365 Days of Starshipping (Part 1)

Getting Ready to Visit

4/5/19

"Hey guys," Crow greeted, walking into the kitchen with a yawn and wandering towards the coffee maker.

"Mornin'," Yusei replied, giving him a nod before going back to his cereal. He and Judai hadn't felt like cooking anything that morning, hence a simple breakfast - besides, they had one of those cereals with the chocolate pieces in it and the bowl he'd poured had quite a bit, so he was happy. Chocolate and milk, two of his favorites, what a great combination.

Judai just mumbled out something sleepily, having another slow start to the day as usual. Yusei knew though, at least, that the second he noticed the coffee he'd put in front of him he'd wake up faster.

"Jack's still not down? Odd," Crow noted, knocking back his coffee plain black and refilling it immediately. He sighed in relief before finally going to the fridge and pulling out some cream to go with his second cup.

Yusei just shrugged, not knowing why Jack hadn't come down looking for coffee yet either but not really caring too much about it; sometimes he wouldn't come out of his room until almost midday, going over his deck or looking at the news or whatever he did in his spare time. They knew he was awake too, since they could hear his chair moving around occasionally and the sound of his desk tapping against the wall once in a while.

"What're you up to today?" Yusei asked, glaring slightly at his food when he couldn't pick up the last bit of cereal in his spoon because it kept getting pushed away, "Don't you have today off?"

"Yup, I do!" Crow replied, a cheery smile forming on his face at the reminder, "I was planning on going to visit the kids today, plus I told Martha I'd help her with some lights that stopped working suddenly."

"Mind if we tagged along? I wanted Judai to meet Martha anyway, and I could help out with the lights and anything else we could do to help out while we're there," Yusei explained, giving a quick glance over at Judai only to see that the other was totally engrossed in his coffee, eyes closed as he hummed lightly at the taste.

"Oh boy, she's going to have a field day with you two," Crow snickered, "You should probably get ready to explain why you didn't introduce him sooner when you've been together for how long now? Almost two months?"

"Almost," Yusei confirmed, sighing in resignation, "Knowing Martha, she'll drag it out then somehow rope Judai into doing... something, I don't know- It'll be embarrassing for me, though, and that's all I need to know."

Crow pat him on the shoulder in sympathy, finally taking a seat at the table with an apple in one hand and coffee in the other, "Well, at least it's not like you forgot for a year, so it won't be that bad. If anything I think she'll tease you more about not visiting since Christmas time."

Yusei just sighed again in response, already starting to mentally prepare himself for the visit. He really should've visited earlier, but with Judai, the reactor, and all the other stuff that'd been going on he'd admittedly forgotten - not a good excuse, honestly, but true nonetheless.

"What's happening?" Judai asked, finally tuning into the conversation as he looked at them bemusedly.

"We're going to go visit the orphanage we were raised at, and Yusei's accepting the fact that the lady who raised us and runs the orphanage, Martha, is going to be peeved at him for not visiting in five months," Crow explained with a grin, taking a bit out of his apple with a loud crunch.

"Ohhh, I see," Judai said, pausing for a moment in thought before continuing, "Huh, if she gets mad at you not visiting for five months, then never tell her about how I got here. Just from the little I've heard from you guys just now, I get the feeling I'd get a huge lecture regardless of how well she knows me."

Yusei couldn't help the snort he made at that, since that was exactly what Martha would do. This was the woman who managed to not only raise kids in the Satellite of all places, but garner enough respect from the gangs in the area to make them leave them alone as well - lecturing Judai for time-travelling was something he could clearly envision her doing.

"Well, we'll leave in an hour or two, I gotta double-check and make sure I have the stuff I need to fix the lighting," Crow eventually said, finishing off his apple and tossing the core into the trash can in the corner of the kitchen, "Hey, I did it!"

"Really Crow?" Yusei said, staring deadpan at him.

"I didn't miss! Come on, give me a break!" Crow replied, pouting defensively as he got up and walked out, "Anyway, I'll be back when I'm done. See ya!"

"Lucky bastard," Judai muttered under his breath, "If he'd missed I'd have made him scrub the damn floor."

Yusei raised an eyebrow at him, an amused smile forming on his face at the statement. It would seem the kitchen really was Judai's pride and joy after all, considering how irritated he was at the thought of someone carelessly dirtying it.

Judai noticed him smiling at him and pouted, which only made Yusei chuckle at him in response.

"Just finish your coffee, I'll make you another if you want more," Yusei stated, ruffling his hair up before getting up to go wash his now-empty bowl.

Judai's eyes lit up at this, not even minding how his hair was now messed up and going back to drinking his precious coffee - from how he acted you'd think that Yusei was putting something in it to make it addictive. All he did was put flavored syrup and creme though...

Eh, as long as it made Judai happy, that's all Yusei cared about. It certainly didn't stop him from pulling out his phone to take a picture of the other with his hair all messy like that.

Unfortunately though, Judai noticed and he spent the next ten minutes playing keep-away whilst making sure the picture got backed-up to his personal storage for safe keeping.