My Boss The Genius
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INTERLUDE TWO
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The bed was too comfortable.
Temari scowled in the dark, her eyes trained on what she knew was the ceiling even though she couldn't see anything. The blankets brushed tantalizingly against her skin and she wondered vaguely how many thread counts were on it. The pillow was under scrutiny too, because it felt illegally fluffy. Like, so fluffy it should have been illegal for it to be that fluffy and, and… nice. And the bed was too comfortable. Did she mention that already?
Temari frowned and shifted on her side. Why was the guest bed so comfy? She usually thought that guest beds were just the cheapest beds that could be bought; tolerable for a person to sleep on for a few nights but definitely not daily-used material. Then again, wasn't this originally Ino's room? How often did she sleep over anyways, for her to get an illegally comfortable bed?
Temari liked to think it was just because Shikamaru spent money on trivial things because he didn't know what else to spend it on (besides a girlfriend, which he didn't have). Deep in her heart, though, Temari knew it was because it was Ino slept over a lot, if these weekly Friday rituals were any indication. But she was going to be in denial as long as she possibly could.
Growing frustrated, Temari slipped out of the sinfully comfortable bed, hoping maybe a warm glass of milk would help her fall asleep. She closed the guest room door quietly, hoping she wouldn't wake anyone up as she crept down the dark hallway. Chouji and Shikamaru were sleeping in the living room and she would have to pass by them to get to the kitchen.
Temari heard shuffling around the corner and her heart sped up, tingling in alertness. Quickly, she ducked behind the end table with the large vase of flowers on it, effectively hiding herself among its shadows. She peeked through the leaves of the flowers, seeing a shadowy figure ambling down the hallway, headed for the room where Ino slept. The figure was too lanky to be Chouji, and yet somehow Temari still hoped that it wasn't Shikamaru as much as she knew it was.
The figure opened the master bedroom door silently, slipping inside. Temari, her heart beating loudly in her ears, took a risk and slipped around the vase and end table, creeping towards the sliver in the open door that the figure had left. She settled in a crouch beside it, listening to the sound of rustling sheets and a whispered, "Move over, Ino."
"Shikamaru?" Ino's voice murmured sleepily, and Temari tried not to pay attention to her heart squeezing painfully, or the quiver in her bottom lip. There was a pause in Ino's voice as the sheets rustled some more. "You do know that if I was more awake I'd slap you," she said drowsily. Shikamaru chuckled, a husky sound that sent Temari's sensual nerves thrumming excitedly beneath her skin.
"Shut up, you troublesome woman, and go to sleep," Shikamaru told her.
"Not troub'some," she mumbled in reply, "an' I'mma slap y't'm'rrow for sayin' so."
Shikamaru chuckled once more, and the sheets rustled one last time before everything fell silent. Temari stayed crouched beside the door, not moving for a long minute until her knees protested from the abuse and her muscles quivered with the need to move. She rose into a half-crouch, forgoing the warm milk and heading straight back for the guest bedroom. She settled into the bed, hugging the pillow to her chest and blinking back that burning feeling behind her eyes.
The bed was still too comfortable.