Yusei finally put the screw wrench down and got up, took the bottle from the table and opened it for the first time since he started working this morning. He hadn't realized until now how thirsty he was, but he wouldn't have been able to take a break either way. Yusei never could let go of a problem until it was solved.
Crow hadn't come back yet, he noticed. If Crow was still working, he should get back to work, too. There still were a holographic TV and a microwave waiting to be repaired this week.
He took a deep draught and as he finally put down the bottle, his mind was already occupied with the interior of a hologram projector and the possible sources for the constant image interferences.

"You're going to work again?"

Yusei looked up to see Jack sitting on the stairs, watching him with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
He was not surprised that he hadn't noticed Jack's arrival, what surprised him more was that Jack wasn't somewhere else. Jack normally didn't hang out at their new home, only if they tried to optimize their D-Wheel for the WRGP - and even then he was sometimes away, telling them afterwards that he forgot.

Yusei nodded and turned back to fetch his tool kit.

"You never go out except for one of your errands, do you."
It wasn't a question, therefore Yusei didn't answer.
"Yusei, you're not in Satellite anymore. You can't live a life this boring here!"

Yusei put the tool kit down. It was this kind of remarks that always made Jack end up in quarrels with Crow, who never got tired of stating that Jack's attitude was way too arrogant for someone who didn't even manage to get a decent job. Yusei said nothing, took a towel to rub the sweat from his neck and went over to the staircase to sit down next to the blond.
There was silence for a moment, when both of them were staring at the organized chaos of Yusei's working place. After a while, Yusei looked at Jack, still waiting for him to say something, but apparently whatever Jack wanted wasn't just an opportunity to complain.

When Jack was getting offensive, it simply meant that he wanted attention and Yusei knew that very well. But he also knew that Jack usually would leave as soon as he realized that Yusei was occupied with his work - he had given up on trying to distract Yusei from his tasks years ago.
So if Jack was here instead of a place in the city where he could pass his time, there was more to it.

"Why aren't you at the shopping district?", Yusei asked quietly. He was willing to lend Jack an ear, as it would be expected of a friend, but he felt drawn back to the technical problems waiting for him and he knew Jack wouldn't say anything without being pushed.
The blond looked at him, a bit surprised that Yusei had started the conversation again.
There had been times when Yusei wouldn't have said anything, but back at these days it also hadn't mattered. Sooner or later, Jack would have solved the problem by pulling him closer and kissing him. Sex seemed to be the answer to any unasked question and the thing that helped them overcome any dissonances.
…They had spent a lot of their time making out.
And it hadn't been a bad thing, Yusei was sure of that. Communicating through body contact had always been a lot easier for both of them and conversations with Jack never led anywhere.

"What do you mean? Do you want to tell me I should go and earn money?" It was easy to tell from Jack's indignation that he had probably spent a lot of time and money at exclusive boutiques, although his whole room upstairs was full with clothes and cosmetics and other luxury goods he still owned from his former life as King.
"I already told you and Crow that it's not my fault I am not made for ordinary work!"
That was something Yusei knew better than anyone else, but it had never bothered him. It still didn't.

Jack's boldness and high-strung attitude were the main reasons why he had been Yusei's first and, in many ways, closest friend. For the introverted boy that didn't talk and never made the first step, Jack, who didn't even know the meanings of the words "personal space" and "awkwardness", had been something very special right from the start. Even now, Yusei still treasured Jack's blunt and ignorant nature, although what once made it so incredibly easy to get along with each other now seemed to make it unusually difficult.

Somehow, they both had changed.

They still were friends, yes, but something was different. Yusei, who had once been unable to sleep soundly without Jack by his side, had managed to get over losing him and learned to live his life without him. Now that he didn't feel like he necessarily needed Jack, he just couldn't feel that attached to him anymore.

As for Jack-…

Yusei's blue eyes followed the lines of Jack's white and grey outfit, the necklace and the A-shaped earrings, where Yusei's attention was drawn to the collar that Jack used to wear nowadays.
Crow often said that the only result of the whole King-business had been that Jack was now completely spoilt and Yusei silently agreed, but he couldn't help to think there had to be more to it than that.

