I take a lot of inspiration from just the musings in my daily life with my husband. Enjoy.
"Atem!.. Atem!.. Atem!" Mana whispered to her sleeping friend. He groaned, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep once she decided it was time for him to wake up.
"Mana, it's a Saturday." He moaned, rolling over to face away from her, throwing a pillow over his head.
"Yes but it's move in day!" She exclaimed, running to the other side of the bed and lifting the pillow off of him. "Wake up! I've already had coffee and showered and gotten ready!"
"What did I tell you about drinking coffee Mana…" He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. She opened the curtain with a woosh, filling the room with bright morning light.
"Agh, why Mana." He grumbled. When he did this to her, she would whine and carry on till he let her sleep again but she would not be so merciful about it with him. Mana could be relentless.
She poked his forehead. "Can you wake up please." She said in a sickening sweet voice. He opened one eye to look at her big puppy expression. How could he ever say no to her when she was really that damn cute.
She got under the covers curling up to his side. Atem blushed, although they had shown affection in this way before, something had changed in the way he felt about her.
"Blech gross your breath smells like death!" She struggled away from the bed but he grabbed her arm, pulling her in and breathing on her face, causing her to scream.
"You're an animal!" She ran out of the room. "Two minutes or else!" She yelled from another room.
He let his head fall back onto the pillow, yawning. The clock read 7:17am. He groaned, wobbling out of bed to the bathroom to get ready. He could hear Mana sitting on the couch, talking to Tuna, his cat. Mana loved all animals, but she especially loved cats. He could hear her reaching for the cat food and pouring him a bowl of kibble. Why did she have to be so cute.
He was starting to think Mana moving into his apartment with Yugi was a bad idea after all. They had agreed to the arrangement months ago, before these very inconvenient feelings flared up. Now he would be with her most hours of the day. Seeing her walking around in her bathrobe, the smell of her shampoo in the bathroom after she showered, her laughter filling the apartment. He shook his head, spitting out the toothpaste from his mouth. Cmon Atem, get it together. Mana is your best friend, like a sister. These feelings are just a phase. He nodded, trying to convince himself of his thoughts. If he just willed the feelings away, maybe they would disappear.
As he was about to hop into the shower he heard a door open and Mana exclaim something, though muffled by the sound of the running water. He shrugged and got in, maybe it was Yugi, but why would he be up so early?
He walked out of the bathroom in a towel, ready to have some of that coffee Mana talked about.
"Oh! Hey Atem! You might wanna put on some more clothes." He peeked his head around the corner and blushed , it was Tea.
"Uh, hey Tea." He waved awkwardly, only his upper torso visible from where she was. "Did you just get here?"
"Uh." She laughed uncomfortably, rubbing her neck. "No I was.. um.. I was here last night.. heh…"
Mana looked at him with a wild face, he knew a million thoughts were running through her head and he was sure to hear all about it once Tea left.
"Oh, I see. Well I better get dressed..." He was glad to have an excuse to leave. He passed by Yugi's room, to find him passed out, the blanket only covering half of what appeared to be his naked body... Atem snickered. Finally.
He came back dressed to the living room to find Mana alone. Her eyes grew big and her mouth dropped open with a big smile as he entered.
"Oh my god, Atem! Yugi and Tea! She totally spent the night with him!" She squealed.
"Mana shh!" He hissed, bringing his fingers to her mouth. She licked them, laughing. He felt his skin heat a little, she never understood what these small things did to him.
"Ugh Mana be quiet! Yugi's door is open and you might wake him." He whispered. Just then he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Too late.
"Quickly let's leave!" Atem rushed Mana out the door, not wanting to confront Yugi about his night with Tea.
"Atem are you kidding me?! I need to talk to Yugi-"
"Mana, do you want pancakes for breakfast?" Atem asked, closing the door and locking it hastily. Luckily for him, Mana was easily distracted. This was especially true by the promise of a sugary breakfast.
"Oh! Can we get the birthday cake ones that I saw on TV? They have sprinkles in them!" She said with the biggest smile on her face.
Too easy. "Sure Mana."
