knifemonopoly | IC inbox

...yes, aces wild.

[He looks at Ryou's little dice pile. Atem runs the numbers. It adds up. He's surprised -- and then, he breaks into a laugh.]

You win! You got me -- with a roll like that, you'd be hard to beat!

[...he just feels good about this? How is it that he just feels good that Ryou took the round? Fun? This is literally just fun? He grins.]

I told you the dice just needed some warming up.

I don't like Tage, either...she ran off at the first sign of trouble, and left a lot of her followers behind....many of them got killed by angry monsters last month because of that.

[As Atem goes on, he's more musing to himself than anything else.]

The Tagevalgten...it's a complicated situation. It'd be better if they didn't exist as an organization....but I understand why they turned to that kind of philosophy.

...ah...I could have taken one off of Jorgen, but I didn't think to...

[He told Riley about what he did to one of the cameramen who were harassing her, but he's pretty sure he didn't tell Steve. He will, if Steve wants to hear it, or they can keep talking lions.

Tybolt gives a big yawn, the timing giving the illusion of childish contrarianism -- I'm not asleep! really! -- but settles down again almost right away, and Atem puts his chin over the tiny baby's shoulder. Shhh. Zonk out, buddy, it's fine.]

It's probably because he's just eaten. He really is a baby animal, isn't he?

Don't worry. We'll take good care of the ones that remain.

[ If they can just get more than four established cultists and one teenager from town who likes being play-chased by "Richard" to listen to them.

Marik chuckles, his head full of plans, then grows quiet. He draws the blanket around himself. Resists the urge to lean on the Pharaoh. That would be disrespectful.

But the day is catching up with him, and he's flagging. ]

[That's not ominous at all!! But Atem actually does trust the Ring-Spirit to look out for the guys under his care. They're better off with RS than they were with Tage.

But he does not trust that Marik won't pass out on his couch. Atem had better get the guy home before he's too tired to operate a motorcycle.]

You've had quite a day. I wish I could tell you it won't always be like this, but...since that's the way things are, it's even more important to get proper rest!

You're still staying with Noa, right? Can you make it back on your own?

[ Can he....He thinks so. He's tired, but...riding always makes him feel better. He'll ride his bike, and then....

Then....He'll let the back of his mind figure out "then." He's brilliant, he can do things like that. ]

I couldn't trouble you further. [ Marik pushes himself forward, roots around for his clothes. ] Prepare for the Duel. I'll do the same.

[Yes, Marik, please put your shirt back on.

Atem doesn't say that, though. He just nods -- and he'll see Marik out the door, once he's clothed and gathered up. Drive alert arrive alive, pal.]

Edited 2021-09-19 21:34 (UTC)

[ Who the hell do you think he is?! He's fine!

He only gets honked at three times, even, which means he's having an especially uneventful night.

Marik heeds none of it, however. Lots on his mind. ]

[Ryou can't quite put to thought or words why he feels so satisfied with Atem's reaction as opposed to the fact that he'd just won the round. Winning the round just wasn't important to him, not half as important as the fact that Atem was happy too.

He laughs a little himself, all smiles and flushed cheeks and happiness, but it's not really about the game.]

They did, you're right. I could do with a little more faith, even when I was sure I'd figured out your dice, just a little...I was nervous when you called me out.

[Ryou is aware of the tail wrapped around him, and definitely doesn't mind it. Being wrapped up in Atem is never a problem, especially when his scales are all shiny and new. Heh!

...Focus. He's been asked something.]

Of course! I wouldn't keep something that would make the house smell unpleasant, you don't need to worry. As for good uses...I'm sure some apothecary or business would buy a shed naga skin for their own purposes. Perhaps we could trade it for something valuable.

...But again, there's no need for something so complex if you'd rather get rid of it quickly.

[He's pretty sure monster parts should be worth something. Then again...maybe naga shed is common. How often do nagas shed? Hmm...]

[Trading or selling it like a rare item in a role-playing game...it's true it's possible they could sell part of it to a collector...it could make them money.

But selling it to a pharmacy makes Atem think about snake-oil cures, the kinds of things people put into traditional medicines. He'd have to vet the business, so that parts of him wouldn't be used to take advantage of trusting Bavanites.