He leaned forward, resting one hand on Jack's leg and let his lips brush the black collar on the other's neck.
This unusually forward move seemed to have caught the blond by surprise, for there was silence except for a barely audible sound as Jack held his breath.
For a second, Yusei felt strange when he smelt the familiar scent as close as in all the nights he had been sleeping in Jack's room, nuzzled against the other's comforting warmth. But the scent was barely noticeable now and mingled with another, more obtrusive smell.
It had to be perfume, probably an expensive one, but that wasn't something Yusei really could distinguish.

He softly kissed the skin below the collar as if to explore that discovery, when he suddenly felt Jack's hands on his hips.
"Yusei…" Jack started, but Yusei didn't want to talk.
Jack was cut short as the black haired boy bit the soft skin on his shoulder and let his hands trail over the taller one's chest, until they found the zipper and immediately started to open it. Yusei couldn't help noticing that it was surprisingly easy to get this unusually formfitting dueling suit off of Jack's body.
As he was about to pull the white shirt up that Jack was wearing underneath, the other suddenly got hold of his wrist. Yusei looked up in Jack's eyes, his expression completely calm, apparently unaware of the reason why Jack's astonishment had suddenly switched to anger.

"You're still wearing your dirty gloves! Take them off!", the blond told him, obviously insulted that Yusei even considered touching him with the soiled brown leather.

For the first time, there was a hint of a smile on Yusei's lips, before he let his other hand slip in Jack's hair and pulled him closer into a kiss to finally prevent him from talking. The former King didn't object this time, although the oily fingers were now buried in his soft blond hair. On the contrary - Jack responded even more demanding to the kiss, his tongue forcing its way in the other's mouth while one of his hands was sliding up Yusei's back to have more control.
Before he could get too far, Yusei moved his leg between Jack's so he could slowly press his knee against the blond's crotch where his suit seemed even tighter than usual. He immediately got a low moan as an answer. Yusei would have smiled at this if he hadn't been busy with letting his tongue slip in the blond's mouth so that he could get more of these deep groans that Jack wasn't even trying to hold back.

Apparently, he still knew Jack well enough to know what the blond really needed, even if Jack was harder to read now.
But somehow, even after leading a completely different life for over two years, he was still an open book if you spoke the right language - and there had always been only one language that Jack really understood.

Yusei roughly pulled the suit from Jack's shoulders, only far enough to have an easy access to his upper body, leaving it up to Jack to free his arms if he could. He broke the kiss and grabbed Jack's shoulder, pushing the blond back against the stairs and moved his leg so that he was on top of him, straddling the taller one's hips.
Slowly, he moved his hand under the clean white shirt and shoved it upward, leaving oily black streaks on the pale skin where his gloved fingers had touched it.
Jack hissed at the contact, but even though he surely didmind, he seemed too captivated by watching the gloved hand soiling his perfectly tended skin to protest right now. As Yusei's hand moved higher, Jack bit his lip and turned his head, only feeling the fingers softly stroking patterns on his chest.
As Yusei bent down to kiss the blond's ear, his own erection brushed against Jack's and he heard him moan in response, although this time Jack had probably tried to suppress it.

"I'm sorry", the dark haired boy said softly. "I maybe got you a bit dirty…"

He softly bit Jack's earlap as if to apologize and slowly grinded his hips against the one's between his legs, savouring the welcome feeling of the hard erection against his own. A slight moan escaped his lips as Jack immediately pressed even harder against him. By now, the former King's groaning sounded so needy that Yusei almost felt his pain, literally, as it made him get rock hard.

"Yusei…!"

The younger one drew in a sharp breath, as the other's hips didn't stop moving against his and caused his erection to ache painfully with each contact. Jack had his eyes half closed and bent his body so willingly beneath him as if he was lying on satin bed sheets instead of having the metal of the stairs cutting in his back. Yusei could see how Jack's tongue tip brushed his parted lips, making it obvious how his own deep moans turned him on.
Yusei suddenly had to swallow hard.