They walked in the direction of the breakfast cafe, Mana practically skipping. The morning light was bouncing off her bronze skin, her hair shone like a halo over her head. Atem smiled warmly looking at his beautiful friend. She glanced back, catching him for a second gazing at her.
"Why are you staring at me you weirdo?" She said in her signature sing songy voice.
Atem blushed, pulling his eyes away quickly. "Nothing, you just look different." He said, immediately feeling like a clown.
"Do I look like your new roommate?!" She said with a particularly high skip, smiling wildly. Mana had been dying to move out of Mahad's place, he kept such a close watch on her. He only allowed her to move in with Atem and Yugi cause "Atem will care for you like
I do. He's practically your brother anyway."
Mana swung the door open to the breakfast place and pranced in. After placing her order, she manically watched every plate that came by her, hoping it would be hers and visibly disappointed when it wasn't. "They're taking so long!" She whined.
"Mana, it has only been 5 minutes since we ordered." She pouted her lips together, something she had done plenty of times but this time it made his heart race. Had they always been that pink and supple?
She took a gulp of coffee, her second cup that day. He would allow it, they would need all the energy for the move today. Finally, the waitress brought of the pancakes after a whole 15 minutes.
"Yes!" Mana exclaimed, immediately diving into the stacks of rainbow sprinkled goodness. Atem had gotten an omelet and breakfast potatoes. He wasn't much into sugary breakfast food, it made his stomach hurt. He watched her excitedly eat the pancakes, randomly cutting slices and shoving them into her mouth. He found it oddly cute. Why did all the things she did suddenly make him feel warm inside?
He looked down at his food, slowly eating. "So Mana." He started, trying to distract his own thoughts. "What is going to be your favorite part about living with us?"
Mana looked up, face full of food. She took a big gulp of coffee to swallow down her breakfast and gave a small burp. "Oh my gosh! Excuse me."
Atem looked at her, pretending to be annoyed. Oh cmon Atem, you can't even start to think her belching is cute can you?
"Well, I love that it'll be a sleep over everyday!" She forked into another piece of pancake, hardly any left now.
"Well, I guess it will be." He mumbled, trying not to think about Mana curling up next to him late at night. She had no idea what those innocent gestures did to his insides.
"And we can make pancakes, everyday!" She grinned.
He smiled back at her. "Mahad would not be happy with me if I let that happen."
"Well I'll eat those protein ones that Yugi makes! They're healthy." She said, chewing her food. Yugi had been working out a lot recently and it showed. Tea, he guessed took notice as well.
They finished their food and left, Atem tipping the waitress extra for having put up with Mana's manic behavior.
First stop was to go to Mahad's place and put all her stuff in his car. They only lived a few blocks away, but it would have been a little too much for them to carry by hand. "Hi Mahad" Atem smiled, hoping he wouldn't see something in his eyes that gave away his true feelings towards Mana. Mahad was so protective of his sister.
"Hi Atem, good luck trying to move all of her stuff. I tried but it's hard to sort the junk from the actual stuff."
"Oh hush it's not that bad." Mana said defensively. Atem knew otherwise though, he had seen her room. Even more of a mess than it usually was, stuff was strung all around. Some trash was littered throughout, dirty or clean clothes on the floor, lots of posters and pictures all over the walls. A few of her and Atem actually, that made him smile. The rest made him cringe.
"Mana, you can't live like this with us.." he sighed. Why was she like this.
"No it'll be different this time, I just need you to help me sort through the trash from the stuff I need to keep!" Mana said with a confident smile. " Really!"
They started with the stuff on the floor. Trash outright was thrown away, clothes were folded and stored in boxes for moving, things she barely used were thrown out. Actually, it was going faster than he figured it would. He looked under her bed, more clothes, an empty water bottle and something pink.. A notebook? He gently took it into his hand. Mana was going through clothes in the corner, trying to decide what she still liked and not paying attention.
Atem knew he really shouldn't, but he couldn't help but thumb through her pink journal. It was up to date, an entry was just from this past week. Atem, you cannot do this. He thought as he read it quickly anyway before she noticed.
