Author Notes: I feel like this concept (i.e. couples yoga) is more suited to fanart than fanfics, but since I can't draw humans to save my life, I wrote a story about it. If you want to draw them doing couples yoga, though, I'd love to see it! Don't ask me how Mana is in the modern timeline, because I don't care enough to come up with an explanation for a one-shot. Enjoy and please review!
Mana panted softly as she flopped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling as she let her limbs rest. Ryou flopped onto the yoga mat beside her, panting a little too.
"I think we're getting better at this," he commented before pushing himself up and leaning on one elbow so that he could smile down at her. "We've never held that last pose so long before."
"You're getting stronger," she observed with a blush, which clearly pleased him.
"You're getting more flexible," he observed in return, leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss as his free hand dropped to her waist. Her crop top left her abdomen bare, allowing him to rub little circles over her skin with his thumb as they kissed.
Giggling, Mana broke the kiss and exclaimed, "Ryou! I told you, no messing around on the yoga mats!"
"It's just a kiss," he defended innocently, pushing himself up into a sitting position and standing up before holding out his hands to help her do the same. Mana grunted as she felt her sore muscles ache from the movement. Ryou pulled her against him and kissed her again, but this time, she yielded more easily, leaning into him as he helped her keep her balance. She put her arms around his neck as their kiss deepened, his arms comfortably resting around her waist.
"Are you up for a shower?" Ryou asked, one eyebrow raised as mischief danced in his eyes.
"Hm, I was more in the mood for a bath." She winked at him as she twirled a loose strand of his white hair around her finger.
"Really?"
A half hour later, they were snuggled together in a hot bath, the water easing their sore muscles as they took turns washing each other's hair. They'd done this a few times before since moving in together three months ago.
Mana was the best thing that could have happened to him, and he'd told her so, not for the first time, just last week. Ryou loved her sunny disposition and her optimism. He could have easily slid into deep depression after he was freed from the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. The only reason he hadn't was because he had Mana.
As he slid his hands over her soapy skin, he pondered how strange it was that they both had ties to the Millennium Ring: her mentor had owned it in ancient times to fight evil, and Ryou himself had owned it in modern times as a medium for an evil spirit. They were like two sides of the same coin: ancient and modern, good and evil, choice and fate.
After their bath, they both dressed in comfortable pajamas and curled up on the couch with two small mugs of herbal tea, their record player lazily sounding a pretty waltz from the side table where it spun the wax record in slow circles at 33 1/3 rpm.
Mana called their apartment's decor a cross between new age and shabby chic with a twist of traditional Japanese. Whatever that meant, it fit them both quite nicely, from the cabinet of loose-leaf teas to the shelves of crystals and scented candles to the flea market paintings of occult imagery to the vintage records on their bookshelf to their antique Japanese tea-set.
"Yugi and Anzu are coming over for dinner tomorrow night, right?" Ryou asked, wanting to be certain he had the date right.
"Yep," she replied cheerfully. "I'm going to be making that new ratatouille recipe we found this weekend." A shadow moving languidly across the floor caught her eye, and she called, "Pharaoh, come here baby."
The handsome tabby cat lifted its head at the sound of his name, and he trotted over to the couch before crouching, waggling his hindquarters, and leaping up onto the couch. Ryou chuckled as the cat lay itself out across both of their laps, and he started to scratch the contented feline under the chin, making him purr quite loudly.
"He's absolutely spoiled. Aren't you, big boy?" Ryou looked at the cat for agreement, but he just kept rumbling in pleasure.
"He's a rescue!" Mana protested indignantly. "It's okay to pamper a rescue."
"Is that why you pamper me?" Ryou teased, nuzzling his head against hers the way Pharaoh liked to do. Mana giggled as she nuzzled him back, kissing him briefly before she answered him.
"You're much more to me than a rescue, babe." She kissed him again, and their lips lingered. They unconsciously shifted closer to each other, and Pharaoh, who didn't like getting jostled about between them, jumped down after a few moments, giving his fur a shake before strolling away and curling up in his bed by the vent.
"Mmm, I think it's time for bed, Kitten. Pharaoh's got the right idea." Ryou slid his gaze to the sleeping tabby, Mana following suit before their eyes met again and they exchanged smiles.
"I dare say you're right, Angel."
Ryou carried Mana to bed as she contemplated how fitting it was that his favorite card was the Change of Heart, and how well he fit the role of an angel. Not the sissy stereotypical angel, though. No sir. He was a guardian angel, the kind that wielded a sword of fire and spoke with the wisdom of ages. The kind that had to tell people not to be afraid, because he was so powerful people couldn't help but be wary of him.
"I love you, Mana," he whispered as he lay her down on the sheets and tugged the blankets up over both of them.
"I love you too, Ryou."
