Written in boredom because there can never be too much Kingcrab cuteness. (Also I'm still trying to improve my English skills...!)

Jack Atlas is known for being a self-satisfied and over-confident person but there's actually someone who he sincerely envies.

Jack and Yusei were already accustomed to being off without Crow who had insisted on leaving them in order to take care of a group of younger children elsewhere. Knowing the red-head's affection for them and protective nature, the other boys had let him go, leaving only the two of them alone. It was actually easier that way: not only was it safer to walk around without being spotted by dangerous strangers when Crow wasn't with them, it was easier to ignore the fresh memory of Kyosuke Kiryu being taken off to the Security. The leader of Team Satisfaction had been taken into custody, the team was broken – had been for a long time, but now it was finally over. Now, without a goal, Crow had left to the only place he knew he was needed, while Jack and Yusei kept on wandering around the Satellite, not having the slightest clue of where to go next. It was a hopeless situation for them in all possible ways – yet they didn't complain once. Not out loud, at least. They stayed together, waiting for a new view for the future to come into their sight.

While they waited for that sparkle to appear, Jack duelled as much as he could while Yusei focused on fixing their duel disks and collecting pieces of machinery. Whenever Jack caught a glimpse of the dark-haired, shorter boy stuffing colourful wires and rusty bolts into his pockets, he narrowed his bright violet eyes under his blond forelock. Recently Yusei had been mentioning about building a D-Wheel. Jack saw no future to this plan but remained silent about the subject. Yusei sure had high hopes. Maybe that persistent belief in a better tomorrow was one of the things which kept Yusei alive – alive, and with Jack. And oddly enough, seeing this bright energy glowing from Yusei's mature, yet soft features made walking, breathing and living in the Satellite lighter.

Jack watched his friend's slender figure move up on top of a pile of junks. After ten or twenty minutes of intensive rummaging, Yusei stood up and descended down, running back for Jack. Like many times before, he was holding a part of a machinery unknown for Jack while his other hand was holding up a couple of Duel Monster cards.
"These might boost the potency of my deck…"
"We'll see about that as soon as we have another duel," Jack snorted. The other corner of his mouth twitched upwards. Yusei glared at him.
"Yeah? In that case, why not duel right now, right here?"
"Hmm? Well, aren't you eager…"
"It's alright, if it means I get to duel you," Yusei said, a familiar warm shade in his blue eyes. Jack knew that look all too well: he knew a truly passionate duelist when he saw one – and so far he had never met a duelist like Yusei. His skills were not anything near to Jack's but the boy's inner flame always lit up to its fullest when duelling.
Jack truly admired it.
Yusei's passion. His loyalty. Stubbornness. Optimism and kindness…
Jack truly admired Yusei.
"DUEL!"

Jack wasn't the kind of a person to get to people's good side by flattering and praising them. Actually he rarely said anything positive of anything or anyone, except the things related to himself like his own duel victory record or his good looks. It had gotten into Crow and Kiryu's nerves from time to time but - whatever if it was only because Yusei had known him his entire life or just simply become numb to it - the dark-haired and tanned boy never said a word about it.
Two or three times had Jack asked Yusei if he agreed on the fact that his hair was worth a shower every so often which to Yusei had replied with a short nod - it had been enough of an answer for the blond.

Yusei never said 'no' to Jack. Probably closest thing to it was when their team had been sleeping on the floor of one abandoned building, each of them having a thin blanket-like sheet over their bodies to protect them from the cold (not that they helped much: the wind in an island was always freezing at nights). A heavily sleeping Crow's sheet had almost fallen off and Jack had reached over to take it for himself. For his surprise, a sleepy voice next to him had whispered, "We're all cold." Jack had left the blanket alone and frowned the next day when Crow kept on sneezing and coughing for an entire week.

