365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Food Decisions

12/23/19

HERO: hey carly

HERO: anything specific you want for food?

Swirly Glasses: Not really, I'll eat pretty much anything!

HERO: you sure?

Swirly Glasses: Yeah, I'm sure, don't worry about it!

"Hey Jack!" Judai called, not believing for one second that there wouldn't be something specific that Carly would appreciate having around on Christmas - he was currently trying to put together a list of things to make either tomorrow or on Christmas (as it was in two days), and he wanted to make sure everyone had something specific they liked. For instance, Yusei had specifically been in the mood for more cookies, so that's what he'd be doing tomorrow... though he was pretty sure half the reason Yusei wanted those was because he wanted to goof off with him while making it again. Fair, because Judai liked doing that quite a bit as well, even if they ended up making everything and themselves a mess.

"What's up?" Jack called back, currently in the middle of playing a board game against the other two. Judai had actually been playing with them, but he'd won the last two times and could tell there was a mild level of frustration lingering around after, so he was taking a break to let them vent some steam on each other; Yusei, of course, was the exception and knew what he was doing by taking a break, and he looked pretty entertained the entire time, especially now that he was the one winning.

Has he always been this competitive? Judai wondered briefly, though he let the thought fade away after thinking through it a little bit. It was probably partly his influence, yeah, but it had to have already been there in the first place - he just brought it out over time.

"Is there anything specific you think Carly would like for food? I tried asking her but got nothing pretty much," Judai asked, tapping his pencil against the table he was using.

Jack paused, contemplating it for a while before replying, "She likes baked goods a lot, so something like that."

"Jack, baked goods is such a huge range of food," Crow stated before Judai could; sure it was more specific than 'any food' right now, but it was still way too vague to do anything with because baked goods ranged anywhere from curry buns to chocolate lava cakes to cookies.

"Shut up, don't you think I know that?" Jack muttered, thinking a little while longer, "Nothing too sweet, she tends to lean towards savory food more than sweets."

Well... it was a little more helpful, at least. Now Judai just had to figure out what to do with that information, though Crow was still fighting on his behalf in the meantime to try and get a more specific answer while Yusei looked to be taking the extra time to study the board and take his turn slowly.

Somewhere amidst the arguing, Jack picked up his cup of coffee to sip at so he didn't have to answer right away, which sparked an idea that Judai was quick to take hold of.

Coffee... something based off coffee, he mused, trying to think of all the different baked goods out there that utilized coffee in one shape or another, Coffee cake? Nah, let's not do that... wait. Suddenly, he remembered one specific food that he hadn't had in a long time but had spent a bit of time learning to make during one of his restaurant stints, and he grinned at how perfect it was.

"I'll make tiramisu then," Judai decided, quickly jotting it down on his list before making several bullet points underneath of all the ingredients he'd need for it, "Everyone here likes coffee and it might as well be a baked good."

"What's that?" Crow asked, and when Judai looked up he had three pairs of curious eyes staring at him - it was like the second they heard coffee they all perked up and to attention, and Judai bit back any laughter he had in favor of committing the sight to memory since it wasn't exactly common for such an image to not just be imaginary.

"It's a coffee-based dessert cake, but it's not exactly cake, per say," Judai explained, trying to think of the best way to put it - tiramisu wasn't exactly the easiest thing to describe to anyone who didn't already know what it was, "It's layers of uh... icing? And uh, sponge cookies. Just trust me, it's really good, you guys'll love it." Honestly, he didn't have a much better way of putting it - he highly doubted any of them new what mascarpone cheese was or ladyfingers. Well, maybe Jack would know, but if even he was asking what tiramisu was then he probably didn't.

"Yeah I'm just gonna trust you on that one," Crow laughed sheepishly, the idea clearly flying over his head. Yusei had already looked back at the board, used to simply taking his food explanations passively since Judai always took the time to show him what he was talking about later when he was actually making it, and seemed to be doing a few things without the other two noticing.

"As long as it's good, I don't care what you make," Jack said, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Both of you owe me half your resources."

There was a pause of dead silence as everyone looked at Yusei, Jack and Crow turning to look at the board in dread right after. A smug little smile formed on Yusei's face when they did so and very nearly threw their cards away in frustration, seeing exactly what he'd done and knowing that he was completely serious.

Judai finally let that laughter from earlier come out, laughing at not just the others' misfortune but the tiny wink Yusei gave him when the others weren't looking, flashing one of the cards in his hand towards him for a split second - the other two were completely screwed the next turn.