Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Breakfast
Romance: Edo x Ryou
Word Count: 2,354||Status: Complete
Genre: Humor, Romance||Rated: PG-13
Feedback: All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Notes: This takes place about seven years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Edo is twenty-three, Ryou is twenty-six.
Summary: Just a quiet morning on Edo's yacht for two lovers. Shared food, shared opinions, and not so shared tastes.

Edo woke up before Ryou did. After three years, they were both more or less used to that, so when Ryou's eyes opened to warm sunlight and the other side of the bed being empty, he only turned over and wondered if he wanted to get up or go back to sleep. He genuinely had nothing to get up for; the Pro Leagues were in recess for the next two months, giving everyone a chance to get rested, rebuild their decks, and prepare for the next season, so both he and Edo could sleep as long as they wanted.

Not that sleeping was all they did in this bed, or anywhere else, together, but that was a bit beside the point.

What drove him to his feet was the sun peeking in through one of the windows, glancing right into his eyes. He considered digging his head under the pillows and decided it wasn't worth it. If the sun's already this high, it's probably getting late. That was enough reason to get out of bed, that and he had personal matters to take care of.

So Ryou pushed himself to his feet, wrapped his favorite black robe around himself, and headed out on deck after taking care of said personal matters. All he could hear at the moment were waves lapping against the side of the yacht and the cries of distant seagulls. Edo'd lowered the anchor somewhere far off from shore when they'd stopped the night before, making certain they wouldn't disturb anyone. In truth, he wasn't even certain where the nearest shore was. Not that he felt it mattered at the moment.

"Took you long enough to get up." Edo's voice floated to him from where he relaxed in his deck chair, a glass and a plate on the portable table beside him, wearing yet another one of his perfect white suits. In all the time they'd known one another, Ryou had never known Edo not to have showered and dressed within the first ten minutes after he got out of bed.

"I'd say you wore me out but I have no intentions of lying." Ryou settled down into his own chair. Unlike Edo's, it didn't have a sun screen stretched over it, since he could actually stand in the sun and not explode. While Edo hadn't yet done that, Ryou still expected him to at any point.

Edo's lips just twitched; those words were a challenge and Ryou knew it. One they'd take up later, preferably. Right now, he wanted something to eat. Unfortunately, he feared that might mean having to get up and find his way to the kitchen. When it was just the two of them, that was exactly what was meant: the two of them, no servants or anyone else to take care of them. The yacht didn't have space enough for servants anyway.

The noise probably wouldn't have been a draw to anyone either.

At the moment, though, he didn't want breakfast badly enough to get up again. He stared out over the sparkling blue water, the seagulls crying as they always did, and let himself just be. Being nothing. Being everything.

Crunch.

Trust Edo to ruin a perfectly good peaceful moment. As if I have too many of those. Ryou'd noticed something on Edo's breakfast tray, but he hadn't paid enough attention to see just what it was. Now he tilted his head up and looked over to see what his lover was stuffing his face with.

His nose wrinkled as an errant breeze brought a whiff of cherry to his nostrils. "What in the hell are you eating?" Whatever it was, there was sugar involved, and Ryou didn't know how someone could eat sugar at this hour of the morning. At least no one sane.

Wait, this is Edo. Sanity wasn't a requirement. Sanity wasn't even wanted. Sanity would stay far far away if it knew what was good for it.

Edo wiped his lips and waved whatever it was in his hand toward Ryou. "It's a Pop-Tart. Cherry." Which so far as Ryou was concerned, meant about as much as "It's a garmblat."

Something of that must have reflected in his expression, since Edo rolled his eyes and shoved the half-eaten thing toward him. "Take a bite. They're good."

Ryou eyed it with something of the look that most people had when rabid badgers were thrust toward them. "What did you call it?" His English was excellent, but he hadn't heard everyword in the language.

"Pop-Tart. They're breakfast pastries. At least that's what they're called, but people eat them any time they want." Edo reached over to his other side and picked up a box. "They aren't for sale very often in Japan, though." That would explain why he hadn't seen them before now. Or if he had, he hadn't paid any attention to them. "So since we're closer to home right now, I decided to get some when I did the shopping."

Did the shopping. Ryou supposed that was Edo-speak for 'I made up a list and had someone buy it for me.' Well, at least Edo did get the things he wanted. That was one of the rules. So long as they were on the yacht, Edo provided for the food and anything else they needed, though Ryou could and did ask for things. Just as when they spent time in Ryou's apartment in Domino City, hepaid for the food and Edo asked for what he needed or wanted.

'Closer to home' also told him something of where they were. Probably within a few hours of California, if not closer. That was good to know.

He peered at the box and caught a glimpse of something silvery inside. One swift movement later and he had a fresh package in his hands. Edo rolled his eyes.

"Do I need to draw up a list of what we've done together and yet you won't eat something I've bitten into?"

"No, that won't be necessary, I already know." Ryou tore open the package and pulled one of the frosted treats out. He wrinkled his nose at the scent; it wasn't any more appetizing cold than it was hot. At least he presumed the one Edo had was hot; a quick glance at the box showed heating instructions.

Without giving himself time to think about it (or to smell too much of the cherry sweet scent) he bit into it. Almost as soon as it hit his taste buds, he shuddered. Sweet! He chewed and swallowed, more from courtesy than anything else (and a desire not to poison whatever poor fish tried to eat it if he spat it over the side).

Edo frowned as Ryou dropped the rest of it onto the plate beside him. "It's not that bad."

