365 Days of Starshipping (Part 1)

Judai Returns

2/2/19

"C-Could you repeat that?" Judai asked, staring wide-eyed at Yusei. He'd just switched back into control, Haou happily receding back and sleeping once he'd finished his tub of ice cream; if there was one thing they had in common, at least, it was their appetites. Yubel had gone with him, not really listening to the conversation anymore and choosing to rest as well.

Though, both of them hadn't done so without teasing Judai first, saying that they 'approved of his choice'. Once again, Judai had found himself pouting in embarrassment at them, although he couldn't ignore the small bit of relief that came with it; they liked Yusei, after all, so that was a major step in the right direction.

"We went to an arcade and... well, go look at the couch and your email," Yusei said, eating the last few bites of his ice cream before putting the bowl in the sink and following Judai out of the kitchen.

"Oh my gods, are those-"

"We may have gotten a lot of prize tickets. As in, Haou cheated at every game and we got twice as many tickets as the cost of the most expensive item available there," Yusei explained. Judai flung himself at the couch, hugging the two plushies tightly in happiness.

"They're so cute! Look at 'em Yusei, look- they're so squishy and the Winged Kuriboh is so fluffy!" Judai exclaimed, turning his body back over to face the raven-haired man, who'd moved to stand next to the couch, "Jeez, how long were you guys there for?! These things are huge, surely it took you guys a while to get that many prize tickets right?"

"Eh, we were there for about... four hours, give or take? We walked there so that tacks on an extra hour, so yeah - four hours," Yusei replied, shrugging slightly while giving the other duelist a smile, "That's not it though, remember?"

Judai blinked before realizing, "Oh yeah! You said to check my email, right? Wait, what does that have to do with anything?" He frowned in thought - aren't arcades only supposed to have physical rewards? Then again, this was the future after all, and there's probably a lot of stuff that could only be gotten online.

Well, only one way to find out, he supposed. With that he grabbed his phone out of his pocket, quickly tapping open his email and-

"No way."

Yusei laughed at that, giving him a wide grin, "Yes way. Haou and I didn't really have much need for physical stuff or prizes - the plush toys were actually the last things we put in so that we could just use up the tickets - so we got you this instead because we knew it'd get used."

"Yusei, we have to play tonight," Judai stated, barely holding in a squeal of delight as he smiled happily, "I'm going to use these on whatever cards we decide to use in our new tag-duel decks!" Yusei yelped when he was quickly pulled down onto the couch and given the biggest bear hug Judai could muster at the moment, considering the huge duel monster plushies that he was still holding onto. To his delight, Yusei hugged him back after adjusting himself so he was sitting more comfortably.

"I figured you'd say that," Yusei chuckled, bringing an arm up to ruffle his hair. Judai found himself melting again, the combination of Yusei, a warm hug, and fingers scratching softly at his head being too relaxing for him to even try to resist. When Yusei tried to move away after a few seconds so they could go get the headsets, Judai hugged him tighter in place, not wanting to move yet.

"I thought you wanted to play?" Yusei asked. Judai couldn't see him, seeing as his face was currently buried in the taller man's shoulder, but it was something he was glad for as he felt his face flush slightly in response to his actions.

"I- I do, but can we just stay like this for a bit longer?" he mumbled, burying his face further in embarrassment. Lucky for him, Yusei didn't pry any further and instead hummed in agreement, adjusting their positions slightly so they both were more comfortable before he went back to threading his fingers through Judai's hair.

Judai couldn't help but think that something this nice and so utterly relaxing should be illegal.