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[He shoots right back--]

Coffee.

[Atem's playing on a slightly harder mode, since he's determined not to bring up words that relate to the story he's just been told, or what he witnessed on the beach, but he remembers the smell coming out of the break room at Liewen Labs, and how Kaiba had refused it for monster reasons...]

Edited 2021-08-05 01:28 (UTC)

[Coffee...sounds awesome right now--

No. No, he needs to sleep.]

Stars.

[Innocuous enough, he likes the stars. Those are patterns that he can get behind. He'd almost caught himself saying "water" though, which would have been both a bad reminder, and also way too close to coffee.]

[No celestial bodies, no weather patterns, no basic shapes...]

Pink.

[He shifts, settling a little further. The coils around Ryou's lower leg lose some of their tension, but don't unwind themselves. Atem settles his head back on his remaining, free arm.]

[Ryou feels the scales begin to shift from around his leg. He's not bothered, though there's a vague, tired thought in his mind that he hopes Atem got some warmth from that. Be warm and prosper.]

...Fan.

[He's probably not slick, but he can't help glancing at Atem, looking at his face and body language. No particular reason. He just likes Atem's face.]

[He's relaxing. Atem's whole body's sinking lower, getting flatter, and his eyelids are starting to get heavy...his face has definitely looked prettier, while it had hair, and wasn't feverishly sleepless. Sleepiness is starting to sink its claws into him, though it doesn't fully have him yet, and he meets Ryou's not-subtle-at-all glance with easy unconcern.]

Anchor.

[Something about that seems really specific and Ryou's probably overthinking the whole word game, but whenever Atem looks at him like that, it reminds him how very fond he is of the guy. Ryou isn't really focusing on the game anymore, just on how they're sharing space together, trying to make each other feel better.

It's...nice here. He can forget what pain the medicine isn't dulling if he just stares into Atem's tired eyes and thinks about how he'll look when he's sleeping, and he hopes it's peaceful--]

W.

[Wait. WAIT.

...Wait, it...could work. Should he draw attention to it? Maybe Atem won't notice and he won't have to try explaining but after all it is a lot of syllables so...!]

[Wait, what?

The unexpected use of a letter pulls Atem out of wherever his mind was wandering to, back to the present. It's like a note played wrong, or a missed dance step, and he looks at Ryou in befuddlement.]

W's not a word.

[Did Ryou get distracted? Is it the pain medicine talking? Why incorrect game move?? It's actually...a little funny...]

[Oh he noticed. He noticed, Ryou what the hell are you doing?!]

No...it's not. Y-you're right, I...don't know why I said it. It's a very long name for a letter though, so maybe...uh...

[Come on, his brain has to give him something here. Except it's not, this is a mistake he can't fix or backpedal on and now he's getting flustered. It's showing on his face, he said a letter. He will never recover from this embarrassment...]

L-look I'll just do a word now. Wheel.

[The W is there. Taunting him.]

[This....is silly. It gives Atem a feeling like a cat that's been pet backwards. There's rules, and a right way to do things, and W in place of a word is tickling his brain funny, hitting him in old thought patterns about shadow games, about how letting that slide feels weird, but Atem's not sure what he wants, or ought, to do about it. He's very tired, and something about the look on Ryou's face, the broken game rule, the halfhearted justification, hits his exhausted, only-slightly-magical, living brain just right to send him into--]

Heh...h-heh...

[--he buries his face in his arm and the pillow just in time, before an absolute fit of laughter takes him. It might be sinister laughter, if it were any more under control, if the body language Atem's giving off weren't absolute shoulder-shaking mirth. Take a spirit of vengeance's evil chuckling and put it on the stove until it boils over, then muffle it with an arm and a pillow, and you'll get what's happening here. He can't breathe. His coils are seizing up. Oh god.]

Heheheheheh--hrk! Mmh-- H-hahaha--!!

[Oh no. Oh hell, Ryou's broken Atem, he's laughing and he won't stop, and it looks so uncomfortable and he's not sure...if he's in trouble?!]

I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break the rule, we didn't agree to what would happen if someone broke the rules, we just...uhh!

[Ryou...admittedly isn't in much of a better state, he's taking this about as well as a child who thinks they've done something wrong, for absolutely no logical reason. Nervously, he attempts to raise himself up except NO. Nononono can't do that can't...oww. All he really manages to do is give Atem's fingers an unnecessarily hard squeeze.]

A-are you okay? It's...n-not that funny is it?

[Again, IS HE IN TROUBLE?! Does he have to levitate his laptop to himself and dial a friend?!]

[Gasping for breath, Atem forces his head up, his eyes open, to look at Ryou -- oh no, Ryou's upset, Atem has to get it together -- he gulps in a lungful, and tries to speak, but he just gets out--]

I'm not -- I'm not going to...snrk! H-haha...just because you...

