365 Days of Starshipping (Part 1)

Appetite

6/29/19

Waking up the next morning was as nice had it had been falling asleep - Judai was curled up into his side when Yusei slowly blinked awake, tail flopped over both of them while his hair and ears tickled his face thanks to his head being buried in his shoulder. His arm was actually numb and slightly uncomfortable, but he really didn't feel like trying to move and fix that at the moment, so he didn't.

He drifted in that half-awake state for a little while longer until he finally couldn't hold onto it anymore - it was something he'd managed to get used to after a couple insistent tugs back to bed on some mornings, and he considered it a skill at this point. It was just odd at first to sleep-in and try to hold on to that groggy state of being considering he'd been so used to just waking up and getting up immediately.

Well... if he was awake now, then he might as well wake Judai up too. He enjoyed waking him up in the mornings, to be honest, as he liked to think of it as a small way of getting back at him for making him sleep-in all the time and enjoy it; of course he always woke the other up nicely, not at all in a bad way. Yusei wasn't that mean, though sometimes he was tempted to if Judai'd done something exceptionally embarrassing the previous day.

Like that morning after the spider incident.

He shivered just thinking about it, so he shoved the entire memory into the back of his mind.

He lightly pet his fox ears, smiling fondly at the way the other clung to him slightly tighter in response. A few coaxing scratches later, Judai mumbled something unintelligible, slowly blinking his eyes open before letting out a peaceful sigh and looking up at him.

"G'mornin'," Judai said quietly, voice still laced with sleep as a slow smile formed on his face.

"Mornin'," Yusei replied, "Sleep well?"

Judai hummed in confirmation, nodding slightly and yawning as he stretched out, his tail flopping back and forth a little once he started moving, "Did you?"

"Definitely," he grinned, finally able to shake feeling back into his arm now that Judai had moved off of it and sat up, "Ready for breakfast?"

"Breakfast sounds good," Judai agreed, moving closer for a moment to tug him down for a slow morning kiss. Both of them smiled into it, enjoying the feeling for a bit before pulling apart, Judai continuing on to say, "Something with meat sounds good for some reason... sausage? Bacon?"

"Foxes are carnivores."

"Ah, right. Makes sense."

It took a little while to get out of the bed because Judai was still being picky about his piles of blankets - Yusei couldn't see it, personally, but apparently they were all meticulously placed, so he wasn't going to question it. Besides, one of the things he'd read last night was about how foxes usually found a den or burrowed into the ground in some way to sleep, so maybe it had something to do with that? It had stated that it was to stay cool, and somehow Judai had managed to do something similar with blankets...

He didn't understand how adding more blankets equaled being cooler when you settled into them. Just another thing to learn about, he supposed.

Pharaoh greeted them after they'd started to cook breakfast, meowing loudly as he trotted into the kitchen. Yusei didn't think much of it until he noticed that Judai had paused, subconsciously moving the pan of bacon he was cooking off the heat for the moment as he stared down at the cat with narrowed eyes.

"...Say that again," Judai stated, giving the cat a pointed look and gesturing for him to get on with it when he gave him a look of confusion. Both Pharaoh and Yusei glanced at each other in confusion when after he did, Judai started gaping at the feline and dropped to the floor to pick him up.

"Oh my gods I can understand you," Judai breathed, an excited grin slowly growing on his face as his eyes lit up at the realization, "I can understand you! Say something else!"

Yusei watched intriguingly as Pharaoh meowed again, cocking his head to the side while his tail started to wag in excitement as well. Evidently the potion did even more than just make Judai take on a lot of fox characteristics, though this was a very welcome addition to the growing list of effects; the cat was old, and he remembered Judai saying that he was the only one who knew about a lot of things that'd happened, so this was a very good opportunity to learn about those things.

"What's my favorite food? Ebi fry, of course," Judai grinned, getting a nod from the cat in his arms as confirmation that he'd heard him correctly, "We have so much to talk about!"

"I'll take care of the rest of this, there's not too much left," Yusei said, amused by the way both of the others' tails were now wagging in sync, "Go sit on the couch, the kitchen chairs probably won't be the most comfortable things right now considering the solid back."

"Thanks love!" Judai beamed, running over to give him a quick hug and peck on the cheek in thanks before exiting the kitchen, Pharaoh following right on his heels.

...Ebi fry, huh? Yusei noted, pulling out a few plates as he started pulling things off the stove, I'll have to keep that in mind.