365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Cat Rejuvenation

7/31/19

"I think my brain is melted," Yusei said as he walked in the door, shrugging his bag off to the side and haphazardly tossing his keys on the coffee table before making his way to Judai on the couch. He pouted when Judai got up before he could fall on it, letting himself get turned around and pushed towards the kitchen despite every instinct telling him to just pull him back to the couch.

He knew better than to try, though. When Judai truly didn't want to get moved somewhere or wanted someone else to move, he had no issues using his shadows to make it happen.

"Well, use the last of that brain power to eat some dinner, it's almost midnight," Judai replied, sitting him down at the kitchen table before suddenly a warm bowl of soup was in front of him, "Chicken noodle, since I figured it'd be nice after a long day like today. Your work seriously has issues, man."

"Don't I know it," he muttered, slowly taking a bite of the soup and savoring the taste - it really was comforting after all the shit he'd gone through in the last twenty-four hours.

"How did a morning meeting turn into a day-long goose chase anyway?" Judai asked, frowning at him in concern, "You told me to ask later when you first messaged me, remember? You seemed pretty annoyed."

"I was," Yusei sighed, quietly taking a few more bites before answering, "More paperwork issues, but it was also because of the report I made about the old reactor. I mentioned that there was a lot of active duel energy still in the air- I made sure not to mention anything about you or Johan, by the way - and it ended up causing a chain reaction that ended up with numerous people going to the site while the rest of us were told to 'Figure out a solid plan by the end of the day to deal with it.'"

Which, of course, was literally impossible for them to do when they had no clue how one goes about disposing of such duel energy in the first place. Momentum was already tricky enough for them to work with, but really old duel energy that'd overstayed its welcome was on an entirely different level. Of course, when they tried to explain this to the higher-ups they didn't succeed, so they ended up spending all day coming up with a half-baked solution that was total bullshit but looked professional so they could all finally go home and think about it another day.

"Well, look at the bright side - at least you have an entire team of people to help you figure it out now instead of just me and Johan," Judai stated.

Yusei barely took notice of him sitting in the chair next to him, checking his phone while he waited for him to finish eating. By the time he finished, the food had helped him to start winding down and he was more than ready to crawl into bed; Judai put his empty bowl in the sink to deal with in the morning and gently coaxed him out of the chair and up the stairs, though Yusei did hear him snicker a time or two at something.

He was too tired to try and figure out what he was laughing at, so he just mentally shrugged it off and almost robotically went about the motions getting ready for bed. Much to his annoyance though, right when he was about to throw the sheets back he was stopped by Judai and sat down in the middle of the bed instead.

"Judai," Yusei said flatly, feeling his eye twitch slightly as he gave the other what he hoped was a deathly glare. He loved him and all, but sleep was calling him and his brain had nearly completely shut off at this point.

"I know I know, but here - I thought now would be a good time for it," Judai replied quickly, pulling out a familiar bottle of liquid and pressing it into his hand, "Trust me, you'll be able to sleep and feel real nice, I'll pet your ears and you'll feel like you're in heaven."

So it is a cat potion then, Yusei thought, staring at the bottle for a few seconds before deciding that he'd trust what Judai had said and popped the cap open. It was gone after a few moments and he let Judai take it back to put on the side table, blinking when he felt an odd, tingly sensation on his head and his tailbone.

His hearing suddenly got really clear and he instantly focused on Judai's breathing, blocking out as much of the extra sounds he could now here as he could. He put a hand up to his head curiously, feeling soft fur and in turn, the warmth of his hand on his new ears; he could feel something moving behind him too, and few flicks told him that it was a tail.

"Ah... you're adorable," Judai sighed happily, giving him a look that made Yusei's face heat up a little even through the haze of tiredness - it was just so loving and fond, with a small, honest little smile to top it off, "C'mere, lie down and curl up until you're comfortable."

He did so, ending up with his head buried into the other's chest while using his shoulder as a pillow - it was a bit unusual of a position since Judai was usually the one doing that. Instead of saying anything once he was comfortable enough, he simply nudged him with his face, tugging a little at the hoodie under his fingers as well.

Yusei was completely unprepared for the feeling of his new ears being scratched and pet lightly, and he let out a little content moan. He heard Judai chuckle a bit at the sound, saying something that he only registered subconsciously as his mind finally went blissfully blank.

"Feels good, right? Sleep well, you're going to be making a lot more of that sound for me in the morning~"