"This week I am moving in with Atem and Yugi… bla bla bla. Okay here we go… I wonder how things will change between Atem and I? He had gotten so handsome recently, I wonder if staying this close will make me-"
"Hey!" Mana exclaimed suddenly, causing Atem to nearly drop the book. "I forgot I had this dress!" Mana pulled out a red sundress. He breathed a sigh of relief and threw the book back under the bed. He felt guilt come over him for violating her privacy by that, but also.. Did she really write that she thought he was handsome? He blushed and looked off into the distance, zoning out completely.
"Hey! Atem!" She snapped her fingers in his face, bringing his attention back to earth. He was startled out of his romantic thoughts, brought sharply back into focus as he realized Mana had changed into that red dress. "What do you think?" She asked cheerfully, doing a twirl. She looked incredible. The red color really made the blue in her eyes pop, the fabric clinging to her curves in a way that made Atem's skin feel hot all over. He could feel his heart start to race with excitement that he had a hard time concealing.
"Wow." He finally let out, rubbing his neck and trying not to look extremely taken by her appearance.
"Thanks!" She said smiling, likely oblivious to his reaction. "Now where were we?"
"Uh, well we're almost done. We just need to pack up all the remaining stuff in boxes and load your mattress on top of the car." He welcomed the change in subject.
"Oh my gosh and then I'll be free from Mahad! Eek!" She squealed, hurriedly putting her things in the boxes. Surprisingly, nearly everything was boxed up between the two of them.
"Let me measure the bed to make sure it'll fit on the car Mana." He said.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh Atem you always have to have a plan, just throw it on top and move really, really slowly!"
Atem didn't listen as he began to size the mattress with his tape measure. "You know you dork, it's a twin size. You can just google the dimensions." Atem suddenly felt dumb as he lifted the tape from where he was crouched down, catching Mana's dress and accidentally swinging it upwards to flash her panties. Atem felt his soul nearly leave his body as a rush of blood flooded his face, making him bright red.
"Mana I.. I didn't mean to." He struggled to speak as his mind shifted between the vision of Mana's skimpy black panties and the humiliation of actually using a measuring tape on a mattress.
Mana laughed though, blushing deeply herself. "It's okay Atem I guess we should get even closer now than we're going to be roommate huh." Atem blinked. What did she mean by that?
"Wow Mana I'm sorry. Jeez." He shook his head.
"Really it's fine, I think all the boxes are ready to be taken down to the car now." She grabbed a big box and hurried down. He kicked himself inside. What an idiot.
Finally, all the boxes were loaded up into the car. After all the garbage and hoarded stuff she didn't need, Mana really wasn't in possession of too many things. It was enough though to fill up every part of the car except the driver's seat.
"Well how am I supposed to drive with you to the apartment?" She asked.
"Uh, well you could-"
"I know! I'll sit on your lap while you drive." She interrupted.
"I don't know about that Mana." Atem could only picture her black panties sitting in his lap, the rest of her nude. Oh god Atem you have to stop. He was turning himself on.
"Hey! Let's go!" Mana yelled from the car. They had done this before and it wasn't weird, he wasn't sure he'd be able to not be weird this time aroundl. Especially after what had happened moments earlier. He would have to try though.
"Okay I'm coming Mana." He hoped he wasn't coming across as too awkward.
He lowered himself behind the steering wheel, trying to really appear normal. He knew this was dangerous, but he was only going a few blocks. It would be fine, he told himself.
Mana hopped onto his lap, he felt his eyes nearly roll into the back of his head with pleasure as her butt bounced on his crotch, trying to get comfortable. "You're so bony Atem!" She torted, the irony not lost on him.
"Uh, sorry." Was all he could muster out, his voice nearly cracking. He cleared his throat. It would be hard to drive like this. Hard. Ha. He laughed at his situation a little in his head. Brushing her brunette hair to the side so he could see at least somewhat, he thought he noticed her shiver a little down her spine. He wrapped his arms around her and placed them on the steering wheel in front of him, trying to not focus on her breasts that were resting slightly on his arms.
"Okay I'm going to put this in reverse, let me know if you see anything I don't." She nodded.