"Maybe not for you, but I have taste buds that still work." He couldn't imagine someone wanting to eat that on a regular basis. "What is in that, anyway?" He didn't believe it was just cherries. He couldn't.

"Sugar, cherries, a few other things. They're on the box if you're that interested." Edo shrugged, putting the bitten into tart back in the box. Ryou suspected it would be eaten sooner or later, either by Edo himself or a passing seagull, depending on how hungry Edo was.

Ryou could think of so many more things he'd rather do than read the instructions on a box of Pop-Tarts. At least half of them involved Edo. Most of the rest involved dueling. A few of the others involved Edo and dueling.

At the moment, one of them that didn't involve Edo or dueling shot its way to the top of his mental chart. He brushed himself off to make sure none of the offending crumbs were still there, then got to his feet. "I'm going to make breakfast." He didn't ask if Edo wanted anything, since Edo not only obviously had food, but he didn't like what Ryou usually made for himself anyway.

Pop-Tarts. Practically sugar incarnate, with a mild lacing of fruit to make it appealing to innocent duelists who had no idea of what they were actually biting into. Ryou's lip curled at the very notion. Fubuki better not ever find these things. Fubuki could get into more than enough trouble on his own. He didn't need help of any kind.

He didn't bother looking back at Edo as he headed for the yacht's kitchen or galley or whatever it was the area one prepared food in was called on a ship. There were many things Ryou cared about but remembering all the proper names for a ship's parts didn't make the cut. He did suspect the other was a little put out over his immediate rejection of the treat, but Edo could just deal with it. Sugar wasn't one of his food groups and he had no intentions of changing that.

Steaming rice and preparing miso soup and dried seaweed took up enough of his time and focus that Ryou soon let all thoughts of Pop-Tarts slide out of his mind. This was the kind of breakfast he'd had growing up, as well as every day at the Cyber Dojo, and that hadn't changed when he'd attended Duel Academia. When he'd lived on his own after graduation, he'd had to make it for himself for the first time. The first few efforts hadn't been edible, putting it mildly.

I'm surprised I didn't burn the building down. But he'd persereved and like with everything else in his life, he'd mastered it sooner or later. Not that he considered himself a world-class chef, but he knew how to make what he wanted to eat and that was enough for him.

He could hear Edo moving around outside and paid just enough attention to tell his subconsicous it wasn't anything to worry about. Even after all this time away from Dark World, there were still moments when his reflexes snapped to attention and he was ready to defend himself at a moment's notice.

You'd think dying and coming back would get me over that. And yet it hadn't. In all truth, Ryou still didn't know how he'd been restored to life. Yubel hadn't done it; he'd asked her once, with Juudai's assistance. Her answer warmed him even now.

After that duel, after everything you put into it, I couldn't keep you. You didn't deserve that.

Ryou forced his full attention on the rice; after that Pop-Tart on his tongue, he didn't want to burn this and have to start all over again. He needed something to get the taste out of his mouth. He doubted water would do the trick. What he needed was something that had a flavor all its own.

And he couldn't take his attention away from the food right now in order to find something. He was prone enough to thinking about dueling and how to retune his deck in anticipation of the coming season as it was. If he let himself think about anything else too much, then disaster would strike. It wouldn't be the first time when he tried to cook.

That couldn't happen here. Among many reasons, there weren't any restaurants that he knew of who would deliver to the middle of the ocean. Not to mention he didn't want to see Edo's smug little smirk, the one that turned up whenever Edo could be especially superior about something. There were times he liked that look; after screwing up cooking wasn't one of those times.

Just as he finished getting everything cooked, Edo stepped into the kitchen. He held something behind his back, and that very same smirk tilted his lips. Ryou rolled his eyes; Edo had nothing to smirk about so far as he knew.

"Did you want something?" He imagined Edo did. He could also imagine he knew what it was.

"Maybe. So you didn't like those Pop-Tarts, right?" Edo settled himself in the door so Ryou couldn't easily pass. Ryou set his plate down on the counter, folded his arms over his chest, and stared at him.

"Would spitting it into your lap have made it any clearer?" He could've done that. But the sheer tantrum Edo would've thrown didn't make it worth it. He'd seen one once, when someone had dripped syrup on one of Edo's suits. Fascinating watching, unless you were the one he threw it at. "I wish I'd never put the thing in my mouth in the first place."

Ryou'd seen Edo smile a thousand, a million times. None of them were as intriguing as the smile Edo smiled now. "I can think of something you might want to have in your mouth."

That sent chills of the most pleasant kind down Ryou's back. Perhaps he could postpone breakfast for a little while. Edo had a microwave. He could heat up anything he wanted.

"What might that be?" He expected handcuffs to emerge from behind Edo's back. Or perhaps the silk ropes. A blindfold. There were many options and all of them lead to interesting places that would lead him to forgiving Edo for offering that Pop-Tart.

What he didn't expect was a glass of kale juice being set on the counter next to his plate. "That should clean your mouth out."

Ryou's gaze fell on it, then back up to Edo. That smirk. That damned unholy smirk of his. He wasn't even going to ask how Edo got the glass and poured the juice without him seeing it. He'd had his back turned to the refrigerator more than enough times for someone as silent as Edo to get in and out.

"I don't know why I stay with you." He grumbled as he picked up the glass and tray and headed outside.

"Who else would have you?" Edo taunted, his own steps leading back toward his sheltered seat. Ryou snorted.

"Would you like a list?" He settled down in the chair and started to eat. He could feel Edo's attention on him and smiled to himself. He can wait his turn.

The End