...it also makes him think of the kinds of people who want to be involved with monsters. The people who approached him when he was a vampire, sweating and heart-fluttering, offering to let him bite them. He's not sure he wants someone sticking their face into his old skin like a girl's panties, or...or climbing inside it for weird reasons.

He shudders; Ryou will feel it.]

Maybe we could. I know people do buy monster parts! But we'll have to be careful who it goes to...

Oh, don't be nervous.

[Ryou being good enough at strategy, at keeping emotions off his face, at getting into his opponent's head, to take a round...it really does give Atem that feeling of his heart trying to go faster, his body asking for more evenly-distributed adrenaline.

He turns in his seat, his own hand going onto Ryou's knee as he leans in. One of his own legs, the one closest to Ryou, gets tucked up on the couch under him. Getting up in the shade's space, here.]

All gamers hope the goddess of fortune will smile on them...but there are a few she'll always turn away from! She'll never favor cheaters who do anything to win...the arrogant, drowning in their own powers...or cowards who fear defeat! So, never lose your confidence -- it's not over until the very end!

[Ryou's a good gaming partner. Atem's...really happy about that. Look at him, all flushed and grinning -- how's Atem supposed to not lean in closer, and lower his voice, and remind him about the terms of the bet?]

You know, this means you can ask me for anything.

[Ryou turns towards Atem long before he turns to face him. The way he says not to be nervous definitely strikes some kind of chord. Now the shade's completely attentive, moreso when Atem begins to invade his space.

...He's not sure, actually, whether to focus on the pep talk or the fact that Atem's so close to him, so very close. So enticing, whether he realizes it or not. Ryou is erring on the side of yes, Atem realizes, or else his voice wouldn't have dropped just a bit, and he wouldn't have said that.

Well good job, Atem. You've got your very soft boyfriend leaning in too, with more than a bit of interest.]

Hmmm...I could, couldn't I? But I'm sure you'd give me what I want right now...w-whether I wished for it explicitly or not, right?

[A challenge? Most definitely. But the real challenge was pressing their foreheads together--that familiar contact, the precursor to something warmer, more complete--and stopping there.

Sorry, were they playing a game?]

You have a nice way of putting everything. H-heh heh...maybe you could pick up a side-job as a motivational speaker.

[Joke? Maybe...but there's some truth to it. Atem's good at hyping people up, making them believe in themselves. He'd probably do great speaking to groups, if he wanted. All that confidence, sharing words of encouragement and wisdom.

When Atem guides them both into a seat, Ryou acquiesces. It's fine if Atem wants to sit. Ryou isn't going to rail against it--he simply didn't want to be the one to slow his friend down here. But it's peaceful, for a graveyard. So when they sit, Ryou doesn't feel very shy when it comes to leaning against Atem.

He...doesn't have to anymore, but he wants to. It's nice. Comforting. And it gives him something to focus on when he's complimented like that. He feels the heat rise to his cheeks, knows it's obvious that he's blushing, but for once, he doesn't overthink it.]

...Thank you. It, um. Means a lot to me that you think I'm good at it. I really do try.

[It drains him faster, it makes him tired quicker...but as long as someone knows that he's trying, that's all that matters. And hey, he isn't terrible at floating through walls, but his stopgap has always been the propriety of being corporeal.]

You too though. You've been around a bit less than me, and you're already a master of two monsters, Atem. You can do so many cool things as a vampire. Shifting into a bat, flying, moving so fast...it's impressive. And as a naga, you came into your powers as well, even if it's not forever. You helped me, by petrifying me. I don't think that anyone would think that fast on their feet except you.

[He smiles, a dopey little turn of the lips. He's fond of Atem, would happily compliment him for a while.]

[Ryou does feel the shudder, and based on Atem's words, he can kind of theorize why. People are weird around here when it comes to monsters. There's...certain types they seem to like better than most, so maybe that's what Atem's worried about.

Ryou is in the fortunate position of not really having many people care for his monster type. He's just a shadow creature, what can he even do? Ooh he can possess people. Who even wants that?]

Well...if it takes that much thought, then maybe burning it is easier. Whatever you want, Atem.

[He affectionately kisses Atem's cheek. They're all wrapped up in one another, may as well, right?]

...For the record, I'm glad the shed's gone, because you look very nice now that you're out of it. Your scales are practically glowing.

