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Despite how long they’d been together, Joey still couldn’t say exactly what Seto enjoyed doing with his time. Sure, he knew exactly what Seto did with it. Worked mostly. Occasionally, he’d sit down and watch whatever Joey was watching on TV. Or they’d play a video game together. And even on the rare occasion that they actually played Duel Monsters, it never really seemed like Seto actually enjoyed doing any of it. What Seto truly liked was a mystery to him.
He finally caved and decided to ask Mokuba. “So… I wanna do something for your brother before I have to go back to work in the fall. Got any ideas?”
Mokuba eyes him incredulously. “He’s your husband. Shouldn’t you know better than me?”
“Well… yeah, but he’s Seto. I been with him for twelve years, and I still couldn’t tell ya how he likes to spend his time.”
Mokuba started laughing, full bellied and utterly entertained. “You’re so dense, Joey.”
“Don’t pick on me! I’m bein’ honest!”
“I’m like one hundred percent sure his favorite thing is spending time with the people most important to him. Like me and the girls or you.”
“Oh…” Joey trailed off. The answer was so obvious, he wasn’t sure how he hadn’t realized it himself. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“My recommendation is to throw a party at my place. The girls will climb all over him, and we can have dinner. He’ll love it.”
Joey nodded enthusiastically. “That sounds perfect.”
With a little help from Mokuba, he planned their dinner for the Saturday evening before the school year began. He’d wanted to keep it a surprise entirely, but he knew that if he didn’t tell Seto in advance, his husband would make alternate plans. So he walked into Seto’s personal study in the morning, bringing him breakfast and saying, “I’m takin’ you out to dinner tonight, babe.”
He’d looked thoroughly unimpressed. “We aren’t trying some new restaurant your tasteless coworkers recommended, are we? The last place you took me to was terrible.”
“It wasn’t that terrible. You’re just picky,” Joey defended, but the unimpressed look on Seto’s face had not changed. “Anyway, no. It’s a surprise, but I’m not takin’ ya anywhere ya don’t like.”
Seto still seemed doubtful, but he nodded anyway. “Very well. What time do I need to be ready, and what should I wear?”
“Casual and be ready at 3:30.”
“That’s a little early,” Kaiba remarked.
“You’ll understand when we get there,” Joey assured.
Kaiba didn’t seem bothered after that, eating his breakfast without further comment.
-
Joey stood in the doorway wearing jeans and a t-shirt and shook his head at Seto. Apparently ‘casual’ meant a button up tucked into khakis. Not that it was all that far from Seto’s normal casual wear, Joey just wasn’t sure he wanted to wear it over to Mokuba’s home. But he didn’t say anything, and they headed out.
Seto quickly figured out they were headed to Mokuba's after only a few turns and questioned why they were headed there.
"Figured we'd see him before dinner," Joey explained, trying to remain vague, but Seto saw right through him.
"You could have just told me we were having dinner at Mokuba's."
"And I'd have ruined the surprise!"
Kaiba sighed. "It's hardly a surprise when I know exactly where you're going."
Joey rolled his eyes, and before he knew it, they'd arrived at Mokuba's home, a spacious home nestled amongst rolling hills. Seto had gotten rid of the manor a few years ago, once Mokuba had gotten married and officially moved out. He'd promptly listed the manor for sale, and he and Joey had moved into the penthouse suite of an apartment building Seto owned. Whether he’d purchased it for the purpose of moving into or just as a way to expand his business into new markets, Joey wasn’t sure. He wasn’t going to ask either. Business talk was pretty much always off limits, anyway.
Sometimes Joey thought that living separately from Mokuba bothered Seto, but whenever he'd asked, Seto denied it. "I still see him most days," he’d explained. However, Joey didn’t see Mokuba most days and kind of missed him. But the younger Kaiba was happy, and Seto seemed content with everything, so Joey didn’t bother making a big deal out of anything. Plus, it was always fun to go hang out with Mokuba whenever there was a chance.
As they entered the door, Emma and Evelyn teetered over to them while Mokuba watched on with a proud grin. Joey swooped up Evelyn, the taller of the twins, and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Seto picked up Emma, as well, simply holding her quietly and smiling.
“You two are super cute, ya know that?” Joey asked both of the two year old girls. They grinned up at him. He looked over at Seto, finally explaining, “So since I go back to work this week, I wanted to do something fun with ya. Mokuba thought, and I agreed, that ya’d like comin’ here and playin’ with the girls.”
Seto chuckled gently, reaching out to take Joey’s hand. “You know me too well.”
“You bet I do. I’m even havin’ Roland bring your favorite order from Le Jardin. Ya know? The filet mignon with the noodles and brussel sprouts.”
Seto squeezed his hand harder, just enough to express his feelings. “You really do know me too well.”
“We been together like twelve years. It’d be kinda shitty if I hadn’t picked somethin’ up!”
Seto glared at him. “Mind your tongue around these two,” Seto reprimanded. At Joey’s sheepish look, Seto shook his head. “I sometimes find it hard to believe that you’re still a teacher…”
Joey laughed, dragging Seto through the house to head to the back yard. “We’re gonna take ‘em outside to play, Mokuba!”
“Have fun!” Mokuba called after them.
And Joey knew they would. Because he loved spending time with his nieces, and even more than that, he loved spending time with a content and happy Seto.