"Woo! Here we go!" He could hear the smile in her voice. The short trip to the apartment they would share was tortuous for Atem. Every bump, every stop, every shift in Mana's weight on his lap caused him pleasure that was nearly agonizing to not act on. He stifled a moan here, bit his lip trying to calm himself and all of that while driving an over filled car with limited vision. By the time the car came to a stop and she got out, he sighed heavily looking at his crotch. Why was his body betraying him like this?
They managed to get all her stuff unpacked put away. It took hours, much longer than they anticipated. By the time everything was finished being sorted away, evening had come. "Atem I am so hungry." She moaned. "And exhausted." She flung herself onto the couch next to him, resting her feet in his lap.
"Do you want me to order pizza?" He asked, moving her feet off of him.
"Oh yes! That's a thing right, ordering pizza after you move in." She said putting her feet back on his lap.
"Uh, I think so." Once again shoving her feet off as he opened his phone and placed an order for the pizza he knew they always got. Atem liked olives and pepperoni. Mana, a vegetarian for the sake of the animals got mushrooms and jalapeños.
"Done. Should be here in 30 minutes." He said, wondering what was on Netflix.
"Oh yay!" She put her feet back on his lap.
"Mana! Gross." He lied, he didn't find them gross but also was getting uncomfortable with Mana touching him so much. Or rather, uncomfortable with how much he enjoyed it.
She lifted a foot to his nose, causing him to squirm. Okay now that's gross. "Mana! Stop!" He pushes her foot away as the other one tickled his side. Dammit, she was the only one who knew how ticklish he was. He giggled in a way that he never did, he hated it. It made Mana shriek with laughter to torture him in this way.
"Mana!... please!.. Mana stop!" He said between laughter. Mana did stop for a second, but only to come at him with her hands now. Atem fell backward as Mana nearly came on top, tickling him without mercy. "Mana!" He yelled, finally grabbing both her hands and stopping her. She held herself steady on top of him, her face just a mere inches from his. She giggled softly.
"Sorry, it's just too easy." She said in a small voice. Was she blushing? She was. "Atem let me go!" Realizing that he was still holding her wrists, he let go as she came back to sitting next to him. She had a weird smile on her face that he hadn't seen before.
He put on a mindless show on Netflix on to dissipate the tension. After an episode or so, the pizza arrived. Mana ate it, strangely quiet. He couldn't tell if she was just that hungry or if something was on her mind.
"Do you want to watch something else." He asked, waiting for a response so he could scan her feelings.
"Actually I'm pretty tired, I think I'll sleep." She said. He looked at the clock, it was late after all.
"But Mana, we never got your bed." It was still laying there in her empty room. The only thing he didn't want to add to the hazard he had drove earlier.
"Ugh. I'll sleep here on the couch then." Atem looked at the couch, it definitely belonged to a couple of single guys. He remember they got it from a curbside dumpster, it was quite literally someone's garbage.
"No, don't sleep here. This couch is gross. I'll sleep here. You take my bed." Atem had a comfortable queen sized bed after all, and it was the nice thing to do.
Mana blinked a few times, taking longer to reply than her usual self. "Uh, okay sure.." he heard the unease in her voice.
"Unless you want me to go get the bed from Mahad's real fast?.." he offered.
"No it's okay I'm tired now. I'll just sleep in your bed for tonight. Goodnight and thanks so much for helping me move." She sounded like something was bothering her.
"Mana, is everything okay?" Atem asked.
"What? Yeah yeah of course! I'm just tired." She gave a small smile. "Goodnight Atem." And hurried to his bedroom.
She is acting odd. He thought but tried to get himself comfortable on their seedy couch. He turned back and forth on the little room he had, bringing the blanket up to his head, only to get hot and take it off. He couldn't stop thinking about Mana and it was making him angry with himself. Her smile, her laugh, how she looked in her dress. The way her butt felt on his lap. Stop Atem, this is totally inappropriate. He jerked around to look at the clock, nearly an hour had past. He groaned. Was every night going to be like this now?
"Can't sleep either?" Came Mana's voice from the hallway. She was in her pajamas.
"Hey!" She startled him. "What are you doing awake?" He tried to sound like he had not been having dirty thoughts about her for the past hour.
"I can't sleep. Will you sleep next to me, just for tonight." She asked with her puppy dog face. Oh god, not that face.
