365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

The Party Begins

12/15/19

"Okay okay, just gimme me a minute and I'll let ya down," Judai soothed Pharaoh, picking up his bag that they'd padded and put him in - he'd absolutely refused to go anywhere near a crate in the beginning, so this was their solution whenever they had to bring him anywhere, like the vet.

Yes, the vet had problems with them initially considering that sounds like a horrible thing to do, but then they tried to do it as well and half their staff got mangled attempting to catch the cat; they didn't succeed in the end, and they didn't say a word after about how they chose to transport him, because at least they gave him tons of blankets and stuff, right? Needless to say, if Pharaoh doesn't want something badly enough, then there's no way in hell he's going to let it happen to him.

The party was at Jun and Asuka's place, and judging from the multitudes of other cars parked around the house, a lot of the others had already arrived - Johan ended up being one of the first to greet them since he was outside... decorating?

Well, he supposed the house was lacking some decoration. He didn't really see either of the two main occupants as the type to decorate for holidays much, so at least it made sense; he might have to help out Johan in that case, because from the looks of things he'd need some helping putting up some Christmas lights around the roof of the house.

"Hey guys! Nice to see you again, it's been a while!" Johan greeted cheerfully, finishing putting the little Christmas sign up that read 'Reindeer X-ing'. He put down his stuff before walking over, taking the bag from Judai when offered it, "You brought Pharaoh? Oh- I can help with anything else by the way, I know you said you were bringing a lot of food."

"Don't worry about that, Yusei and I can handle it," Judai stated, waving him off before petting Pharaoh lightly on the head, "And yeah, we brought Pharaoh. It was kinda a last minute decision, but we figured that a lot of people here would want to see him."

"He and Shirley can have a little reunion," Johan laughed, petting the cat as well - Pharaoh seemed to actually perk up a little when he heard that, even if it was with a bit of trepidation. She was a crocodile, after all, and even if Shirley was friendly and pretty much harmless, she was still a crocodile. At least the fact that she was still alive made sense considering the average life-span of one was around seventy years, and Shirley had been pretty young during their school years.

With that though, Judai went back to help Yusei out with sorting out and carrying the bags of presents and food, giving him a quick peck on the cheek when he wasn't looking and getting a quiet laugh and smile in return. He paused to wait for Yusei to finish locking up his bike before they re-joined Johan, who'd been entertaining Pharaoh for them with the help of Ruby floating at his side, who greeted Yusei once again with just as much enthusiasm as before.

"I thought I heard people out here!" A voice suddenly called from the door, which opened to reveal, of all people, Rei. If he hadn't already been shown pictures by everyone else of her and Bastion, he'd probably have done a double-take on the spot - it was still weird to see her twenty years older, he was too used to thinking of her as being a kid.

"Hey Rei!" He greeted, grinning widely as he joked, "I'd wave, but I kinda have my hands full with goodies."

"Judai! Damn, you really haven't aged, huh? Then again, makes sense considering the circumstances, but still," Rei laughed, holding the door open and waving them in quickly, "Guess I get to be the one to joke about how young you are for once."

"Well shit, I didn't even think about that," Judai groaned, getting laughs from everyone else before another voice popped up from around the entry hall.

"Did I just hear 'Judai'?" Jim smirked, donning a different cow-boy aesthetic than usual, though Judai was pretty sure he was still wearing the same hat, "Well I'll be damned. Nice to finally see you again, mate! And this must be Yusei, nice to finally meet you."

"Oh yeah! Where are my manners, nice to meet you, I'm Rei," she added on, turning to Yusei instead with an undeterred smile. She was just as talkative as before, which was nice to see since it meant that she'd managed to keep a lot of that bubbly personality.

"Nice to meet you both as well," Yusei replied, giving them both a smile before copying Judai, "Like Judai said before though, I'd shake your hand but I've kind-of got my hands full."

"Right! Okay, we'll show you where to put them and- wait, Johan, is that Pharaoh you're holding?!" Rei realized, finally seeing what was in Johan's arms when Judai moved to step forward - he'd been in the way and from her angle, wouldn't have been able to see the cat, "Aw, he's still around!"

"I said that in the group chat, didn't I?" Judai pointed out, though all he really got was a pout in return.

"Seeing him in real life compared to a picture is very different!" Rei retorted, moving past him to stand next to Johan so she could pet the cat. Pharaoh seemed to be just as alright with her as before, letting her pet him with nothing more than a little meow.

Jim sighed, looking at them with an amused look, "Alright well, I guess she's busy so I'll show you where to put your stuff."

"Thanks," Yusei chuckled, blinking before turning around to Johan and asking, "By the way, Jack and Crow should be here soon. They both ended up making detours, even if we're not entirely sure why Jack made one, so can you help them out when they get here?"

"Not a problem! You can count on us!" Johan replied, giving them a quick thumbs up around his grip on the cat.

This party was starting off well, and Judai was glad that they'd decided not to skip it.