365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Tea Time

8/23/19

As it turned out, they didn't have to set up the table area in the garden because... well, as one of the maids and butlers had stopped by to inform them, they'd already set it up for them. Apparently the news had spread fast about Yusei being with Judai and since one of the maids had happened to accidentally overhear them talk about a tea party as she'd been passing by, they'd immediately informed the others to prepare it.

Seriously, with how enthusiastic they were one would think that they were the ones getting ready to do something with a loved one. Still, positive reception was positive reception and Judai would much rather have that than anything else - he didn't know what he'd have done if they hadn't liked Yusei.

...Well, he knew what he'd do, but he'd rather not think about it. That was a mess of a 'what if', and 'what if's were almost never helpful, especially in a situation like this.

At least they didn't try to stop them from making their own food and tea. They knew how much Judai liked to cook, so they tended to do things like setting-up while making things a bit too decorated as a result, feeling like they needed to do something extra to make up for not cooking for him. With some of the ideas they came up with though, Judai was one-hundred percent sure that part of the reason they went the extra mile with decorating was because they were bored and wanted to make the time pass faster.

Sure enough, when they carried their trays of goodies out with them to the garden and followed the little pathways in the right direction, the circular table was adorned with an expensive-looking table-cloth lined with a pretty gold pattern, a very well-made, large bouquet of flowers as the centerpiece, and with added seat cushions to the chairs for comfort. Plus, Judai was very sure that the last time he'd been here, the table hadn't been surrounded by bushes full of different-colored flowers, and that was only a couple weeks ago; that meant one of the workers had the ability to grow plants, or at least speed up growth, because that many full, blooming bushes did not grow from nothing in the span of roughly two weeks.

"It's beautiful," Yusei smiled, walking to the table with him and gently placing their trays down, "I see why you wanted to have a tea party now."

Judai hummed, glancing around at the scene again before turning back to him, "Admittedly, when I last saw it this place was kinda dusty, but clearly that's been taken care of. I'll have to thank those guys later... for now though, tea?" He quickly made his way over to where Yusei was on the other side of the table before the other could move, pulling back his chair for him with a cheeky smile and gesturing at him to sit.

It earned him the laugh he'd been looking for, and though Yusei raised an eyebrow in amusement, he obliged him anyway, "Why thank you, you're such a gentleman."

"Nah, it's my pleasure," Judai replied, making his way to chair and plopping down in it before starting to unload the trays.

"I don't think a gentleman would say 'nah', to be honest."

"This gentleman does, he's a casual gentleman."

Yusei snorted quietly, accepting the tea filter Judai passed to him now that they were all ready to start and putting it on his teacup, "What else does a casual gentleman do?"

"Find all the best ways to embarrass his queen, clearly," Judai teased, pushing one of the teapots closer to the other, "Here, try this one first. It's apparently the sweeter one of the bunch and more fruity."

"It'd be a lot easier if there was a name for it... or at least, one that's a little recognizable," Yusei mused, pouring a cup while Judai opted for the lighter one, which had a stronger bitterness to it but was rather thin and easily evened out with some honey - at least, that's how it'd been explained to him when he asked some of the duel monsters that passed by in the halls about it.

"I recognized a few of the ones that were stored on the shelf, I'm pretty sure if we learn all the fruit names in this place and try them we'll be good since that's how some of the tea leaves were labeled," Judai stated, taking a sip after mixing the honey in. It was just like they'd described it would be, and it tasted delicious.

Note to self: Bring some tea leaves back home with us, he thought, glancing back up at Yusei as he took another sip.

"Ah... I like this one, you were right - it's got a fruity sweetness to it, but I can't pinpoint exactly what kind of flavor it is," Yusei said, a soft smile on his face as took another few sips. He was a stunning sight to see, as usual, but something caught Judai's eye to the side and he knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

He got up and walked over to one of the bushes, having spotted a blue flower that had petals that faded into indigo the closer they got to the center - the part that'd really caught his attention, though, was the way it looked like it had a galaxy of tiny, white stars glittering across it. He picked it with just the right amount of stem left and quickly made his way over to Yusei, gently brushing some of his hair into place after making sure he'd put his cup down.

"There we go," Judai breathed, smiling softly at him as he leaned down a little, loving the way the color of the flower fit with all of Yusei's colors and letting his hand trail down to gently cup his face, "You're beautiful."

"Ah..." Yusei blinked, looking a little shyly up at him with pink cheeks and slightly parted lips.

He leaned down the rest of the way, sharing a short and sweet kiss with him before pulling back and brushing his hair out of his face again as carefully as he could, murmuring, "I love you."

"And I love you," Yusei murmured back, bringing a hand up to rest on top of his before he did a little grin that still made Judai's heart ache with fondness, "Let's eat, okay? I'll find a flower for you too afterwards."

He ended up finding a vibrant flower with orange-gold petals and bright green leaves, and this time Judai got to feel that nice feeling of shyness when Yusei gently put it in his hair, stating that he liked it because it reminded him of his eyes.