Series: Sky Stories||Title: Issues With Molting
Characters: Yubel, Juudai, Johan||Ship: Yubel x Juudai x Johan
Chapter: 2-5||Words: 1,241||Total: 2,350
Genre: Romance||Rated: R
Challenges: Diversity Writing, YGO Yubel x Juudai, H9, 5 chapters
Notes: This takes place in the same world as I Will Be Your Wings, but post-canon.
Summary: Fusing souls with Yubel didn't just give Juudai their powers - it also gave him their wings. But he's never had wings before and now, half a year after graduation, he's learning one thing. Molting season is not fun.
Traveling between dimensions took a little effort. Juudai learned pretty fast that he could go wherever there was darkness, and there was darkness everywhere. Sometimes he'd ended up popping out of someone's shadow. While that could be entertaining, the first time it happened he'd ended up getting whacked upside the head and shoulders.
That was why even now, he sent out Hane Kuriboh to check that everything was all right before he emerged from the shadows. This time Hane Kuriboh gave a thrilled noise and almost right away started tussling with Ruby Carbuncle. Juudai came out of the shadow and looked around.
Hane Kuriboh and Ruby Carbuncle cheerfully sparred together on Johan's bed. Johan wasn't in the room, but noises from elsewhere in the apartment gave an indication of where he was. Before Juudai could make it to the door, Johan himself appeared there. He blinked briefly at the sight of Juudai before he smiled.
"Juudai! Good to see you! Everything all right?"
Juudai's wings twitched and he had to hold himself back from trying to scratch at his wings again. How in the world had Yubel dealt with this all this time?
You helped me once we met. And after I became a spirit, as I said, I didn't molt.
He drew in a breath and nodded towards Johan. "Well, sort of. I've got a little problem." Hopefully it wouldn't turn into a big problem. He raised one hand to indicate his wings. "I'm molting."
Johan took three strides over and gestured for Juudai to turn around. Juudai did so, and Johan laid a hand on the wings. The moment that he touched, a deep wave of pleasure shot through Juudai and he fought back the urge to mewl at how good it felt. Yubel chuckled in his head.
That's how it felt for me.
"You're definitely molting," Johan agreed. "You've never done this before, have you?"
Juudai shook his head. "Remember, I started off as Flightless. These are Yubel's wings."
Johan nodded. His own wings rose up behind him, wide and brilliant and white edged with gold – Rainbow Dragon's wings. No one had known what Johan's wings resembled until he'd first summoned Rainbow Dragon. When Yubel took his body, they'd become the wings of Dark Rainbow Dragon.
Yubel appeared next to them, arms crossed. "He needs help tending to those. I could help with removing the old scales but we need scale oil and I don't know where to get that."
"I do," Johan said with a firm nod. "You two wait here. I'll be back." He nodded towards the bed. "You can wait there."
Before Juudai had the chance to say anything else, he turned and headed out the window, taking to the skies. Juudai blinked a few times, then shrugged, and settled down on the bed. This wasn't the guest room that he'd slept in before. He wasn't sure of how Johan slept here in the first place. Wouldn't his wings get in the way?
No. He probably wraps them around himself. They're big enough. Wings are flexible like that. Yubel told him. Juudai nodded. Yubel knew more about wings than he did.
Johan wasn't gone very long. When he landed back on the balcony and entered again, he had a small bottle in one hand. He came right over to Juudai and showed it to him.
"This is the best scale oil around here. It'll deal with the itches and help the new scales grow in." Johan regarded him for a few moments. "You should probably take your shirt off."
Juudai wriggled out of his shirt; he'd had to rebuy every shirt he'd ever had so that he could do that once he'd fused with Yubel. Samejima had understood and issued him the standard Red uniform as designed for Fliers. But wearing things that weren't the Duel Academia uniform proved so annoying that he virtually never bothered anymore.
"Spread out," Johan instructed, and Juudai listened, settling face-down on the bed and spreading his wings as wide as he could. He'd caught the trick of moving them pretty early on. It was trying to scratch those itchy scales that he couldn't manage.
Yubel, solid now, settled down next to his head and began to run their fingers through his hair. Juudai sighed and leaned into the touch, even as Johan carefully began to massage the oil into his wings. From the first moment that Johan touched his wings, Juudai had to hold back from groaning and writhing. It felt so good! Every touch flickered through him like fire, surging and rising.
"Let me know if I do anything wrong, please?" Johan asked, pausing for a few moments. "I don't want to hurt you."
Juudai struggled to grasp the words. He swallowed and shuddered, deciding to nod fiercely instead. Johan bent a little closer, hand now on the area of Juudai's back between his shoulders. Feeling that on his bare skin made Juudai want to buck and squirm even more.
"Are you sure you're all right? You look a little disturbed." His breath puffed against Juudai's skin and Juudai bit his lip as hard as he could without actually drawing blood.
"No," he managed to squeak the word out. "I'm good. Really."
Yubel chuckled. Juudai jerked his head up as best he could to stare at them as they rested one hand on his head. "He's learning what I knew a very long time ago. And what you should know as well, Johan."
Johan tensed. Yubel very seldom addressed him directly, though they'd encountered one another a handful of times since Yubel and Juudai fused. Juudai wanted them to be on better terms. They were the most important people to him, after all.
"What do you mean?"
"Hasn't anyone ever touched your wings since maturity?" Yubel asked, head tilted to one side. Johan stared at them before turning a deep shade of red and starting to hand the bottle to them.
"You should probably be doing this," he muttered, ducking his head down. "I-I-"
Yubel reached out to rest their free hand on Johan. "You wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't told Juudai to come here. What happens is entirely up to us. If we choose not to – if any one of us wishes this to go no further than tending his wings – then only that. But I live with Juudai's soul. I know his heart as well as I know mine."
Juudai turned towards Yubel. "Yubel – I meant what I said." He wanted to say a great deal more – how he'd fused them because of his love, how it had only grown now that they were one being – how he would gladly give up anything and everything now that they were together – but Yubel's other hand came to rest over his lips.
"Do you want Johan to simply tend your wings and no more?"
Juudai swallowed and dropped his head down. He'd never thought about it before. He could feel Johan being so close to him. So was Yubel. Both of them, so close and so warm next to him.
He could have chosen not to. He could have chosen otherwise. But with Yubel there and Johan there…
"No," he whispered. "I don't want just that."
Yubel caressed the side of his face and tilted his head up so their eyes met. "Then what do you want?"
Oh. Now was not a good time for that.
To Be Continued
Notes: So next chapter (probably) starts it all. Yubel knows Juudai better than he knows himself. And as long as it is mutual on all sides (and they get to take part) Yubel has no problems with Johan joining in.