Yu-Gi-Oh GX; Jim Cook x Juudai Yuuki

[cynthia_harrell]

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Pairing: Yuuki Juudai x Jim Cook
Theme Set: Beta
Rated: PG-13
Warnings: General spoilers for seasons three and four of Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

1. Sarcasm: "Oh, they're just perfect for each other!" Manjoume snarked during one of the infrequent occasions when the old gang was together again; Juudai and Jim only exchanged a glance and a smile; how right he was.
   
2. Jewel: Juudai had seen more perfect gemstones in his travels than he could count but they all paled next to being stretched out under the sky and seeing a thousand stars: so long as it was Jim he was looking at them with.
   
3. Valiant: Haou did not bother to watch as Jim and O'Brien fled his minions, but in the back of his mind, he could not help but be disappointed; he'd thought Jim especially was braver than that.
   
4. Quirks: Everyone had something about them that was different; Jim enjoyed digging up that which had been dead for millions of years, and Juudai liked to save the world every few years.
   
5. Serenade: Fubuki suggested once that Juudai sing a love song for Jim and was willing to do it for him should it be necessary; luckily, it wasn't.
   
6. Jump: Climbing to the top of the mountain was a wonderful way to spend the day, but jumping down from the top and flying with E-Hero Neos and Jim was even better in Juudai's opinion.
   
7. Balloon: Jim woke up on his birthday to see a single dark green balloon floating over his bed, with Happy Birthday written on it; even if Juudai couldn't stay, he had made his presence known.
   
8. Quiet: Neither of them felt the need to fill up the empty spaces with noise, which was perhaps once the reasons that they wound up getting along together so very well.
   
9. Nowhere: In the middle of nowhere, Jim lay on his back and stared up at the comet in the sky; he could not help but remember being at Duel Academia and watching the star-filled sky there with Juudai one warm autumn night.
   
10. Near: Juudai had never once needed to open his eyes or look up from what he was doing in order to know that Jim was there; he just knew.
    
11. Sojourn: Juudai wandered over all the world...over all the worlds, to be precise, but there were two places that he liked to stay for long periods more than any other: with Johan and with Jim; and if he stayed a bit longer with Jim, no one said anything.
    
12. Defeat: The sound of shattering mirrors filled the air within; it was over, it was all over at last, and Juudai couldn't hold himself up any longer: nor did he have to, for Jim was there to catch him.
    
13. Soliloquy: If they were other people, perhaps they might have launched on long-winded explanations of why they felt what they felt, but since they were Jim and Juudai, all that they needed to do was just look at each other, and that said everything that needed to be said.
    
14. Bias: Juudai cheered for both of his friends as they dueled one another, and if it was Johan who got a friendly hug and Jim who got a passionate kiss, well, no one could fault Juudai for favoring his boyfriend over his best friend.
    
15. Sorrow: Juudai stood as far from them as they could, not looking back at the sleeping forms of Jim and O'Brien, then started on his path alone, not paying attention to the aching grief that howled within him; Jim would have wanted to try and help him, and that was why he left: because no one truly could.
    
16. Sordid: Some of the places where Haou's forces marched were rundown and deserted; Haou himself stared straight ahead impassively, watching only the road and the surroundings for any kind of attack, and where he could safely ignore it, wondered what someone with a single kind green eye would think of all of that.
    
17. Natural: There was very little about the natural world that Jim didn't know, and he gladly shared it with Juudai, who found an interest in those lessons that he never had been able to with any other teacher he'd met before.
    
18. Whiskey and rum: "I don't usually drink," Juudai said as he shared the alcohol with Jim, "but I think today's a special occasion," and he smiled at the other, remembering how years before, they had dueled one another for the very first time.
    
19. Weddings: It wasn't necessary for people to go to weddings together, but after the third time Jim and Juudai danced in honor of their various friends' nuptials, even Manjoume figured out that it wasn't a coincidence.
    
20. Jousting: "You know, this is kind of like one of those old-time jousting matches," Juudai opined as he and Jim watched Ryou and Edo face off against one another, "two really awesome fighters going at it to see who's best!" Jim only chuckled; there was something quite refreshing about Juudai's unique view of the world.
    
21. Victory: Haou watched with emotionless eyes of gold as Jim and Karen broke into light and began to drift away; he paid almost no attention to the fleeing O'Brien and even less to the soft pain in his heart, wiping it away and returning to his proper tasks.
    
22. Question: "Have you ever kissed anyone?" Juudai asked one day, and when Jim said yes, Juudai leaned over and kissed him on the lips, then grinned, "Now I have too."
    
23. Birthday: When Juudai didn't want to be found, he couldn't be found, so when it came around to his birthday, Jim set down a small package and a card on the table; he hadn't taken ten steps away before a pair of familiar arms were thrown around himself and an even more familiar voice whispered, "Happy birthday to me."
    
24. Quitting: There weren't any reasons that Juudai could think of to stop kissing Jim, especially not when Jim kept kissing him back, which gave him plenty of reasons to keep on going.
    
25. Stupidity: Some people wondered why someone as obviously smart as Jim wanted anything to do with someone like Juudai; if they'd asked, Jim would have told them that Juudai's grades in class might not have been the best, but the way he scored when it counted was off the charts.
    
