#wingshipping

There was barely a moment when Kaito wasn't needed.

Chris needed his opinion on something about their more sciency escapades. Haruto needed help with his homework. Faker needed him to run to the store and pick up something. Yuma needed dueling advice.

And what Kaito needed was, to put it lightly, A Fucking Break.

His back hurt, his tremor was back, his cane would help but he was spending most of the day sitting down so it wouldn't help that much. He already took his meds and he was instructed to not take more than two a day, and he didn't know where the hell his heating pad was.

He sighed, and leaned back in his chair. Formulas that made perfect sense usually garbled together. He had bad days, of course. And he was used to them. But somehow today felt worse than ever.

A cup of tea was placed in front of him. He forced a smile. "Thanks, Chris."

"You know, you're allowed to take breaks." Chris said. Casually, like he was asking for Kaito to hand him something. "You seem... more tired than usual."

"Can't sneak anything past you, can I?" Kaito chuckled, taking his cup and sipping his drink. Chamomile. "Yeah, you're... you're right. My back's acting up again. It's worse than usual today."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "I don't see a cane next to you- did you forget it?"

"Left my room in a hurry since I overslept- yes." Kaito answered. "I'll probably need to call Wynn down to carry me out of here if it doesn't get better in the next hour or so."

Now, it was Chris' turn to let out a small laugh. "Why wait? You've been here since around 5 in the morning. I can take it from here- you deserve the rest, anyways."

He placed a hand on Kaito's shoulder, and leaned down. "Besides, there's no stakes we have to worry about anymore. It's not like this would be the end of the world."

Somehow, hearing his own thoughts verbalized by Chris made Kaito believe in them. "I... I'll call Wynn. Thanks, Chris."

"You're welcome, Kite. Now- I hope you enjoy your afternoon off."

---

Wynn came almost as soon as Kaito called- he was on his way down into the lab to bring the two researchers food, anyways.

He was glad the tower was mostly empty of the regular bustle of employees- the sight of Wynn having slung Kaito over his shoulders would have been something neither of them would ever live down.

Kaito was set down on the bed of their shared room, as Wynn rifled through a shoebox he kept strongly-scented bath products in.

"Okay. So, your heatpad is MIA and you can't take more meds today- I'm gonna run you a bath, let you use some of my fancy bath bombs, an-"

"Wynn." Kaito interrupted. "Wynn, you don't need to do all this for me. All I asked was for you to bring me here."

Wynn scoffed, playfully. "C'mon. You're having a rough day. Let me pamper you a bit. Do you prefer lavender or vanilla?"

Sometimes, dating Wynn was like dating a very stubborn golden retriever. "I'm perfectly capable of running a bath for myself, Wynn."

"I know, I know... still. Lavender or vanilla?"

Kaito's answer was instant. "Lavender."

He liked the smell of lavender. It was comforting to him, almost. The fact that it's also the scent of shampoo that Wynn used had nothing to do with said comfort. Maybe.

Wynn smiled. "Great. Cause I think maybe Hart snuck in here and took my vanilla scented one."

He placed the purple-tinted bath bomb in the small plastic tray Kaito had seen him use for his preparations of his "overly self indulgent" baths before. Alongside it, he placed a small tube of what looked to be salts, and a tub of... something Kaito had no clue of it's purpose.

"Okay. I'm going to let the bath-running to you. I'll see if I can track down your heating pad, and I'll get some snacks for a movie or two." Wynn walked over to Kaito, to kiss his cheek. "Sound like a plan?"

Kaito nodded. "It does, Wynn. Thank you."

---

He was never really a bath person, but Kaito had to admit- he understood the appeal. Or, maybe it was the sensation of the warm water surrounding his sore muscles. Not as affective as his heating pad, but after hours of desperately needing one, it definitely helped.

But he definitely preferred his heating pad when he got out of the bath. He didn't bother getting back in his normal clothes, opting for his constellation-printed pajamas. He leaned against the heating pad, already feeling the bulk of the pain in his back start to fade. One thing's for certain, Wynn was a treasure for finding it.

Very few words were exchanged between Kaito and Wynn. A movie was put on, and there was a gentle quiet in between the two. A soft peace that Kaito desperately needed.

He leaned into Wynn, and let out a contented sigh. Wynn's arm wrapped around Kaito's shoulders, a gentle touch he adored.

Everyone held their breath as Sakaki Yuuya tumbled toward the ground. He had a split second to save himself from severe injury; only by catching the ribbon could he escape unscathed from the trap of spikes, wires and ravenous Duel Monsters forty feet below.

The young entertainer fell faster than a stone, but still had the breath his crowd did not; he whooped for them, reaching out his hands--

--and missing the ribbon.

Nearly everyone in the audience shrieked. Among them, Kurosaki Ruri closed her eyes, and willed Yuuya to fly.

Seconds after the wish formed in her mind, the scrabbling fingers of her boyfriend’s other hand grasped the very tip of that Solid Vision sash, and he used the desperate kicking of his legs and the flapping of his first flailing hand to vault over the trap and flip back onto the safety of the front stage.

There was a heartbeat’s pause where no one moved as they absorbed the rapid swings their emotions had gone through. Another heartbeat passed where the crowd breathed in and out as one. Then--

A sonic boom of cheers and claps.

Ruri opened her eyes and allowed herself a small smile. He’d done it again--survived his evening show, kept the audience in suspense, and earned more than a few bucks for his college fund. Even knowing every time how the show would end (due to watching countless practice sessions with Yuuya and Yuushou) didn’t always keep her heart from fluttering anxiously until the city’s Father of Pendulum was safely on the ground.

She couldn’t help it; in their new world, it was the way she worried.

“Hey--Ruri~!”

During her ruminating Yuuya had leapt off stage and moved through the bubbling crowd to get to her side. He had a grin bigger than the sun plastered on his face.

Ruri’s tiny grin didn’t grow an inch. Instead, she made a fist and planted it in his belly.

“Guh--!”

“Kami-sama’s sake, Yuuya!” she hissed, letting others disperse around them while still keeping her voice low and her hand hidden. “I get that you love having the crowd on edge, but for the last time, stop cutting your save so close!”

“Ruri--”

“What happens if you really miss that last flip one day and become a Solid Vision pincushion?!”

“Relax, relax! Geez...” The bi-color-haired boy winced, still rubbing his stomach as he held up his hands in surrender. “I knew what I was doing. Our audience wasn’t as riveted on me when I backflipped through the fire rings, so I had to raise the stakes a little.”

“Yeah well, they’d be really riveted if you became an overfull piercing.... Just be more careful, okay?”

“I will, I will... maa, maa, you’re as bad as Yuzu.”

Ruri rolled her eyes, hooking an arm through Yuuya’s. “Please. If Yuzu had the time off to see all your performances so far, you’d have a permanent crater in your forehead from that fan. Consider yourself lucky I didn’t aim any higher or lower!”

Yuuya paled dramatically. “Y-Yes, dear.”