[Atem seems like he could use a proper compliment after the ordeal, and Ryou's happy to oblige. His scales do shine quite nicely. All of him looks better without the dulled coating.]

How do you feel?

[He leaves behind weird images of people wiggling their back halves into his old skin to pretend they're snakes and get freaky, because the kiss to his cheek brings him back to the present, and Atem relaxes again.

(Ryou is also a little freaky, but in a respectful way, so Atem doesn't mind it at all. Ryou's type of fascination doesn't make him feel like all Ryou sees is the type of monster Atem is at the time, which is how it is with humans -- instead, Ryou liking the weird stuff about him makes Atem feel more comfortable with it, with himself.)

How does he feel? He runs a clawed hand over one arm.]

I feel good. Better than I have in a week! The new skin's a little raw, but it's like I've just come out of a really hot shower...

I'm glad it's gone, too. Thank you for looking after me!

[Because, really, Ryou had been a saint through the whole process. Patient with Atem's whining, attentive, doing research into what Atem needed, willing to put up with uncomfortable heat and damp...man, Atem's lucky to have him.

He leans in to put a brief but warm kiss on Ryou's mouth, one clawed hand coming up to hold Ryou's jaw. He's missed that, too, all this week.]

I don't know how this would've gone without you.

[But he knows it'd have been worse. Way worse. He'd have been blind, alone, anxious, with no idea how to care for himself or when it would stop.]

[It's so comfortable, sitting here and talking. Atem doesn't mind the contact at all...he doesn't freak out, worrying about whether it's going to make Ryou feel led-on, or hurt because he thinks Atem doesn't like him, which is a possibility he's aware of now, whether now's the time after all to tell Ryou how he feels, or whether it's not a good idea for Atem to have something like that when he knows he's got work to do, when he needs to help Yugi...

Nah. All those spinning wheels drift to a stop. Instead, he and Ryou can just sit quietly together, for a moment.]

Ah...it's just that it's easy to see what my friends are good at. It's worth telling them! Especially when they're feeling down.

And, as for monster powers...mastering them isn't always easy! But, thanks to Spengler's guide, I've got a good idea of what I should be able to do. It's just a matter of figuring out how! And remembering what's available, when things are bad.

[The more powers he masters, the more moves are available to Atem in a crisis. Monster types really are kind of like Monster World classes...they have things they're suited to, and things they aren't, and you can make them do things they're not meant for, but it isn't easy, and takes dedication and focus...but, if you ~~minmax~~ know their strengths, and play to them, then you can operate effectively in the setting.]

You think so?

[A hand, its nails carefully cut short, slides around the back of Ryou's neck. He really does like it when their foreheads are together -- it reminds him of all the other times it's happened, it's reassuring, it's comfortable.]

Should I guess what it is, then? I could try it out, and see if I'm right...

[They were playing a game without a predetermined number of rounds, it's fine, it's fine.]

[ Jorgen who? He just about asks.

But, quashing the first syllable at the last second, Steve nods, smiles at Tybolt curled up in Atem's arms like a new nephew one more time, and stoops to start swabbing up the floor.

If it doesn't put the power of photography in his hands right now, he's not interested in venturing out of this cozy little scene into what monsters do in the dark, even if it's just Atem, and Atem would never make a victim out of someone who didn't deserve it.

Right? ]

I'm gonna go check on the dogs.

[ He says, once the tiles underfoot are squeaky clean again, collecting the empty bowl and jamming a thumb at the storeroom's singular exit. ]

Did you wanna stay here a while?

Edited 2021-09-23 01:49 (UTC)

[The memories are ugly. It's hard to stay in the cavalier moodiness that she wants, to keep Komaeda in that lukewarm safe space. She can't. She's angry. She's been angry this whole time, right alongside the grief. All she's managed to do is keep it down, not push it away for good. There's no way. That's just not something she's capable of.]

Doesn't matter if you don't remember perfectly. Everything you know about the whole thing, start to finish, is usable. Anything you can give is good enough.

[In the privacy of their shared space, the emotion she exudes is that of a cat winding her way between his legs, rubbing against him, attentive and needy and reassuring. But there's steel underneath, a flexible but unbreakable spine.]

Would have been smarter to pull from more than one group. We have data points now. We can learn. He fucked up, like men do when they think they're the smartest one around.

