365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Encouragement

9/21/19

As it turned out, Jack's work had ended up closing shop for the entire day because of the management issues from before, and Crow had multiple people cancel appointments precisely because of the tournament, which meant that they both were able to be there the whole day (with the exception of an hour around lunch time where Crow had to run out to one of his only appointments left for the day). With both of them and the addition of the twins, the room was a lot more lively than it'd been the last two days, which made it a lot more bearable to get through that last day.

Well, there only being a single duel at a time helped a lot in that regard too, but even the riding duels yesterday had only been one at a time - it was mainly the breaks in between each match and the more hype-focused narration by the shout-casters that made it more interesting and bearable.

Once the last duel of the tournament had finished, with the victor being slated for the duel against Yusei after the awards ceremony to end off the event, they all moved out of the room to go set-up down in one of the team-viewing rooms that were right next to the track. It gave them a good view of not only the live action but also had a couple screens inside to play the commented version, plus with a couple minutes of sitting at one of the computers in the area Yusei managed to pull up some software that'd scan the cards on the field and allow them to read their text - it was a nice addition and apparently something that was generally reserved for when there were actual teams dueling together so when someone had to switch in, they'd know everything in play at the moment.

Yusei left towards the end of the awards ceremony to go get ready for the duel and Judai was quick to follow him, quietly exiting without alerting the others and catching up to him in the hallway to the prep room for his runner.

"Ah- hey," Yusei said, smiling a little when he twined their hands together and looked up at him.

"Hey," Judai echoed back, leaning into his side with a mischievous grin, "You nervous at all?"

"I always get a little nervous," Yusei admitted, letting out a sigh as he fumbled to get out the key for the room using only his free hand, "But it always disappears the second I actually start my runner."

Judai hummed, letting go so he didn't have to struggle anymore to get the door open and following behind when he finally did open it. He pulled a chair over from a desk off to the side and sat backwards on it, leaning forwards on the backrest with a curious look as Yusei checked a few of the computers and typed a few things before pulling out a box from a drawer nearby.

"Be right back," he said, wandering off into another door that was a bathroom from the looks of it. He came out a couple minutes after, wearing a slightly different outfit from what he had before.

The usual black and red logo was there like on his shirts, but it was instead on a zip-up, skin-tight riding suit, and his jacket had all the same coloring and pads but was cut at the waist instead of flaring down and outwards.

It was hot as hell to Judai and he couldn't help but stare up and down a few times in appreciation for the look - he was so used to seeing him in slightly baggy clothes and shirts that this was basically a treat to him.

"You've never seen my outfit for these things, have you?" Yusei mused, noticing the look but not the bit of ogling he was doing as he looked down at his clothes, "Got it last year for the WRGP and it's pretty aerodynamic."

"More like it's pretty hot on you," Judai stated, feeling vaguely like his brain had short-circuited for a minute there as he gathered his bearings again.

"J-Judai!" Yusei stuttered, face flushing red in embarrassment as he gave him a startled look, going to tug on his jacket but grasping at thin air since it was shorter than he was used to.

Well, there was nothing Judai could do now but roll with what he'd said, plus Yusei's reaction was just pure gold to him and he wanted more, so he teased, "What? It's true. I'm almost jealous that tons of people get to see you in that." He pushed off from the chair, quickly grabbing Yusei's wrists before he could do something like cover his face and doing his best to lean up close to him, going on the tips of his toes with a wicked grin, "You're hot~"

"...I need to duel, Judai," Yusei mumbled, breath catching just ever-so-slightly when Judai finally pressed a slow kiss to his lips, coaxing his mouth open easily with a little press of his tongue to his bottom lip to deepen it. Slowly their hands wandered, Judai's hands slithering up Yusei's chest and around his neck while hands came to rest on his hips, pulling him flush against him with a little pressure. They both let out a little sigh when they stopped a few minutes later, warm breaths mingling as they stayed as close as they possibly could.

"I know... but after?"

"Mm... okay."

Neither of them pulled apart though, continuing to soak in each other's warmth as they changed to hugging instead, Yusei's head coming to rest on Judai's head while he rested his own in the crook of his neck.

"When you win, make sure you give the camera a good smile and wave, 'kay?" Judai chuckled, pulling back to look at him finally with an encouraging grin.

"I do that anyway, but I will," Yusei laughed softly, taking the encouragement with a thankful smile - he said 'when' he won after all, not 'if'.

There was never an 'if' about things like that with them.