365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Jellyfish Room

11/12/19

They slowly made their way around the indoor sections of the aquarium, deciding to leave all the outer parts to explore after so that they could stop for lunch and re-energize before going out in the sun for a while - granted, there was plenty of shade provided and it wasn't exactly a hot day at all, but the sun was still out and that could tire a person out if they weren't careful. And so, it was reserved for the second half of the day and after lunch so that if they got tired after and were ready to just leave and go home, then they could without feeling bad about missing the rest of the place.

As it was, everything was really interesting to see and look at, but the most notable part so far was when they were in an area about tide pools. It had a simulated system set up inside where very strong waves were constantly moving back and forth inside, while all the sea creatures just happily went about their lives at the bottom, and Yusei's reaction to it was (in Judai's opinion) adorable - he was all over reading all the plaques to see how the hell they could live in such conditions and was even more invested, hilariously enough, when he realized there were a couple crabs floating along with the waves in there as well. Personally, Judai was getting a few flashbacks to this one time in the spirit world where he had to navigate a massive storm in the middle of the ocean and had more than his fair share of waves collapse on top of him to throw him around, so he was actually invested in learning about it as well.

If they could stick to the surface or float around to their desires, then he could probably find a way to mimic it, or at least find inspiration from them to figure out his own way of doing so, by using his powers.

Hence, that was probably the biggest highlight in the day thus far for both of them after the penguins, of course. They were almost done with the indoor section and only had one left to go, whose entrance faded into an area with very little light since it was about creatures who tended to dwell deeper into the ocean.

"Ooh, it's dark here - don't worry, I'll hold your hand," Judai joked, grinning at the amused, but highly exasperated look Yusei gave him in return.

"We've been holding hands this entire time, but yes, thank you," Yusei replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes with a smile, "What would I ever do if I had to walk into this dark abyss without you?"

"You'd be stuck in it forever, just reading all the plaques and watching the animals."

Yusei let out a little laugh at that one, knowing that it was true to an extent - Judai had already had to snap him out of that research daze a couple times so that they could make sure they still had time later, but it was with the promise that if he still wanted to come back to it later at the end then they would. He didn't mind coming back to anything since Judai could just wander and have fun watching the various animals again while Yusei did his own thing.

In the beginning there were a bunch of exhibits regarding tinier animals that tended to live in the sand, like hermit crabs and, to Judai's delight, little tiny shrimp-like fish that kept burrowing and swimming back out only to burrow into the sand again. As for the hermit crabs, Judai was absolutely convinced that one of the ones that were out of its shell was waving at him for a little bit.

"Look at that, they're for sure doing a little wave," Judai said before noticing that the crab he'd been pointing at stopped and was starting to retreat back into their home, "Aw no, don't go into your shell, come on..."

"Maybe they got tired of waving at you, their arms aren't exactly tiny compared to the rest of their body," Yusei suggested, playing along and patting him on the head lightly in mock reassurance, "Or... they just didn't like you because you didn't wave back."

Judai let out an exaggerated gasp of shock, stating, "You're right, I didn't! No wonder, they probably thought I was a very, very rude human, how dare I do such a thing!"

They both snickered when they caught each other's eyes before moving onward into the next room, which as Judai would soon come to learn, would become Yusei's favorite part of the aquarium.

"Oh sweet, look at all the jellyfish dude," Judai said, face lighting up at the sight of various windows in the wall whose lighting occasionally changed to show off said different types of jellyfish in different ways, "Aren't they pretty? I like 'em 'cause they're pretty but can also be super deadly if they sting you - trust me, you do not want a jellyfish to sting you."

"Jellyfish can sting?" Yusei blinked, letting Judai pull him over to the first set of windows that caught his interest, "So that's how they protect themselves... I've only seen them a few times in the water between Satellite and the city since the waters got cleaned up a lot, and I was curious how they could survive while being so paper-thin."

"Yup, cool right?" Judai grinned, attention drifting away from the very frilly jellyfish in front of them when the lights turned off in a nearby tank window and dozens of outlines suddenly became visible, "Ooh, they have those ones here! I like these little dudes, I never knew what they were called though. Let's see, moon jellyfish?"

"Makes sense, the little rings on their heads look like very bent crescent moons, plus they're lit up in the same color that the moon is at night," Yusei said, watching alongside him as both of them became slightly entranced by all the tiny creatures moving around in the space to basically create a light show. The lights popped back on inside a couple minutes later, immediately making all the jellyfish inside turn practically invisible to them, so they moved on to the next window for now.

About halfway through the room Yusei let out a quiet hum of thought, prompting Judai to stop and wait for him to talk while they looked up at a cylindrical tank next to them that had a couple of the bigger jellyfish inside. He knew it was going to be good, though, when Yusei's face suddenly lit up with a smirk.

"Judai, I figured it out," Yusei stated, looking immensely proud of himself, "Your hair looks like a jellyfish."

Judai gaped in response, not having expected that of all things and slowly letting the shock turn to disbelief as he realized that yes, his hair could indeed resemble a jellyfish thanks to its shape.

"...Holy shit, you're right," Judai admitted, hands coming up to hold his hair as he stared up at Yusei with wide eyes, "You goddamn genius, fine - you win this time. I honestly didn't think you'd find something but I was clearly wrong, I've been bested."

"Told you I'd find something, Mr. Fluffy Jellyfish Hair."

"Please Yusei, I'm begging you - do not make that a thing."

"...We'll see," Yusei replied, smirk growing wider as he leaned down to give him a quick peck on the top of his head when he whimpered slightly and pouted.