[He remembers what set it off...annnd then he's lost again. A second set of vocal cords is involved now, there's a deeper, chestier undertone to the laughter, like a much larger beast hmhmhm-ing with its mouth closed. A very long name for a letter, indeed!]

--W! Mmweh heh--

[He squeezes Ryou's hand back, picking it up and pushing it back down on the bed like he's slapping a table in mirth, and the tip of his tail raises off the bed to do the same thing -- but unfortunately, it's still healing, too, so when it comes down on the bed, even though he's still laughing, Atem flinches.]

Hhh--ouch! Ha ha---ow.

[But it lets him breathe. Okay, okay. Ohhh his sides hurt. But the laughter's faded down to small aftershocks, now.]

Ah...ha ha...it's all right! I'm -- I don't -- I'm not sure what came over me. Haha.

[A sleep deprived giggle fit that's a little bit informed by weird supernatural bullshit, that's what.]

[Have you ever seen the visual representation of someone keysmashing? That's Ryou, for several reasons. Firstly, what the fuck is that double-laugh? Ryou needs to know where those sounds are emanating from, because if it's coming from Atem then he has at least 2 follow-up questions.

Secondly now that Atem said W, that's about the time that Ryou came to the realization that it was in fact pretty funny funny, he's not laughing because he's going to bite Ryou for breaking the rules which--Ryou Bakura you have been living with this guy for months, since when is that a fear?!

So he kind of...laughs too, but his laughing is softer, more repressed, because laughing hurts and Ryou's got quite enough of that in his life.]

Oh...oh no, don't do that...haha...your tail. You're going to hurt it worse. B-but I'm glad I didn't upset you...

[Why did he think he had? Seriously.]

[There's straight up tears of laughter in his eyes.]

Heheh. Yes. Of course -- I didn't mean to, I just forgot...

[Breathe in. Breathe out. All right. Okay. He felt funny about the broken rule, but he's absolutely not going to cause any pain or suffering over it, god no. Protect Ryou Bakura. OK. OK, he's good. Oxygen is working its way into the stitch at his side. He's relaxing again.]

Not sleeping very much must be getting to me...I've never had a fit like that.

[Whew. It's a good thing it was in front of Ryou, who he trusts, and not anyone he thinks is a danger to him or his friends, who he wouldn't want to see it...]

[Man...Ryou wishes he could roll over and hug Atem. Why does he have to lack the arm to do so? He feels personally victimized by the lack of close contact he can have.

In protest of such, he releases Atem's hand just long enough to twine his whole arm around the naga's. He pulls it close enough to press his face against Atem's forearm. Look it's not...he's just hugging him as a really good friend. Let him have this.]

Not sleeping...is terrible. I'm sorry for saying something so stupid, but...you have a nice laugh so I guess I don't feel so bad.

[Does he have a nice laugh in actuality? It doesn't matter. Ryou likes it. That's his reality. Atem laughing until there's tears in his eyes is...good. Ryou likes it. Now that he knows it's fine, his heart is practically swelling with contentment that Atem could break loose for 2 seconds. Even if it was in a sleepless haze.]

...Well actually. Your laugh is nice but I think you were doing some weird monster nonsense in the background. Because you were...extra-laughing.

[Ugh, that sounds dumb.]

Like. Laughing...but darker.

[No. That's worse. Ryou closes his eyes. He can't look at Atem after saying that, the words that are coming out of his mouth are stupid and he can't figure out how best to describe the resonant rumbling that had been emanating from his pal here.]

[A friend hug. Uh huh. If Atem were any dumber, he might think that touching faces is just a friend thing that friends do, but he's not. He is not that dumb. Telling someone they have a nice laugh can be friendly, but, uh, not like this it isn't.

Luckily, it's dark, and Atem's the only person here with heat vision, so he doesn't have to work too hard to control the flush on his face, darkening the fevered sleepless blotchiness he's already got.

It is very important to remember why he's decided to stay out of romances. He reminds himself of that as Ryou goes on, and Atem asks, with clear bemusement:]

Extra laughing....?

[He didn't hear anything he was doing. He was well and truly overcome. Sorry, Ryou, you're gonna have to give more clues, Atem's operating with fewer neural pathways than usual.]

[It's a "friend" hug. Ryou will die on that hill. And his eyes are closed so the fact that he has night vision and glowing eyes will not expose Atem.

Honestly most of his behavior can be laid squarely on the fact that he's medicated post-surgery with something that is definitely not local, and like Atem, he's also very, very tired. So it takes him a moment to give Atem his arm back, sue him.

All that said though...he really, really wants to try and sound a bit more coherent. So he eventually does open his eyes, and his mouth twists in frustration as he attempts to find the right descriptor.]

...Another voice. A deeper voice. It was in tandem, so unless we have ghosts who like laughing, then it had to be you, right?

