If they had been anywhere but on a luxury cruiseship sailing in the middle of the ocean, there would have been crickets chirping in the background during the several seconds of stunned silence that followed Devlin's announcement. The other boys could only stare at the smug teen, too surprised to say anything. Of course, some of them were more speechless than others.

"S... Sex?" The word came out a squeak and Yugi coughed, his whole face turning red. "Um... I mean... the contest is about sex?" This time he managed to say it without sounding like a mouse on helium.

Devlin looked around the room casually, then leaned in to speak softly. "That's what I said. Every passenger on this ship is a contestant though, so we'd be better off discussing this somewhere private."

"Your room after lunch." Yami's eyes locked with Devlin's and the dark-haired teen smiled weakly at the look in them. He nodded, although it hadn't been a question... more of a demand.

It was obvious that Yami was not happy at this turn of events. As they continued their meal, he kept darting glances at his partner, who had also been his boyfriend since the day he, Bakura and Marik had found an ancient spell that allowed them to create physical bodies for themselves. The spell wasn't permanent. They could cast it for no longer than two weeks at a time, but it still enabled them to be with the ones they loved.

@-->-->----

When they gathered in Devlin's room after lunch, the tension in the air was so thick Malik could have sliced it with the blade hidden within his Millennium Rod.

Although the room was large, it was still rather crowded with all ten of them there at once. Devlin, Tristan and Malik sat along one side of the bed while Kaiba and Yami, with Yugi between them to avoid any arguments or bouts of glaring, sat on the couch. Joey had flopped down on the patch of carpet between Yugi and Kaiba's feet and Ryou had perched on the arm of the couch beside Kaiba. Bakura was leaning against the wall within easy reach of his hikari and Marik was pacing the length of the room in excitement.

"Come on Devlin! You said you'd tell us about the sex contest!" Marik was practically bouncing in his eagerness to hear the details. He threw himself down on the bed beside Malik and giggled. "I can't wait!"

Seeing that he had everyone's attention, Devlin cleared his throat and began talking. Very quickly.

"Right, you see, the island we're going to belongs to a reclusive billionaire who has a thing for voyeurism. Every year, he hosts this contest. It's different every time and I've never bothered with it before, but this year... It was just too tempting. I mean, it's perfect for us! It's usually just for pairs or small groups, but he's done something really special this year. You have to enter as a group of ten. As for the rules... Well, I'll get to them later." Devlin ignored the sighs and annoyed looks that comment earned him from Yami, Joey and Kaiba.

"So we have to have sex in front of this rich guy? Sounds like fun!" Marik's comment caused Malik to giggle. Yugi and Ryou blushed bright red, Kaiba and Yami glared at Devlin and Tristan winced. Bakura and Joey looked mildly interested. Devlin laughed.

"Yes and no. There are three rounds in the contest. Each round, we each have to pick three from our group to do whatever that particular round is for. The catch is, we can only pick each member of our group once."

Yami looked thoughtful, the logistics of the game diverting him from his glaring for the moment. "Meaning that by the end of the contest, we will each have done something with all of the others." His words caused Joey to smirk and Bakura's eyes to gleam. They also caused Kaiba to glare at him.

"There is no way I am doing anything with you."

Yami's eyes narrowed as he scowled at Kaiba. "I have no wish to do anything with you, either!"

Before a fight could break out, Devlin held up a hand. "Relax guys! Like I said, the guy who put all this together is a billionaire. He didn't get that way by being stupid. He knows people and he knows how difficult it would be to find ten people willing to do anything with each other. So he compromised. The rounds vary in degree of intimacy and there's a lot of scope within each round too. You guys... All of us... can have as much, or as little, to do with the ones we're partnered with each round, as we wish."

Joey smirked. "The contestants get to choose how hot the contest is, huh? Sounds like it could be good." Kaiba looked down at him with wide eyes.

"Wheeler!"

Joey looked up, still smirking. "What? Like you weren't thinking the same thing. Come on, Kaiba! Where's your sense of adventure? I mean, it's just us, right? We're all friends and we're tighter than most 'cause of all the stuff we've been through together. After all that, how could one little contest stop us?" His words caused Yugi and Ryou to relax. They even managed to smile. Shakily, true, but they were smiling.