Only Yusei had any kind of tolerance for Jack but even greater achievement was the hold he had over him. Yusei wasn't harsh or bossy, just the opposite, but his mind was crystal clear, calm and stern.
Jack Atlas: self-satisfied and stubborn.
Yusei Fudo: humble yet determined.
Jack would never admit it out loud but even he could see which one of them was more respectable and likable when looked past their physical appearances and differences into what their hearts held and minds thought. Yusei had always been "the sweet kid" at the orphanage too, that sweetness was born in him and meant to stay a part of his very personality.

Jack liked Yusei's personality.

He liked it to the point of actually envying it.

Yusei shuffled his deck on his nimble fingers, then spread the cards over on a table in front of him. He sat down to examine through his main deck – the one which he had duelled Jack earlier with – and his other cards, scrutinising them while planning a whole new strategy to use. It had been another lose for him. Jack: too many times – Yusei: zero.

"The cards I found were good…" Yusei mumbled under his breath. He heard a "hmph" coming from the window's direction: Jack was watching the sun setting slowly behind the horizon.

"But they didn't match your deck at all. Seriously, Yusei… Every duelist checks their cards before beginning a duel. You should know this by now." Jack smirked to himself. After a moment of silence, Yusei's voice said,

"I was so excited to see their effects…"

Again, another hidden smirk. Jack hummed quietly to himself.

"You're eager like a child. Grow up already, Yusei." This time no answer came. Instead sounds of cards being moved on the table's surface filled the silence in the cold, otherwise empty room. The pair of light violet eyes was fixed on the sight of the sun colouring the sky into lovely shades of bright orange and golden, light grey clouds floating below it.

Bright orange… That colour reminded of the gems on Yusei's jacket and boots, both of them already taken off by the boy.

Golden… like those special highlights on Yusei's hair.

Jack turned and looked over to his old friend. Yusei had his hand above one of his cards while he touched a few others with his other hand's fingers. The look on the boy's face was calm and pondering, the stare of his dark-blue eyes shifting from a card to another slowly.

Jack enjoyed watching him, no matter if the boy was duelling or simply sitting quietly like now.

Yusei breathed in and out peacefully. His eyes and thoughts were entirely on his scattered cards, therefore he didn't notice the taller young man walk behind him. Only when Jack placed a palm on Yusei's shoulder, the boy startled with surprise but soon turned his focus back on the cards. Jack didn't mind. He looked when Yusei collected a fair amount of cards into one deck and placed it on the table, his fingers picking up the rest of the cards. Jack kept his mouth shut for a while before he murmured,

"How's with your new strategy?"

"Don't look or you will figure it out," Yusei mumbled. Jack shook his head, a smile on his lips.

"Of course I don't look. King is far above that." Yusei let out a short "hmm" in response. After that they stayed silent, Yusei shuffling the cards gently in his hands, careful not to crumple them, while Jack followed his fingers' movements and listened to the boy's steady breathing.

…so reassuring, calm and collected…

With Yusei, Jack's mind was always at peace.

"You don't seem anxious at all. You never once have since we separated from Crow."

The movements of Yusei's hands stopped for a moment, then began to riffle through the cards while Yusei answered,

"I am anxious. Not so much though… And it's not like we're not going to see Crow anymore, right? Our bonds are inseparable."

Jack rolled his eyes. There came one of Yusei's favourite words.

"Hmh. Still so keen on that idea, 'bonds'… You will never change, Yusei."

"I don't see any reason to. I don't want to."

"... You were always the 'sweet boy' at Martha's place, all the kids loved you…" The blond snorted. "You are so nice it makes me irritated, Yusei. Always helping others, leaving yourself to the side… Even with Kiryu. You knew he was becoming unstable, yet you stayed with him." A soft shade of red appeared on Yusei's cheeks. "I can see why everyone likes you so much. All that friendliness you have is almost divine, Yusei."

That comment was the thing which made Yusei place the deck back on the table and ogle at Jack over his shoulder. His blue eyes had gotten even wider than usually, it was apparent that he was bemused of Jack's words.

"You think it's divine to be friendly?"

