365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Merry Christmas!

12/25/19

It was probably the earliest Judai had ever seen Jack get up, but he supposed that was to be expected - he himself had stayed up incredibly late waiting for Yusei to get home from meetings, and he was sure he'd wake up much earlier too if it meant greeting him right when he got back. As it was, Jack had already had his required dose of morning coffee by the time the knock on the door came, Crow yawning and coming downstairs around that time and Yusei currently in the middle of getting his own dose of coffee.

He had to grin at the sight of Jack's features visibly softening upon seeing Carly, though he quickly hid it by smiling more normally and greeting her, "Hey! Merry Christmas, come on in!"

"Merry Christmas!" Carly replied cheerfully, looking a little tired but mostly awake - she ended up having her bag taken and put to the side by Jack before she could make her way over, peeking into the kitchen when Judai moved out of its entry way, "It smells good in here..."

"That would be breakfast," Judai explained, going to pull up a chair at the kitchen table next to Yusei before pausing, turning to ask, "Did you want coffee or anything? We've got tea and a whole bunch of other stuff, too."

"Coffee would be nice... I had some this morning but it'd be nice to have something more sweet than that quick cup I made and downed before I could taste it," she said, nudging Jack who'd come to stand next to her, "I have no idea how some people can drink coffee straight from the coffee maker."

"It tastes perfectly fine, right Yusei?" Jack retorted, eyeing the place where Yusei was currently doing just that - drinking coffee straight black without any add-ins.

He downed the rest before he responded with a very slight smile, stating, "Yeah, but it's better with sweetener."

Jack huffed and gave them all a playful glare as they laughed at his misfortune, opting to simply stay quiet and rest his weight on Carly's shoulder. In the meantime, Crow finally made it to the kitchen, waving at the newcomer with a tired smile before yawning again and heading straight for the coffee machine as well.

"At least I know Crow agrees with me," Jack concluded, staring intently at Crow as the other turned to him at first with a confused look before realizing what he was referring to, letting out a little laugh.

"True enough - I don't care much if it's sweet or not, I just want the caffeine," Crow said, pouring out just the right amount while he did so and pulling more laughs out of them, "Merry Christmas, good morning, all of that."

"Shall we open presents now? Or after breakfast?" Judai asked, wanting to double-check with them now that Carly was here - luckily there hadn't been much time in between her getting there and all of them waking up, plus breakfast was only a few minutes away from being ready to be pulled out of the oven. He passed the drink he'd finished making to Carly, who grinned at the sight of his little creamer coffee latte art on top of the cup before sipping at it.

"Delicious, I really wanted this, thanks," Carly sighed happily, pausing to take another sip before answering, "And I say after breakfast, then we don't have to worry about food while doing stuff. Plus, I need Jack to help me go get some presents from the car."

"Need an extra hand? I'll go too," Crow volunteered, going with them out the door a minute or so later once Carly'd been able to put her drink safely away on the table and leaving Judai and Yusei in the kitchen together.

"I know I said it already this morning, but... Merry Christmas, love," Judai smiled, hugging Yusei from behind where he was sitting. At this point Yusei looked a lot more awake, the caffeine from the coffee finally kicking in, and he found himself quickly pulled in front of him and facing a happy grin.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Judai," Yusei said, kissing him lightly knowing that there wasn't much time until the others got back. They both savored the longer kiss as long as they dared before pulling apart, pecking each other on the lips immediately afterwards with grins that simply couldn't be torn off their faces.

"...You gonna tell 'im you were drinking a latte too?" Judai snickered, licking his lips a little as he pulled back.

"No, let him think I wasn't. It's more fun this way," Yusei replied, sharing matching smiles with him before noticing a certain feline slink into the kitchen with a long stretch, "Ah... looks like someone's finally awake."

"Hm? Oh, mornin' Pharaoh!" Judai greeted, noticing the cat out of the corner of his eye as well before patting imaginary dust off his legs as he straightened up and fully away from Yusei for now, "Got a special Christmas breakfast for you, you spoiled cat, c'mere."

That was the last slow moment Judai would get for the next couple hours as everything seemed to start happening at once, with the oven dinging to signal it was ready, Pharaoh getting his food and purring quite happily upon seeing some extra treats put in with his breakfast, and the three who'd went out coming back in with a bunch of packages; he wouldn't have it any other way, though. Christmas was meant to be spent with family and those you love and he was doing exactly that - he really couldn't be happier.