365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Cats and Birds

8/4/19

Judai stared at the scene from the doorway, letting the door shut behind him lightly in the meantime.

"I... I was gone for twenty minutes," he blinked, lips twitching before he dropped the grocery bag he was holding on the ground so he could guffaw into his hands, "What'd you guys do?! It's a total mess in here!"

"This is not my fault," Jack stated quickly, pointing at Crow, "It's his."

"Hey! It is not my fau- Yusei, stop it!" Crow complained, squeaking and running behind Jack, who tried to move away so he couldn't be used as a shield.

Yusei, who'd just batted Crow in the arm, glared at the pair before walking over to Judai and explaining, "They kept making cat jokes, so I figured I should claw them - y'know, like an actual cat would do if they were provoked." The frown he wore disappeared and was replaced with a happy smile when Judai reached up and pet him lightly in greeting, and he ended up latching onto his arm afterwards.

"Must've been some pretty bad jokes," Judai snickered, glancing around the room again at all the thrown pillows and blankets, "If that's the case, then what's up with all the pillows and stuff?"

"Protection against the feral feline over there," Crow answered, narrowing his eyes and hiding further behind Jack when Yusei proceeded to actually hiss at him.

"Only a bird brain would try to use easily rip-able fabric against a cat," Yusei replied, eye twitching as he hung on to Judai's arm a bit tighter.

"...Okay, uh, how about you two grab all this stuff and put it back upstairs while Yusei and I go make dinner," Judai said, laughing a bit nervously at the legitimate hostility between the two brothers. Thankfully Jack seemed to get the memo, giving him a slight nod in agreement with his plan and dealing with Crow while he gently pushed Yusei into the kitchen and out of sight of the living room.

"Are you okay?" Judai asked slowly, giving Yusei a raised eyebrow after putting down the food on the kitchen counter and sitting him at the table. He watched as Yusei stared at him in confusion for a moment before he blinked, a look of realization crossing his face.

"Ah... I think I am now," he replied quietly, glancing down at his hands before looking back up at him in slight shock, "Did that just happen?"

"It did," Judai confirmed, scooting his chair over and gently taking one of his hands in his, "What happened? Were the jokes really bad or something?"

"I- no, they really weren't, but I vaguely remember something setting me off," Yusei frowned, trying to remember what it had been.

Judai thought as well, and they fell into silence for a bit before Pharaoh slunk back through the window and meowed at them in greeting. He ended up jumping into Yusei's lap, curling up for a bit and enjoying the attention Yusei started giving him.

Cats, huh? Judai wondered, thinking back over the exchange that'd taken place, He clearly was upset with something Crow said and Jack seemed to be relatively done with the situation, so it's just something with Crow.

What had Yusei called him again in retaliation? A bird brain?

...Wait. Could it really be that simple? Then again, with the way the potion effects worked, it made a lot of sense so he really shouldn't be surprised.

"It's 'cause Crow is a bird," Judai stated, elaborating a bit when Yusei gave him a questioning look, "Cats and birds? Y'know, the classic 'They don't get along' scenario."

"But he's not... he's not actually a bird," Yusei said, though he couldn't hold back a laugh when he thought about it.

Seeing him smiling again was all Judai needed to keep trying to make him laugh, "But he's got hair that's like a bird's nest, his name is a bird, and he uses bird duel monsters and has bird duel spirits. Pretty sure that's more than enough for you to register him as a bird."

"I think you're right," Yusei grinned, laughing fully now at the idea and leaning on his side while he did so, "Actually, one of his duel spirits did appear for a few seconds before disappearing again upon seeing me now that I think about it. That might've had something to do with it."

"Well, either way, at least we know to keep you two relatively separated for the rest of the night. You can just apologize to each other tomorrow," Judai concluded, pressing a kiss to the base of the cat ear closest to him and smiling at the very tiny shiver and hum Yusei gave in return, "For now though, we've got fish to prepare, you cute cat."

He ended up having to wait a few minutes for himself to calm down before they could actually start cooking, because right after he said that both Yusei and Pharaoh popped their heads up to him excitedly and he broke down into teary laughter at the sight.