Title: Taking A Break
Characters: O'Brien, Juudai
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 714
Genre: Friendship||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing: YGO GX canon: B34: friendship that's not your BrOTP; GX Month 2021, day #29, Frontlne Base
Notes: Post-canon several years.
Summary: For his mother's birthday, O'Brien wants to catch a fish. Catching fish catches someone's attention.
O'Brien watched his bait sink into the river and allowed himself to rest. He didn't get the chance to do this very often and he wanted to get something special for his mother for her birthday. She'd always enjoyed fresh caught fish, especially from the river near their home, and his daddy hadn't had the chance to get it for her as of yet.
So here he sat, pole in hand, and waited for something to catch at his bait. He maintained just enough awareness of what was going on with the bait to know if he got a bite, but for the rest of it, he cared very little about what happened, as long as the weather didn't interfere.
So he almost didn't notice when another line sank in next to his, and might have ignored it altogether if someone hadn't settled down on the rock nearest him. He glanced up to see a red jacket, and a brown bag set down that had a tabby cat peeking out of it.
"Juudai?" It had to have been two years or better since he'd seen the other. Juudai gave him a cheerful smile, one worn a little around the edges, but cheerful all the same.
"How's it been?" Juudai asked, settling his pole so he could talk without having it in his hands. "Been up to anything interesting?"
It only took a few moments for O'Brien to adjust to the fact Juudai sat there at all. He shrugged. "Not that much. I've been working for Pegasus, finding card imitators." It was the best work he'd been able to get, and sometimes those card grifters could be a lot more trouble than it was worth.
Juudai nodded. "I've been doing a lot of traveling. Haven't been by here in a while." He yawned a little, settling himself more into place. "Kinda wanna go visit Kaiser and see how he's doing if I get the chance. Same with Saiou and Edo."
That wasn't a surprise. Juudai worked a great deal on caring for his friends, and while O'Brien hadn't seen Juudai since graduation, he knew that the others had. Those who'd been involved in the events of Juudai's years at Duel Academia stayed in touch with one another, and he'd seen mentions of those who encountered Juudai. He'd visited several of them - apparently it wasn't unusual to be doing one's shopping and Juudai just strolled up next to you.
Now he'd have something to add to that. He wasn't quite the last one to get a visit, but the list would be shorter now. Fubuki would find that amusing, without a doubt.
"There's not any trouble going on around here, is there?" O'Brien wanted to be sure. Juudai shook his head.
"You were fishing and I wanted to fish, so I headed over here." Juudai lounged against the mossy rock, dropping one hand to pet Pharaoh's head. "I don't have much else to do for a while."
O'Brien nodded. This made sense to him, at least as much sense as Juudai ever made to anyone. Then he glanced over quickly as his line began to wiggle. It only took a few moments of effort before he landed a gorgeous silver-scaled fish, one that he knew his mother would love. Juudai glanced over at it, an approving look in his eyes, before his own line started to jerk, and he worked on hauling his own catch in.
"You want to meet my parents?" O'Brien asked, once he had the fish ready to go inside and be cleaned and readied for cooking. "They'd love to meet you." He'd told them stories of all the friends he'd made at Duel Academia, including Juudai. More than once they'd expressed an interest in meeting all of them. He especially wanted to find a way to introduce them to Sea God's Priestess - if he ever got the chance to talk to her again.
But perhaps Juudai could help with that. He'd have to ask, sooner or later. With Juudai there, it only made sense to do it.
Right now, all he wanted to do was get this fish inside and cooked, and enjoy his mother's birthday. Those only came once a year. Best to enjoy it while it was time.
The End
Notes: O'Brien isn't very talkative, but he doesn't need to be. He and Juudai had a good time regardless.