Work Text:
“Kaiba Seto – Family Man”
It was an odd byline choice, Joey thought. It was not weird to see his husband on the cover of Duelist Weekly. That probably happened once or twice a year at this point, and Kaiba had graced the cover even more frequently back when he was properly on the tournament circuit. The couple had an entire wall dedicated to framing their various magazine appearances, and Joey had kept the wall almost 50-50 with his charisma and striking looks.
But this cover stirred something different within him compared to all of the others. Seto was not scowling on the cover of the magazine. His eyes weren’t level with the camera, threatening it to make one false move. He wasn’t looking forward at all.
Seto was kneeling on the ground, helping their son adjust his duel disk. It was tender, and somewhat vulnerable. There was no challenge there, no bite, and ambition. Just something soft, and a little sweet, and a little nostalgic.
Joey had remembered the shoot fondly. Jaden had been playing Duel Monsters since he could read the cards, but the holograms were a lot of light and sound. This one had been special engineered to make milder images—less realistic, less harmful. Joey remembered his husband tinkering with the software and still marveled that anyone on this planet could inspire Kaiba Seto to tone it down.
But there he was, off-center in the glossy image, fiddling with the straps of the next generation of duel disks. His hair was in his face, more than a few strands of grey mixed with the brown. The shoot had been in their lush green backyard, and the sun and misty grass made the image just a little hazy. He was wearing the black turtleneck and pants, but the metal cuffs and extra straps had been left off.
Joey wished that they’d asked him for a title; he had something much better in mind.
“Kaiba Seto – Reformed Rival.”