365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Dozing Off

9/23/19

Judai blinked as he got back control from Haou, who'd not quite begged but instead very insistently commanded that Judai let him try out that VR game with the air battles and fighting in it for once; honestly, Judai was surprised it'd taken him so damn long to ask since it seemed like something that'd be right up his alley, so he happily conceded to watching from afar and instructing him in the basics.

And Haou was a terrifying machine it turned out. Judai'd immediately told him exactly how to set up a separate set of gear, weapons, and talents after one fight with some enemies and seeing how he instinctively reacted with staying on the ground and shredding through things with a sword - it was a distinctive style of play in that no one used it because the general thought was 'Why would I stay on the ground if I have wings?'

Apparently though, Haou used them as a tool rather than anything else, and once Judai gave him the go ahead for PvP arena battles after seeing that he'd gotten the hang of everything he was a total menace. Someone dived at him? Suddenly their wings are pinned to the ground with a couple daggers and a sword is coming straight for their heart. They're staying in the sky with a bow and arrow? Suddenly a spear is pierced into their chest and they never even saw Haou throw it in the first place.

An absolute menace. Judai was more than happy to let him have his fun though, because not only did he get an interesting mix of praise and rage from his opponents but he also made his arena rank skyrocket. Then, because Haou literally only got hit in maybe two matches out of the fifty he'd managed to shred through in the span of an hour and half, he found himself with enough arena tokens to buy one from the high-tier shops - that's how insanely good the bonus was for not getting hit during a match.

That, and the little bit of antsy twitching he'd been starting to feel from Haou recently was completely abated, which was the most important part of all. It was something all three of them dealt with where they needed to fight a little to get it out of their system or they'd start to get a little antsy - Judai blamed getting the other two's memories for why he was affected as well - and it just so happened that the game was a perfect outlet for that.

"Let me try next," Yubel grinned, a wicked enthusiasm traveling through the link that Judai couldn't help but chuckle at.

Alright, you'll be next then, Judai agreed, already starting to form an idea as to what kind of build he'd have her use since she was obviously going to be much more air-oriented.

He stood up with a stretch, sighing happily afterwards and taking a peek to see how Yusei was doing only to find that he was... asleep?

"Holy shit," Judai whispered to himself, quickly walking over to find that yes, Yusei had indeed fallen asleep in his chair while he was working, head facing downwards while his hands were still in place above the keyboard. He choked back a squeal at the sight in case it woke the other up, immediately pulling out his phone to snap a few pictures and record a few seconds of video to show that he was truly fast asleep.

His gearhead was adorable, but on the other hand... it also meant that he'd over-worked himself again, this time to a more extreme point where he'd legitimately fallen asleep. He knew that it was because of all the last-second stuff his work was pushing on him before they couldn't use him for a long while and that Yusei couldn't really do anything about that, but Judai'd been sure that Yusei had been getting full nights of sleep still.

They slept in the same bed and literally went to sleep at the same exact time every night, how in the world was he exhausting himself so much?

Don't tell me he's been doing work on his freaking tablet, Judai thought, more than a little annoyed at the idea that Yusei'd been purposefully waiting until he fell asleep to get more work done. It was very likely to be the case, and Judai really couldn't get too mad about it because he knew Yusei would be doing it specifically so he wouldn't worry - that's just how Yusei was - but he was still irritated by it.

A little too irritated, now that he thought about it...

With that in mind, he carefully picked Yusei up and moved him over to the couch without waking him up, feeling a bit proud of himself that he succeeded in doing so. Yusei needed sleep, but sleeping in a chair was definitely not going to help him feel better in the long run.

Judai kneeled down next to him, brushing the hair out of his face gently and mumbling fondly with a sigh, "...You idiot. I told you to tell me about these things, y'know."

With that reminder to himself though his annoyance came back full throttle, so he set off to go cool down by starting on dinner early, deciding to make something complicated that would take longer than usual. Quarrels were fine because they were never really mad at each other, but the absolute last thing he ever wanted to do was get into an actual fight with Yusei.

"You're a good partner, dear," Yubel said a little while later, a seriousness to her voice that was a lot rarer nowadays with Haou humming in agreement with her, "Honestly, both of you are good for each other. I'm glad you found your way to him."

His chest warmed as the words made him feel significantly better, and if he had to pause for a moment to stop wipe his eyes with a smile then only those two had to know.