"'Well, okay Mana." He didn't think he would sleep better next to her if just the same apartment made him crazy.
"Oh thanks Atem!" She ran into his bedroom. He gulped. This was going to be awkward for him. As he walked into his room she was sitting up in bed, he immediately noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra. It made his heart pound. Why did she have to do this to me? Why did I have to fall for my best friend?
He got into bed as far away from her as possible. "Goodnight, please sleep now okay?" He patted her head gently. She looked up at him with bright eyes and nodded. "Close your eyes now…" she pouted but obeyed.
Atem too closed his eyes, but sleep still evaded him. He tossed and turned on the bed as softly as he could, trying not to wake a sleeping Mana. It seemed like at least 30 minutes passed, and he wasn't sleeping anytime soon. Frustrated, he grabbed his phone to check the time.
"I still can't sleep either." Mana suddenly said, breaking the silence.
Atem jumped. "Why not?"
"I don't know I just can't. Can you massage my head?" She asked. Atem used to do this thing when they were kids. Whenever she was stressed he would run his fingers through her hair and massage her scalp, it was like the reset button for Mana. Now, a part of him liked the idea of being able to have a reason to touch her, but another part of him screamed not to. He didn't listen to that side as he reached his hand to her head, coming closer to where she lay on the bed. He ran his fingers through her silky hair as he felt the air on his arms stand up. Stop it body! He commanded, feeling like a fool.
He instantly felt her relax under his hand as he massaged her scalp gently. Every now and then she would let out the smallest moan, and it did things to him that he hated. He felt her move even closer as he had to reach further to get the other side of her head. She kept moving closer even, till she was practically laying on his chest. Atem could feel himself get excited and he knew she could hear his heart beating fast in his chest. He tried to at least control his breathing but he was failing at that too. The smell of her hair right below him, his free hand remained tightly at his side. He was trying to focus on the poster of duel monsters on his wall to distract him for the burning pleasure he was ignoring in his pajama pants. He wondered for a moment if she was feeling this too.
Suddenly, Mana turned on her side, pulling Atem into a spooning position. He shuddered as he felt his midsection almost bump into her. That was dangerously close. "Mana, what are you doing" He whispered into her ear. As much as he loved feeling her body press into his, he couldn't take it for much longer.
"I don't know." She replied quietly, taking his hand in hers.
Oh my god. Atem thought. She moved her butt into his midsection and grinded a little into his crotch. He struggled to keep a moan stifled.
"Mana…" He whispered, not sure what else to say. She turned her head to look at him, the moonlight made her eyes look like they were dancing. They held the gaze for a few moments, each one more tense than the next. He felt a strong urge to break the tension but he didn't dare make a move. Mana slowly turned to face him, she moved a lock of his blonde hair behind his ear and brushed his lips with her thumb. "You know Atem, one thing you're really bad at is acting." She whispered in a seductive manner he had never heard before.
Resting her hand on his cheek, she let out a small whimper and pressed her lips into his. Atem felt fireworks explode all over his body, his lips tingling and his heart threatening to burst out of his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer, kissing her wildly. They broke apart to come up for air, both breathing heavily.
"Woah." Mana said. He knew it was serious when Mana had few words to say.
"Woah." He repeated, focusing on her lips. His entire body felt like it was tingling, the taste of her still on his mouth. He wanted more, going back in to kiss her again. She returned his kisses, and he felt a tug on his shirt. He pulled away enough to hear her whisper "take this off" in his ear. He stopped, knowing where this could be headed.
"Mana, no, we can't do that tonight." He breathed. Mana said nothing, he knew she knew he was right. "Let not kiss anymore Mana, we should talk about this in the morning." As much as he definitely did want to kiss more, he thought they deserved to at least talk about their feelings before proceeding with the night.
Mana smiled, he knew she agreed. "I won't be able to sleep though. Especially now." Atem laughed, neither would he. He wrapped Mana up and kissed her forehead. "Try Mana."
"I lied earlier. This is my favorite part about being your roommate." Mana said softly, nuzzling his neck.
Eventually all that caffeine and sugar must have left her body, because she passed out in his arms just minutes later. He drank in the moment, thinking that being roommates with Mana was actually a very good idea after all.