Lighting up his heater in the middle of the insulated tent, Tristan falls back on the fluffy pillow and takes it all in. The sparks of the fire inside the heater, the sizzling of the chicken on his grill, the sound of the wind pushing against his tent. This was his idea of the perfect time. Quiet, away from the world and in his own private piece of the world. “This is the life.”

An hour after his spicy chicken ramen is done cooling, he takes a seat in his white floor chair he found in a junkyard and takes in the smell of the seasonings in front of him. Grabbing one of the silver bowls, he begins to put some of the noodles in when he hears the rocks being crushed near his tent. Pausing completely, Tristan focuses in on the sound and knows that the sound is getting closer to his tent. Nervous, he reaches down the back of his shirt and puts a grip on his nine-millimeter gun. Ever since he was robbed a few years ago when he was living in a junkyard a few miles off from Domino, he knew it was necessary. Illegal but necessary.

The tent door slowly opens and Tristan draws his gun, starling his guest. “Freeze!” Tristan orders, pointing the gun directly at them before quickly putting it away. Gasping, the guest almost drops his boxes. “It’s me! Yugi!” “I am so sorry! Come in!” He frantically says, grabbing the boxes from his hands and putting them on his inflatable king sized bed. “How did you find me out here?” He questions, grabbing his meditation pillow for Yugi to sit on. “The puzzle led me here.” He explains plainly, knowing that Tristan always had a harder time understanding the more magical side of his life. But not too many people are going to stand by you when they find out that you are possessed by a spirit either.

“Now I have a question. Why didn’t you tell anyone that it was your birthday today?” Looking down, Tristan stirs his noodles before turning the heat down a little. “I just didn’t want to have to deal with people today. People don’t like me and before you say anything, I know that’s my fault.” Glancing at Yugi, he looks away. “It’s no worries. It is what it is. But I didn’t feel like dealing with that today. So I’ve been here! Reading, writing, fishing. Just enjoying the day.” Tristan grins, taking a slurp of is dinner before placing a bowl in front of him. “Please. You came a long way and I have plenty.” “I don’t know did you put the entire box of salt in the soup.” “No!”Tristan giggles, grabbing a bottle of water for him too. “Thanks!”

“Well, I didn’t want you to be alone all day. It’s a big day and I wanted to celebrate with you. Just you and me. But before we eat, can you open the blue box?” Looking over his shoulder, Tristan puts down his soup and hands to grab it. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” “I know, but I wanted too.” Not being able to stop the smile forming on his face, Tristan rips the paper and sees the image of headphones before it registers to him. “The new AirPod Pro Max! Yugi I can’t accept this.” He pleads, handing them back to him with Yugi raising his hands. “I know that your other headphones broke when you were defending me from would be bullies. Since I know how much you need them, I figured they should be the best!”

Taken aback, Tristan can’t remember the last time he received something this nice from anyone. Holding the headphones close to his heart, he tries to keep the tears from falling from his eyes. “Thank you so much.” “There’s more!” His eyebrows raise at the idea of getting more than the headphones. “Yep! Grab the green box” Yugi asks, finally picking up the bowl to eat before choking up on the seasoning. “Used my winter recipe! It gets cold up here!”

Picking up the green box, he can see that it’s much bigger than the other ones. “Oooh...” He teases, shaking the box a little before opening it. When he looks down in the box, he sees a custom made motorcycle helmet. “Yugi!!!” Tristan squeals like a little kid, “I’ve been saving for this for the longest! This is the Bluetooth one with the speaker and microphone system.” Getting up, Tristan moves around the table to squeeze Yugi to death; his definition of a hug.

Couldn’t let this day go by and not do a tiny short story about this two characters!

“Tea just close your eyes!” Tristan playfully orders, leading her down a narrow hallway. He somehow managed to convince her to come with him to what he called ‘one of his many secret spots’. Joey and Yugi have told her stories about these places and heard nothing but good things. So she went on a leap of faith and figured she would give it a shot. Giggling, Tea shoves her elbow against his chest. “That hurt so much, you just don’t know..” He moans, stifling his laugh. “I think I might cry!”

Pulling the door open, Tristan slowly leads Tea though it. “Open your eyes.” Shrugging her shoulders, Tea slowly sees her reflection in the mirrors surrounding her. Her fingers become tingly when she realizes that she is standing in the middle of a dance studio. The modern lights on both sides of the room illuminate the brand new flooring that she can tell was recently put in. She reaches out to touch the three bars that are surrounding the entire room. “I designed this after one of dance studios in Juilliard. I overheard you talking about how you wanted to go there one day and needed the space to practice. Since I wasn’t using this space for anything, I figured that you could use this. I hope that I...”

His breath is taken away from him when Tea leaps into his arms out of nowhere. Through her sobs, Tristan wraps his arms around her. “I take this as a ‘you love it?’” Pulling away slightly, Tea looks into his hazel eyes with nothing but pure joy. “This is more than I could have dreamed of Tristan!” Overwhelmed with emotion, she hugs her friend even tighter. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Letting some of his own tears fall, Tristan gently replies. “I’m happy to help. Just remember me when you become really famous and invite me to you shows.”