365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Energy Disposal

9/2/19

Yusei finally got the approval he needed to take care of the reactor by himself. He'd relayed the good news to Judai that night, and after a bit of planning and double-checking things again they found themselves at the site and ready to finally get rid of the old duel energy.

"I can't imagine how it'll feel to stand here and not be insanely put on-edge," Judai said, huddled on the ground next to him towards the end of the afflicted area.

They'd taken maps of all the floors of the facility and squared each one up into grid-ed sections so it was easy to keep track of where they'd already cleared out and where they hadn't gone yet. After they cleared the outside, they'd go through the floors one-by-one, marking off the map as they did so until they'd finally finished - by Yusei's estimations based on their test from before, it was going to be nearly an all-day process, and that wasn't taking into account any possible exhaustion Judai got from spamming open portals all day.

Granted, Judai was also the person who could hold multiple materialized monsters across the span of the city for literally an entire day with barely any strain on his powers, but it didn't hurt to be cautious - there were close to almost two-hundred sections and he'd never had to work with field-spell portals before, plus he'd be forced to use his own ability to make portals at some point because of a lack of their duel spirits at different locations to change the opening point. The plan was to spread out the duel energy across different places so that it didn't have too much of an effect on the surroundings just in case, and they could only find so many generic, mass-printed field spells that opened up to places suitable for their purposes; once they ran out they'd be relying on Judai's knowledge of war-torn areas across the spirit dimensions to open up to.

"It's something to look forward to, at least," Yusei replied, bringing a hand up to stroke soothingly through Judai's hair and getting a thankful smile in return, "Shall we then? The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done."

Judai hummed in agreement, and the next few hours were filled with doing the same action over and over again - portals opened, duel energy lured in, portal closed, map marked, rinse and repeat. They got about half-way done when Yusei first noted that Judai was looking a little tired, though from the way the other smiled at him it wasn't anything to worry much about; it was only when they'd moved on to opening Judai's own portals instead of using field-spells that the tiredness became worrisome.

Judai wasn't physically exhausted or anything - he wasn't breathing hard nor having a hard time moving. No, it was the fact that his tone got a little more dull with every portal he opened and closed, and his eyes were starting to get a little bit of a faraway look in them like he was zoning out.

There's only ten squares left, Yusei thought to himself, looking over the last map and glancing back at Judai, whose smile looked calm in a dull way as he leaned on his shoulder, hugging his arm contentedly, He... should be fine, hopefully. Still, it wouldn't hurt to make sure...

"Judai?" Yusei asked, turning his head to let his face brush the other's head, giving a light kiss to his temple. When he got a questioning noise in answer, he sighed and continued, "How're you feeling?"

There was silence for a few moments, though Yusei realized after a bit when Judai suddenly tightened his grip on him that it was because he was mulling over the question like he didn't realize how much he'd slowed down. He got a startled glance then before Judai was biting his lip, which he was quick to bring his other hand up to stop by running his thumb over it.

"Everything feels kinda... muted," Judai mumbled lowly, releasing him with one of his hands to rub at his face a bit as if it'd make the feeling go away, "I think it's from using the Gentle Darkness like this so much. Portals take more effort to make than materializing spirits, and I've never done so many before... it's mentally exhausting."

"Do you think the nature of it has something to do with it as well?"

"I wouldn't be surprised - the Gentle Darkness is pretty calm in nature, and I guess having dulled senses would be something along those same lines."

"Well, we've got ten more and then you'll be able to check-out if you want. Think you can make it?"

"I've gotten this far, I can do ten more," Judai huffed, a little bit of his lost energy coming back to him. Yusei was glad for it, since it was exactly the kind of reassurance he was looking for and he felt better knowing that Judai would be okay.

Right after the last portal was closed, Judai slumped against him, grip a little more relaxed than usual as he rested his head on his shoulder with a sigh, "It's all gone, I can't sense anymore here. We did it, Yusei."

Yusei chuckled, scratching the top of the other's head for a moment before nudging him back up and guiding him by the hand out of the building - he'd already packed up his tools into the backpack he'd brought, so his entire focus was able to shift onto Judai.

He was stumbling a little over his feet with heavy blinks and slightly glazed eyes, and Judai's gaze was almost entirely fixed on their hands as they walked. Yusei could only guess that it was because of the physical touch being the most prominent thing in his senses right now, based on what he'd said before, which told him that in order to help him recover from the over-use he was going to have to do a lot of cuddling on top of giving him something he could work on with his hands, maybe a rubiks' cube or something like that. Lots of sleep too, of course, but he had a feeling that wouldn't be enough to fully reverse the effects.

Yusei waited until they were back at the runner to finally reply, giving him a proud smile and cupping his face with a hand, "You did a great job. Now, just relax, alright? I'll get us back safe and sound, leave the rest of it to me."

Judai gave him a grateful smile, pressing back when he leaned down to kiss him for a few seconds before flopping down into the seat and letting his eyes close, "Thanks, Yusei."

Yusei was still worried, yes, but at least a lot of it was abated by that reaction. Now his main worry was making sure Judai held onto him in some way on the way back and didn't fall out of the motorcycle by leaning too far.