Fuck, Jack was so horny that it was impossible not to want him right on the spot…

Yusei got up. "Turn around", he said simply, while pulling off his brown gloves and waiting for Jack to do what was necessary to get on with the procedure.
There was a faint sign of red on the pale skin as Jack now glared at him, obviously scowling at the way Yusei treated him. "I don't need you to order me around!", he declared. "And I can get out of this myself."
He freed himself from the sleeves of the suit, pulled the shirt over his head and threw it away carelessly. Without turning his gaze from Yusei's, he laid back on the stairs to present his half naked body and Yusei could see a smug grin appearing on Jack's lips as he studied his reaction. "You want me, Yusei." It was easy to catch from his tone how much this obvious discovery seemed to please Jack. "But so do many others. You have to earn yourself the prerogative…" Jack casually let his right hand trail over the well-trained muscles of his chest and abdomen. "…of touching me."

His arrogance was unbelievable, but neither this nor the deliberate denial he seemed to be in since he had lost his status as an idol was of any importance now. Yusei had decided to solve the problem the same way Jack had always done it, and he knew how to deal with Jack when it came to physical interaction.
He ignored the pain of his still trapped erection and bowed down to softly touch the other's cheek. Jack seemed a bit irritated by his action, but he did not object at once. "I will have to touch you to do what it requires to satisfy you, Jack", Yusei said quietly, holding the blond's gaze.
Before Jack could figure out what exactly Yusei was aiming at, the smaller one was above him, kneeling on the stair with one leg placed right next to Jack's shoulder and suddenly, he felt the sharp pain of Yusei's fingers grabbing him by his hair and pulling him up.

"Fuck! Yusei!" Jack immediately tried to free himself from the grip, but Yusei had him straddled again, only this time with his crotch right in front of Jack's face. "Don't you ever dare to pull on my hair like that again!"

But Yusei wasn't in the condition to be any gentler, even if he'd wanted to.
"Jack. I need it", he said simply, and this confession made the blond shut up immediately as his attention got drawn to something much more important. Suddenly, Yusei felt Jack's hand on his leg, sliding up slowly, while Jack lifted his head a bit to let his lips slowly caress the tight fabric before him.
Yusei's breathe quickened when he felt the soft touch of these lips moving against his crotch and he heard Jack's low voice whisper with a slight hint of appreciation:

"You got this hard from watching me…"

There was the faint, warm sensation of a tongue licking slowly over the tight bulge and suddenly, Yusei gasped as he felt Jack's teeth through the fabric, biting only just so hard to test his reaction.

"Open it", Jack demanded, looking up to him and obviously waiting for his wish to be fulfilled.

As Yusei obeyed, it felt like he wouldn't have been able to bear it any longer. It was a good thing that Jack already held onto Yusei's upper leg to pull himself up, for the dark haired boy suddenly felt rather weak as the warmth of Jack's lips began to close around the tip of his cock. He hadn't even time to prepare for what Jack could be about to do to him when all of sudden there was the wet hotness of Jack's tongue circling his tip, teasing him on spots he had not even known to be this sensitive.
Yusei had to grasp to the metal bars of the stairs above him to prevent himself from falling over.

Jack was not only impatient and therefore didn't bother with taking it slowly, there was also something about the way his tongue pressed against Yusei's hardness as his head started rocking back and forth to let it slide in again and again, the way he sucked on him as if he wanted to taste Yusei's last drip and the way he let his saliva run down Yusei's shaft, that clearly showed he knew exactly what he wanted and that there was not the slightest chance that he wouldn't get it.

Yusei only vaguely noticed that saliva was dripping from his lips now, but he couldn't help it.
All that the black haired boy was able to do was cling on to the stairs and grab Jack's head so he could move deeper inside this unbearable warmth, while just hearing Jack's gagged moans and feeling Jack's hands on his ass, clenching more to him with every move he made, was enough to get him so close…
He thrust inside the blond's mouth once more and with a breathless gasp, he came. It took him a few deep breaths to realize that he had pressed his forehead against one of the metal edges of the stair and that his fingers were still clinging with a painfully strong grip onto Jack's hair.

"…sorry", Yusei said as he slowly got up, using the stair railing as support.

Jack sat up a bit to rub the back of his head, where it apparently had hit the edge of the stair, and shot a glaring look at him. "You better should be. Pay attention the next time you try to fuck me in my mouth like that!"

But as sulky as Jack appeared to be, there was something about the way he used his fingers to wipe the remains of Yusei's cum from his mouth that made Yusei sure that Jack actually felt quite pleased. After all, making the usually so silent and reserved boy lose control like this was not something anyone could accomplish.
But Jack couldn't be satisfied yet, not even for the moment. Yusei believed that Jack had gotten so used to his needs to be taken care of that his body had to be craving for it by now.
And he probably owed Jack so much to give him at least a bit of the life he was used to lead.

