It was rare to have a sliver of quiet, a moment of undoubting peace. There didn't have to be anything worried about. There was no rush to do anything. The warmth in the room lulled the two occupants into staying in the steadfast sleep that blanketed to both of them. Not even the sun peeking through the dark curtains did much to bother either man. A loud chirping, however, was enough to have the shorter of the two crack open one crimson eye.

It sounded like it could have been a bird at first. The more he listened, however, the more coherency poured back into his consciousness, he realized it wasn't a bird. It was a phone. The ringing wasn't from a house phone, that was the only thing Atem was sure of.

He sat up exhaling a breath from his lungs. His skin twitched slightly before settling as he stretched to relieve the sudden anticipation. His eyes moved around the room just trying to drink it all in. There were clothes scattered everywhere. It wasn't completely and totally dirty, but it was messy. So this wasn't his apartment. The body next to him moved, maybe responding to the phone that was still sounding off its call, turning over and pulling the blankets up.

A smile moved over his bruised lips as he observed the blond mop of hair. Slender fingers reached over to card through a few strands before the phone continued to remind him of its annoying presence. He stood from the bed, beginning to trail the sound. Clothes were picked up and tossed in the general area of the hamper. Eventually he found his own, obvious black leather among the bright colored sweatshirts and blue jeans. He slipped into his pants before continuing the search.

"Ah," Finally the little device was pulled from the back pocket of garments of last night. "Hello?" He hadn't even thought to check who it had been. Was that rude? Answering someone else's phone without any consideration at all?

"-...hello," The voice on the other side sounded confused, obviously not expecting this voice. "Listen, I know it's his day off, but we really need Katsuya to come in for just a few hours."

Atem frowned softly with a sigh. "Understood." There wasn't much he could do to fix his blond lover's situation, and not much authority he could insert into a phone conversation with someone he'd never met. So he'd leave it for now, hanging the phone up. It was placed on the nightstand as he sat back on the bed.

The pads of his fingers traced over the lean muscles of Jounouchi's back, spreading over his shoulder and down one arm. The blond barely moved. He really didn't want to wake the sleeping man. Last night's memories trickled in causing a wider smile to come to his lips. "Jounouchi," He whispered, leaning in to nuzzle the side of the man's neck.

"Keh," He sleepily complained. "...Honda not now.."

If it had been a jealous lover facing this situation, they might have paled. But Atem just chuckled with a shake of his head. "Honda, mm? Might you have something to tell me?" He teased, the syllables leaving his lips tracing the shell of the blond's ear.

Honey colored eyes blinked many times, trying to focus on just what was going on. "Nn?"

Atem kissed his cheek. "Sorry to say, but your work called."

"You gotta be kidding me..." The man groaned, sitting up finally and running his hands through his hair.

"And what was that about Honda?"

Those soft colored eyes turned in his direction, blinking yet again as was usual with Jounouchi before he turned his head up and away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

Atem couldn't resist a grin. "Of course you don't."

"Shouldn't you be out dueling Kaiba or something?" He was embarrassed, it was written all over his face and the suddenly tight contours of his back.

"If you insist." He stood and made a motion to leave.

Jounouchi caught his wrist. "Wait- I was just kidding. Don't go duel that jerk just because I said." Even with work on the horizon, he knew he didn't want to have that being the reason Atem left his apartment after last night.

He was met with that timeless stare and that calm disposition followed with that somehow knowing smile. Atem was an enigma that Jounouchi knew he'd never wrap his mind around. But that wouldn't stop him from trying. "Of course I wouldn't duel him just because 'you said'. Do you know what kind of conniption fit he'd have if he knew the only reason I dueled him was because you told me to?" A light joke to ease things.

One that Jounouchi appreciated. He stood with a little awkward pretense, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah, well... It should only take a little while, right? Can I catch you after?"

He understood that his best friend was new to being a lover. Him being embarrassed and awkward about things was only cute though, really. Not that he would be able to label the ever-manly Katsuya Jounouchi as such. He leaned close, placing a hand on the blond's chest and moving upward to kiss his jaw. "Of course."

He made an effort to try and brush the little butterflies in his stomach off as some bad food he'd eaten last night. He was not supposed to feel this way about another guy- About Atem no less! ...but what was done was done, and there was no use hiding it in the small space of his apartment. Still, his movement was stilted as his arm came up to wrap loosely around Atem's shoulders. "Good." His voice was quiet as he bent down just to ease the difference in height to give a kiss to the shorter.

Atem's arms wrapped around his neck, leaning up to press closer into it, a soft sigh. While they were both still learning, while Jounouchi would probably never be openly adoring, while it would take time to ease into being with another man for him, Atem would be around for it all. He wasn't sure just when he'd realized that his best friend was also someone he wanted to love, but he was glad that he'd found it out.

Jounouchi was glad, too.