"To that extent, yes. I can't recall any moment you'd acted selfishly, or entirely for your own good either. I don't know any other person like you. It's risky to be that open-minded and kind in the Satellite! Either you'll be beat up, in a duel or otherwise, or then you'll get cold, sick or starve to death!"

"That's what I do for my friends, Jack!" For the other boy's surprise, Yusei stood up from his chair and turned to look at him properly, now looking self-defensive. "Of course I'm ready to stand up for and save my friends! What else is there to do, with the Security in our tails and waiting for a reason to arrest the rest of us?"

"You could save yourself!" Jack said back, his voice's volume getting louder. "You sure are gullible, Yusei! Naïve, always thinking good of everyone… Saving others, forgetting what you need yourself! Don't go around playing a hero – be a human for once!" Jack shook his head and scowled, "Why are you so perfect? You are making me feel like a bad guy!"

At that point, Jack wasn't looking at Yusei anymore but he still stood right in front of his friend. He huffed quietly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. For some reason, unknown even to himself, Jack was feeling quite embarrassed all of a sudden. Yusei's calm voice reached his ears:

"Are you envious of me?"

The taller boy's body startled a little.

"…everyone likes heroic people like you." Jack heard Yusei chuckle quietly.

"I'm not trying to be heroic. I know it might sound strange… but I think this world needs more friendliness. Wars and hatred never lead to anything good. We only have one life to live, why would we ruin it being selfish and full of anger to everyone else?" Jack breathed heavily. All that talk sounded too familiar, it was just what would come from Yusei's mouth… "But Jack… Why do you think that makes me perfect? I am what I am… but I've never thought of myself as a 'perfect person'. Far from it…" The blond glanced at Yusei from the corner of his eye as he heard the boy chuckle again. "In my opinion, if I had to choose, I would say that you are the perfect person from the two of us."

"What, me?" Jack looked directly at Yusei's eyes.

"Yes!" the boy smirked. "I have always admired your personality, Jack. You aren't a bad guy. You are strong, determined and you protect the things closest to you. If there is something you consider unfair, you do anything to make it better. You never leave any things undone, or words unspoken. And…" Yusei lowered his gaze from Jack's eyes before he continued, "I think… you are a very good duelist… And you are very handsome too." A strange feeling of pressure pressed on Jack's ears. He stared at Yusei. "I'm envious of you."

Jack swallowed thickly. He had always thought quite high of himself, he had grown accustomed to his own way of thinking that he was always right, always the best… But this… that out of all people…

"If I could, I'd want to be more like you, Jack."

…Yusei admired him…

"I would be anxious, and scared… if I didn't have you by my side…"

Envy became admiration…

Admiration was soon replaced with infatuation…

And infatuation became –

…What kind of bond was Jack having to Yusei…?

"...Yusei..."

Not even to Yusei...

…he wouldn't say it aloud. Jack wasn't good with words. He rather let his actions talk for his feelings.

The environment around him became blurry and mute. He didn't hear anything, his focus was entirely on Yusei. Jack placed his palms on Yusei's cheeks and leaned in. Their noses touched, their mouths opened…

Jack tasted Yusei, felt the welcoming heat on his tongue. He probed further, found Yusei's own tongue and began to lick it. Yusei breathed into Jack's mouth, responding to Jack's touches just as gently - they shared the same air, and suddenly they both felt more alive than in months.

When the connection between their mouths broke, Jack whispered against Yusei's moist lips,

"I take what I want – and no one can stop me from having it." Jack's other hand moved to Yusei's shoulder and down his bare arm to his hips. Yusei exhaled softly, his half-lidded gaze on Jack's eyes. "You are perfect to me, Yusei. I want you. I want to have you."

Was this the moment when envy became love?

"I want you too, Jack."

I envy you. I adore you. I love you the most.

Yusei had the body and personality of an angel.

Jack was more than glad to claim his whole being as his own.

...I... really don't know. Writing this felt really weird? It ended in a weird way? ...I really should write more often. *slumps and rolls away*