Without further hesitation, he got hold of Jack's belt and quickly let two fingers slip under the collar.
Just as Jack was about to struggle, Yusei pulled him back with the collar, effectively choking the blond to make him skip the obligatory discussion before obeying.
He could hear Jack's gagging noises close to his ear, but he was focused on getting those tight trousers off of Jack's hip. As expected, the blond didn't really struggle anymore - for some reason, he even didn't try to free himself from the choking grip, Yusei noticed. But as his arm brushed Jack's now freed erection, he didn't wonder anymore.
Yusei simply concluded that the King had preferred his sexual intercourse to be quite rough during the two years of his reign. And if that was the case, he shouldn't go too easy on him, either.
Yusei let go of the collar to force Jack around while he was still coughing and gasping for breath, barely able to hold himself up by grasping to the metal grit in front of him. In an almost apologetic gesture, Yusei slowly let his hand wander over Jack's shoulders and further down his back, feeling the tensed muscles under the smooth, well-attended skin that was now scarred with red streaks where the metal had cut in. The dark haired boy let his fingers run through the hair on Jack's neck and his other hand had started to caress the outline of Jack's thigh, getting closer to the part of his body that desperately needed attention.

There was still one thing that hadn't changed over these years and Yusei was surprised to discover that it almost hurt a bit to allow himself admit this. Just when Yusei's fingers closed around Jack's blond hair, causing Jack to arch his back and he saw the muscles working under the no longer perfect porcelain skin, it hit him with an unexpected force.

…Jack was still beautiful.

So beautiful that it could make his heart ache, if only for an instance.

Yusei let his hand slide between Jack's legs. There was still a task before him, he reminded himself.
As he heard Jack's breathless moan, he wasn't too surprised to feel that his cock was already sticky with precum, or maybe even more, as much as the previous blowjob seemed to have turned Jack on.
When he let his wet fingers slide up Jack's backside and he quickly applied some of the wetness to be able to start preparing him, there was suddenly Jack's hand on his.

"Stop playing around, Yusei …!", Jack managed to get out, his voice shaky from the effort of keeping it under control. "Get it on already…"
Yusei felt a sudden aching in his stiffened cock and he knew that if he hadn't been hard enough by now, Jack's hoarse voice, breathing his name and this not-so-well hidden plea, would have done the rest.

Despite Jack word's, Yusei entered him slowly. He preferred not to rush things - even now, when the tightness of Jack's ass was driving him as close to the edge as the fact that Jack never even tried to hold his moaning back. He assumed the former King knew exactly what effect his deep voice had on others when he made no secret of the pleasure every proof for his obvious irresistibility was giving him.

But as much as Yusei would have liked to teach Jack a lesson in patience, his body already started moving on his own. Before he knew it, he was thrusting into Jack, his fingers digging in the skin on Jack's hips and on Jack's shoulder, and he felt Jack's body tense beneath him as the blond tried to hold himself up to be able to move against him.

"Yusei…!", he heard Jack cry hoarsely, in between his groaning and his occasional breathed "Fuck".

"… Yusei…!"

Yusei started to move in deeper, just to hear his name again and again, his hands were slipping away under the harsh movements and he had to hold onto Jack even tighter. He couldn't keep himself up anymore, so his body was now moving close to Jack's, brushing his skin now and then, and it felt as if Jack would respond to his rhythm, letting him slide in faster and harder.

Everything around him was becoming unfocused, except for Jack's voice and his own heavy breathing - he had no control anymore. This sensation was getting so strong; it made him almost feel as if he had to burst as he saw no way to let it out.
All he could do was to let it out on Jack, and he did, while he heard himself make sounds that sounded faintly like Jack's loud moans and which he hadn't heard from himself for almost three years.

As he felt that he couldn't take it anymore, Yusei bit in the flesh before him, causing Jack to gasp his name even louder.
Jack's back arched beneath him as Yusei let his forehead rest on the blond's shoulder. So close to Jack's skin, he could hear his own breath even louder, when he felt Jack tense around him as he reached his climax.
While catching his breath, Yusei realized that he hadn't expected this to work out so well. He had wanted to do Jack a favour, but he had not thought that this would end in their bodies being so synchronized as if there wasn't any distance between them.
For a moment, he found himself listening to Jack's heavy breathing. It was the most comfortable silence they had shared since they had started calling each other "friend" again.