Devlin laughed. "Yeah! That's the spirit!" He looked around at the group and became serious. "Look guys, I'm sorry I sprung this on you. I know I should have said something but I thought it would be easier this way. I knew a few of you would have reservations about it, and I was afraid you wouldn't listen to me if I told you about it any earlier. Nothing's settled until we arrive. This cruise is intended to be a 'cooling off' period. If we don't want to enter the contest by the time we get there, then we just go straight home again. Easy as that." He shrugged. "But at least give it a chance. That's all I'm asking."

Kaiba scowled. "That's a lot to ask." Joey looked up at him, his eyes large and beseeching. Kaiba sighed. "Very well. I'll listen. But I make no promises." Joey beamed at his lover and Kaiba's cheeks darkened as he shifted in his seat as though suddenly uncomfortable.

With Kaiba's reluctant compliance, Yami was left with no choice. He leaned forward. "All right, Devlin. We are listening. Tell us more about this contest. Leave out nothing." He fixed the teen with a stern gaze.

Devlin nodded. His eyes sparkled as he looked around the group. "There are three rounds. We all get a turn each round and we have to do a set task with the three partners we've chosen. Points are awarded at the end. The scoring, no pun intended, is a bit complicated. There are a lot of things that earn special bonus points. The way I figure it, we're going to end up getting some of those no problem at all. So, depending on how well we go with the rest, we should do pretty well for ourselves."

He turned to Yami, anticipating the next question. "Before you ask, no, I have no idea what the special bonuses are. They're kept secret so no one can cheat by doing all of them. All I know is, the better the show we give, the more points we'll get. It's all about voyeurism. Don't forget that."

By that point, Yami was looking very intrigued. "Do you know what the tasks are for each round or are they being announced at the time?"

"No, they're set. We're supposed to work out the pairings before we get to the island tomorrow afternoon. That's one of the things I like about this guy. He wants to be entertained, so he arranges something to entertain himself with. But he makes it fair for the participants. He's not one of those guys who gets off on seeing people confused or put into situations they don't like. He doesn't want anyone to be uncomfortable."

Yami nodded slowly. "That makes sense. He is more likely to get a good show with willing participants."

Joey leaned forward. "So what are the tasks we've gotta do?"

Marik wriggled like a happy puppy. "Do we get to have sex?"

Devlin grinned. "First round is simple. A kiss. It can be anything from a simple peck on the cheek to a full-body experience."

"How about an out-of-body experience?" Bakura smirked. "My host has a habit of fainting when we kiss."

As Ryou turned brilliant scarlet, Devlin smirked. "That would probably be one of the special bonuses." Before Bakura's smug smile could annoy Yami too much, he added, "But you might want to leave Ryou for round three."

Bakura arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Why?"

Devlin smirked when he noticed that he now had everyone's complete attention. "Because the rounds get more intimate as they go on. The first round is just a kiss. For the second round, your partners have to make you come. Any way that they can. Of course, that leaves only one thing for the final round."

"Sex!" Marik cheered, bouncing on the bed. Malik and Devlin laughed, Bakura, Joey and Tristan were all smirking, Yami looked thoughtful, Kaiba was scowling and Yugi and Ryou were both doing impressions of tomatoes.

"You mentioned earlier that we could pull out of the contest if we chose to." Yami looked around at the others and then turned to Devlin. "Perhaps we should take a vote."

"I'm in!" Marik's voice piped up instantly as he wiggled his hand in the air. He beamed at his hikari who laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Me too!"

"Me three." Devlin smiled at his boyfriend. Tristan smiled back, shaking his head. "But the next time you do something like this, Dev, don't expect me to hold them back from hurting you."

Devlin grinned. "Point taken. You all know I'm in."

Joey looked up at Kaiba. "I'd like to. It sounds like fun." Kaiba sighed and reluctantly nodded. "We're in!"

Eight pairs of eyes turned towards the two shyest members of their group. Yugi and Ryou both leaned forward and traded a long glance with each other before turning to look at their respective yamis.

Yugi smiled. "I will if you will, Yami." His other self nodded in agreement.

Ryou simply smiled at Bakura, who smirked. "Looks like we're going to be in the contest."

Devlin smiled. "Great!"

Yami looked over at him. "Did you say we needed to choose our partners for the rounds before we arrive at the island tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah." Devlin looked around. "Since we're all here now, how about we get it out of the way?"

continued