[Ghosts would be sick though.]

Ah! I see...I think I know what happened. Heh heh -- no, it wasn't a ghost!

[Said fondly, since he knows how disappointing that must be for Ryou, but it's true. But, then, he sobers.]

I have two mouths.

[He's not sure how Ryou's going to take that, since it's another trait this form shares with the Osiris serpent, but he's gonna drop it bluntly and see where they go from there.]

Have you dueled the Fog?

[ no context no identification no nothin just. this ]

[Ryou might take it terribly if he thought about it long enough, but they've since shifted from the topic of Osiris, and he's now staring at Atem with a very determined, focused look on his face.

Where's the mouth? Where is it? There has to be a seam right?]

I wanna see.

[TELL HIM!]

...

[Well. So far, so good. Okay.]

I don't know if I can do it now...it was pretty tricky getting it open the first time, even though I needed to to feed...

[Atem lets go of Ryou's hand so that he can reach for the seam that runs almost-invisible along his jaw, catching his claws in it, seeing if he can remember how to get it open. Can he only do it when he has to eat? Or will the muscles work no matter what? Carefully, he pries at it.]

Lust warned me to be careful about my jaw coming unhinged inconveniently, but actually, I've had the opposite pro--

[Annnd there it goes! The entire lower half of Atem's face splits, opens, and there's rows of teeth and a fleshy blue tongue and two huge, hollow fangs that uncurl from the roof of the mouth as the word loses all articulation and becomes a rumbly monster growl. It's not aggressive, not a warning, more like a surprised praaah--! but with reverb.]

[He squints sleepily at the incoming message. Does he know this person....? What kind of duel? Like with pistols?? Do they mean a shadow game?? ???]

No, why?

[Okay, now Ryou can see the seam, now that Atem's fingers are prying at the edges. He tilts his head anyway, because he's trying to figure out the anatomy of it and OH. OH SHIT OKAY NEVER MIND THERE IT IS.

He tenses, because there's a mouth under Atem's face and that's...so weird, and it doesn't really freak him out because it doesn't have the exact same arrangement as the creature that he's scared of, but he obviously can see the parallels. Ryslig really is a ridiculous place. How does the Fog know these things?

But all that aside...Ryou now has confirmation of where the sound came from, and once his surprise wears off, he wriggles a little closer to inspect Atem's fangs. It might hurt, but he doesn't care he has to see it! Up close and personal!!]

Ow! Eugh. Atem, that's...that's awesome!

[Said like an absolute weirdo.]

[S-- so far, so good?? He thinks? Atem murmurs--]

...hey, be careful...

[--when Ryou hurts himself trying to wriggle closer, but it's an undertone, an aside. He brings his face back down, so that the lower mouth falls mostly closed, and it's easier to do things like talk, and make eye contact. Sorry, the big boba-straw fangs are hidden again!]

"Awesome"? Heh...more like troublesome! I couldn't figure out why I couldn't eat. My mouth wouldn't open wide enough! But it turns out, I don't swallow things whole at all...

[Ominously, the large blue tongue slips out without Atem meaning it to, licking an upper corner of his lower mouth. But a lower corner of his upper mouth?? It's weird.]

Edited 2021-08-06 19:12 (UTC)

[It's truly a massive disappointment that the fangs are now hidden, but Ryou still finds himself tracing the seam with his eyes and familiarizing himself with the way it looks, how it might operate.]

Huh...I thought for certain that you'd have to eat a whole person, and I kept wondering how that would work out for you. If you don't swallow a person whole, then how do you--

[Tongue.

That's distracting. That is so weird, that is so cool!! Ryou can't help but laugh, just a little, because the tongue seems to be doing whatever it wants to.]

Ha...is that involuntary? Your other tongue doesn't look like a snake tongue at all...

[This is the best distraction from pain ever...he wants to touch it. He wants to feel the seam of Atem's second mouth. Can he do that? Is he allowed? Is that super rude?!

...He isn't sure if he's going to ask, but one thing's for certain. Ryou looks like a kid in a candy store, if the kid in the candy store looked buzzed.

N-not exactly.

[This attention....he's a little self conscious under it....not in a way that's entirely bad, just, it's a lot all of a sudden and Ryou appears delighted and not sad and in pain any more which is good and also nice to see, and, the blotchy redness on his face darkens a shade or two.]

I'm just not used to having to worry about two mouths at once...

[The lower jaw works, because it doesn't feel too natural holding it open like this without a purpose, and it looks like it's gonna close up again in a few seconds.]

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to: <Player1> from: <hotrod>

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<Player1>

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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, PLAYER1. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 10.11.0.0.01 * PLAYER1 has joined 10.11.0.0.01 <PLAYER1>** If you're looking for someone you knew as Yugi before June, you've found him! It's Atem, leave a message.