"Jack…", the black haired boy said softly and swiftly kissed the sweaty skin beneath him, where his teeth had left some marks. Then he slowly started to get up. There were still machines waiting to be repaired and neither Jack nor Yusei liked to stress the softer moments too much.
If everything was said and done, it was time to move on.

Yusei had started looking for tissues to clean himself up and then closed his trousers, without paying too much attention to Jack's groans as he was probably getting up.

"Damn it, Yusei", Jack scolded him. "Look what you have done to my skin! And I don't believe that motor oil will do it any good, either."

But Yusei was not really listening anymore, as he had picked up his tool kit and knelt down to start opening the hologram projector. Though he couldn't help but to smile a bit as he heard Jack make a grumpy noise that he always did when he wanted to let everybody know that he was now officially sulking.

The door slammed open and Yusei assumed that it had to be Crow - especially as the newcomer started complaining, as soon as he had entered the repair shop.
"Oh man, you are lucky that you didn't have to drive to the city right now! The highway is like hell on Friday evenings, I tell ya!"
Crow came down the ramp and threw his helmet on a bunch of old clothes that Yusei used to clean his tools.
"There was this idiot with his pimped D-Wheel trying to outrace me-…"

Suddenly, there was a short silence.
"What the-…", Crow started, as he regained his voice, and Yusei turned his head to see the source of his outrage.
Apparently, Jack had now completely undressed himself because he didn't see the point in soiling his suit even more.

"JACK! Put some clothes on, goddamnit!", Crow yelled at the blond. The small boy could get quite loud when it came to Jack, who never failed to occasionally freak the hell out of him.
Jack, however, somehow managed to give the impression that he hadn't heard him at all.

"I am going to shower", he explained to the general public and went up the stairs, leaving his riding suit hanging over the stair railing.

When Jack and his naked glory were finally out of sight, Crow sighed and took Yusei's water bottle from the table.
"Seriously, what's wrong with that guy", he went on ranting, as soon as he was done drinking. "I mean, there could have been customers comin' in!"
Yusei didn't think it was necessary to explain to his friend that there would have been a considerably bigger problem if a customer had entered the garage just a few minutes ago.

"Anyway, I'll get me somethin' to eat", Crow decided and Yusei heard him heading for the stairs. "D'you want me to fetch ya somethin-… Eew, what's that?"
It was this second that Yusei realized he should have probably cleaned up the stairs. He didn't look up, though, as he really didn't know what to say. Crow's discovery had to be pretty much self-explanatory.
For a moment, Crow seemed to be unsure what to make of this, until he finally settled for a sigh. "You know what? I think I don't wanna know, just do me favour and… clean this, y'know", he mumbled before he quickly made his way upstairs.

Yusei got up to do what Crow had asked him to. He was glad that Crow hadn't been in the mood to discuss this and knew enough about the relationship between Jack and him to just refrain from asking questions no one would be able to answer.
Crow wouldn't understand Yusei's reasons either way, even if Yusei had been able to explain them.
He knew Crow would have called Jack a slut. But that wasn't the whole truth.
In fact, Jack just needed attention - a lot of attention - for everything he was doing, no matter what it was.

As Yusei started separating the parts of the processor, he thought that although they all had difficulties with adjusting to their new lives, Jack probably had the hardest time of the three of them.
While this was an opportunity for Yusei and Crow, the chance for a better life they had always hoped for, Jack had lost all he had hoped to gain in Neo Domino and it had to be hard to accept this fall.
On the other hand, he had of course regained two old friends of his, but Yusei knew that had to be only a small comfort to him.
Yusei was confident, though, that if they made it through the WRGP, they all would be able to find a place in this new city they could be satisfied with.
And maybe then things would change - not back to how they used to be, but perhaps it would satisfy Jack in a way that would make Yusei feel able to rely on him, without the fear of being turned down for Jack's ambitions again.
Although Yusei had the feeling that he and Jack were about to arrange quite well to their current situation.

He found his thoughts confirmed as Jack decided the next day to interrupt his work on the microwave in order to do him on the half finished D-Wheel.