26. Horizon: Watching the sun set over the ocean was something Jim was used to doing every day back home; seeing it at Duel Academia was something new, and having Juudai around to get used to it with made it a little bit better.
    
27. Wishes: Jim bent over the candles before he blew them out, but hesitated just for a moment; he couldn't think of anything that he wanted to wish for, until the thought of a pair of warm brown eyes flashed through his mind.
    
28. Nuance: He was good at seeing almost hidden shades of meaning, so when Juudai wanted some time to himself, Jim just stepped to the side and let it happen, knowing that the other would come back when he was ready and that he would be there when he was.
    
29. Breaking: Jim watched as Juudai unleashed his rage on Brron, his eye narrowed and the Eye in his other socket sending warnings all through him; Juudai was breaking, and something had to be done before it was too late, if it wasn't already.
    
30. Burning: They'd lit a fire, as the air was a bit nippy that night, but as it turned out, neither Jim nor Juudai needed it, since the press of skin against skin and the touch of hand on hand generated all the flame that they had ever needed or wanted.
    
31. Quarrel: "Don't you guys fight about anything?" Manjoume grumped one day, and Jim and Juudai just looked at one another, the memory of a duel fought long ago in another world flashing through both their minds, and Juudai said, "Got it out of our system a while back."
    
32. Waste/Wasteland: In the achingly empty corners of his mind, Juudai...no, Haou...always Haou now...thought it had most certainly been a great waste of potential to destroy Jim Cook, but it could be no other way once the foolish boy had returned to challenge him.
    
33. Wonder: Juudai's fingers touched the bandages around Jim's missing eye wonderingly and carefully; to think that under there had once been something capable of reaching into his heart and finding a part of him that he hadn't even known was still there was a source of amazement to him even now.
    
34. Smirk: Jim watched from the sidelines, a slight grin on his face, as Juudai faced off against the Light of Ruin in its latest host; he knew that cocky smirk quite well: Juudai was about to bring the house down, and he was there to see it.
    
35. Neutral: Jim had always preferred compromise to confrontation most of the time, but when it came down to the Haou and the horrors Juudai had committed, he knew that he could no longer be neutral; a stand had to be taken once and for all.
    
36. Worry: Jim watched Juudai as the other stood by the duel disks that marked the graves of his friends; he wanted to think of something to say, but nothing that would dispel the grief in those expressive brown eyes would come, and he dared not say what he wanted to in any other way.
    
37. Whimsy: "Hey, Jim, it's hard to try to write haiku about you! Did you know that there's nothing that rhymes with 'Orichalcos'?"
    
38. Belief: To believe sounded so simple, as if it were something that any child could do; Jim believed in Juudai no matter what, and because of that belief, a miracle happened.
    
39. Virtuous: Virtue and sin were not qualities that Juudai concerned himself with, but if anyone had ever asked him who the most virtuous person he knew was, Jim would certainly have come right to mind.
    
40. Solitary: "What's it like to be alone so much?" The question has been asked of Jim before, but he never considers himself alone; he has Karen, he has friends and phones, and most of all, he has Juudai, who he sees in every shadow.
    
41. Waltz: A duel was somewhat like a dance, each move that one made dependent to a degree on what one's opponent did, yet when Juudai and Jim dueled, both of them felt more like partners than opponents.
    
42. Just: When it comes to dark justice, Juudai deals it out when he must; that is his task and his destiny, and he also enjoys taking the chance to relax with Jim; it's only being just to himself, after all.
    
43. Balcony: Once and a while, Haou stood on the balcony of his castle and looked at Super Fusion; and once in a while, he thought he could catch a glimpse of a single green eye looking back at him.
    
44. Breathing: As each night came and went, Jim found himself staring up into the dark skies, wishing that once again he could hear Juudai's soft breathing beside him; until it had been lost, he hadn't known how much he had grown used to it.
    
45. Share: "Hey, Jim, I brought some fried shrimp! There's enough for both of us...at least I think there is. I'm kind of hungry, now that I think about it. But I can go get more if you want some!"
    
46. Jester: To be the class clown required much more energy than Juudai really felt like putting into anything that wasn't a duel usually, but if something could make Jim laugh, it was worth a try.
    
47. Walking: Jim's ranch contained lots of room for all of his non-human-shaped friends to wander around in, as well as lots of room for Juudai and Jim to walk for as long as they wanted to with one another.
    
48. Blessing: Though only Juudai could see Yubel and only Jim could understand everything Karen said, both Jim and Juudai could tell that their respective guardians gave their blessing to the two of them being together.
    
49. War: "So, once I taught them how to duel, they agreed that it was a lot more fun to settle their differences like that instead of by fighting with tanks and guns," Juudai said, munching into his fried shrimp and waving one towards Jim as he tried to make a point about something else.
    
50. Bane: Jim sat by Karen throughout that entire night, having exhausted every remedy that he knew of and several that he'd just learned; if he found out who had poisoned her, there would be no forgiveness...a fact Juudai agreed with, even after he arrived and brought the healing touch of the Herald of Gentle Darkness: who would not be so gentle to those who had done the deed.
    
    The End