like a girl. "Does it fit?" Yugi ground out. "Does what fit?" Joey asked dumbly, still staring at all the normally-covered skin that was on display in front of him. Yugi has nice legs... Grinding his teeth together, Yugi gritted out, "The dress, Joey. What do you think?" "Ah...you look pretty?" Joey offered, having no idea why he was saying that, especially when he was positive that hadn't been the inclination of Yugi's question. Yugi's eyes bugged out, and, if possible, his glare intensified. "Joey," he hissed lowly. "I have no idea why your brain has decided to take leave of you, but tell me if the dress fits, now, so I can go and take it off." Joey flushed at the first image that those words caused to pop into his head: Yugi, not wearing the dress - or anything else. "I, uh..." Managing to gather enough of his wits about him to take a look at the dress, he croaked, "Yeah, it fits." "Good," Yugi said, voice sugar-sweet, before he whirled around and strode back into the bathroom, slamming down the door behind him so hard the windows rattled. "I'm dead," Joey said in a flat voice. "Sooo dead."

Joey is so dead, Yugi thought, viciously undoing the buttons on the dress and ripping the hated garment off. Tossing it on the floor, uncaring if it got wrinkled or dirty, he glared at his image in the mirror. Why, oh, why did he have to look so...cute? And sweet? And...feminine? Growling under his breath, not noticing how it made him sound like a pissed off wildcat, he set about getting dressed in his nice, normal, male clothes. Yanking his jeans back on and shrugging into his white short-sleeved shirt, he left it unbuttoned, not bothering with the tanktop he normally wore underneath. Dispensing with his customary array of buckles - it was too hot for all that leather, anyway - he let his hair down from its impromptu ponytail and took a moment to finger-comb it back into some sort of order before stalking back out into his bedroom. Joey better not have left, he thought grimly. I don't want to have to waste time tracking him down before I kill him.

Joey flinched as he saw the expression on his friend's face. And he'd thought Yami was scary... The former-Pharaoh had nothing on his hikari when said light was pissed off. "Ano...gomen nasai?" Joey offered lamely, hoping to head off his friend's obviously homicidal urges. He couldn't help but notice Yugi's clothing - or lack thereof. He'd never known his shorter friend was so built. Yugi always wore a T-shirt when they went swimming. He'd never seen so much of Yugi's skin - and all in one day, too. Legs, chest...not much left he hasn't revealed except... "Sorry isn't good enough, Joey," Yugi grumbled. "I want to know why you seemed to feel the need to humiliate me." "Humiliate...?" Joey asked, scrambling to keep his mind away from thoughts of what Yugi would look like naked. "I realize I'm not Mr. Universe here, Joey, but despite any evidence you may have to the contrary... I - am - not - a - girl!" His voice got louder with every word until the final one came out on a shout. "I know dat!" Joey yelled in his defense. "When did I ever say..." "Then what was with calling me pretty?" Yugi demanded. "I was just tellin' the truth," Joey said, knowing that with each word he was digging himself in deeper, but unable to bring himself to lie. "I don't think you look like a girl..." "If you don't think I look like a girl, then how can you think I'm pretty?" Yugi persisted. Joey just sat there, jaw gaping open and closed silently. He didn't have an explanation...at least one he could give Yugi without risk of it damaging their friendship. How do I tell him I like him...like that? Joey thought apprehensively. I can't. He's my best friend; this would change everything... Yugi's glare had melted away, changing into an expression somewhere between horrified surprise and dawning comprehension. "Joey..." he said slowly, and the blond winced. He knew what was coming. "Joey, do you...like me?"

Yugi's thoughts were racing desperately. This is insane; Joey can't like me! For as long as I've known him, it's been girls this and girls that. I remember how he was about Mai; he was even worse than Tristan over Miho. He can't like me...can he? he thought hopefully. Joey was giving him a look; somewhere between a rabbit caught in a predator's gaze and a deer caught in the headlights. He wanted to bolt, but Yugi was blocking the path to the door. Finally Joey sighed and nodded, bowing his head and refusing to look at him. "Yeah, I do," he mumbled. "I have for...a long time." "Why didn't you ever say anything?" Yugi asked, and almost immediately answered his own question; why didn't he himself ever say anything? "You had to know I wouldn't hate you for this; our friendship's strong enough to survive anything."

Joey gulped. "I...I wasn't sure," he admitted. "I wanted ta believe dat, but...even if we could get t'rough it, it'd still change things." He paused for a moment, blinking back tears from his eyes. "It will still change things." "But not for the worse," Yugi said softly, padding closer to the bed. What? "What?" Joey asked, voicing his confused thoughts aloud. Climbing up onto the bed to straddle Joey's lap, Yugi grinned almost shyly, at odds with his seductive position. "I like you too, Joey," he admitted softly. Blinking rapidly, for a moment unable to comprehend his friend's - and maybe more now? - words, Joey finally said flatly, "Yer kiddin'." One dark eyebrow rose. "No, I'm not." Joey chuckled, his laughter quickly coming out faster and more furiously. "Do...do you mean...t-ta tell me...dat all this time we liked each other...and didn't know it?" he gasped out between laughs. Yugi's stoic façade cracked into a smile at this revelation. "Yeah, I guess we have," he admitted sheepishly. "Dis is too much, Yug," Joey chortled. Yugi nodded, giggling madly. His laughter caused him to shift in Joey's lap, which provoked an interesting reaction from the blond.

Joey moaned, eyes clamping shut at the feeling of his best friend rubbing against him. It was a very...stimulating...action, and he couldn't help but cry out softly in pleasure. Yugi's movements ceased abruptly. After taking a moment to calm himself, Joey's eyes fluttered open. His best friend was sitting half-on, half-off his lap, flushing slightly. "I...I'm sorry, Joey, I didn't mean..." "You didn't?" Joey asked, voice full of mock-hurt. If it feels like that when you don't mean it...I might not survive when you do it deliberately. "Well, I, ano, I mean..." Yugi stuttered, before shaking his head firmly, tri-colored tresses flying. Reigning himself in, he said slowly, measuring each word, "I didn't mean to start anything this early in our relationship, but later on I'd be willing to follow up on it...if you want?" he asked, a coy smile on his lips. "You know it, Yug," Joey agreed, one hand coming up to card through the other boy's hair. "But next time..." Yugi started. One blond eyebrow rose. "Next time?" Joey asked. "Next time let's not have a dress involved," Yugi said blithely. "Cross-dressing as a sexual kink is experimentation that is best left until we're more comfortable with each other and our relationship." Blinking dumbly, all Joey could think of to say was, "Sure." After all, the sight of Yugi in the dress was...well, pretty hot. But the real thing - which, at the moment, was sitting rather prettily in his lap, with a look in his eye that said he was going to get kissed pretty soon - was much better.