[He fucked up by taking two people who matter to her. First Steve, who was bad enough, and now Komaeda. There's no room for a third strike. It's done. These people are hers to hurt or to care for, and she's made her decision which way the chips are going to fall.]

Edited 2021-09-23 02:07 (UTC)

[Absolutely right.

But they'll leave that subject alone.]

....

[The lion is really, really cute. It is true Atem could probably spend a good hour in this storeroom without realizing he'd been here longer than ten minutes. He is very happy holding Tybolt and listening to his snuffly little breaths.

However. No lion takes precedence over friends. Tybolt's important, but Steve is more important. Atem shakes his head!]

I'm here to help out! And to keep you company. I'll set him down and come with you.

[He's just absolutely going to come back in before they leave. Because Tybolt being in this room by himself is probably lonely, and he should have as many visitors as possible.]

[A warehouse. Since Komaeda's eyes are locked on Atem's, he'll likely see the change in expression, one even less subtle on a large fog-form bat-face; red, pinprick-pupilled eyes widen, and his mouth opens slightly.

Atem's glad he's in his fog form and not his usual one. He doesn't have to feel the stiffness and pull of the burn scars over his back when he moves, under his feet when he walks. He got used to them and barely felt them anymore before the two-month naga temp, but the few days before the fog where he was back in his own body had reminded him, again, of what had happened.

As if he'd needed reminding.

Dully, anger rises in him, familiar like an old enemy, augmented by the terrible smell that came in with this fog; it's anger he's lived with since they found Steve. Like a deep burn, it hurts worst on the edges, now: it's worn through the skin where it's strongest, damaging nerves and leaving it feeling sick and wrong but numb, but where he's less used to it, where new damage is being done, that's where the pain is.

Atem's mouth closes, and he gives a nod.]

Good thing I'm familiar with Bavan's warehouse district...I spent a lot of time there looking for Daniel, at the beginning of March.

[Before he had any friends besides Noa -- when all there was to do, when someone had gotten him, was to be sure he got them back. He'd spent his days in them, sometimes, trapped in the lightless corners, pacing back and forth, waiting for the sun to go down so he could keep looking.

He wants to go looking again now. He wants to tear out Fabius's heart with his own hands and drive big, unkind fog-form fangs into it. But even through the fog that's got him mad, that's got him hungry, he knows the culprit's a naga, and they're not just fast, they've got petrification powers. Going in by himself without knowing what he was in for would be handing Fabius more material for whatever he's doing. But...Atem can do some scouting, tomorrow night.]

We're going to get him. I don't want to talk too much about him. I came here to talk to you! But...I promise, he'll pay for what he's done.

[Atem really does think Fabuis Bile is trying to do something. He thinks monster parts are being used to power a portal, or something like it...it's so much like what happened to him...

...but there are two things you can do when a friend's been hurt, and that's hurt the attacker back, or stay with the friend. The first one's on the back burner. Atem can't get lost in bad memories and imagined situations where Komaeda's the one on the bloody sacrifice-table now, or fog-rage-fuled ones where a device designed in a workshop in Dyster cracks a worm-naga's ribcage and pulls it open, so a pale hand can reach in and pull the beating heart out. Game over.]

Edited (thats it i promise done w edits) 2021-09-23 12:41 (UTC)

[Kisses are great, Ryou had missed them too. But he also accepted that Atem was too aggravated to do affectionate things with him while he was in shed. The most affectionate thing he'd done was wrap himself securely around Ryou and refuse to be moisturized because he wanted to HUG, and even that was petulant. But it's fine, because Ryou didn't care how petulant Atem was, so long as he got through this safely.]

Mmm...I'm sure you would have done just fine. You're good at everything, Atem. But...I would have helped you even if we weren't...you know, dating. H-heh heh. True friendship is evidently helping your roommate out of his own skin.

[He's joking about it of course, but it's better to joke than to admit to Atem that the humidity had contributed to Ryou passing out a few times. Shades don't do well in dampness, and anytime he used his powers...anytime he had to go intangible, it did let water filter through. Despite feeling sick for a fair percentage of the time Atem was shedding though, Ryou would have kicked up the humidity even further, for even longer, if he'd had to.

...He hopes he hid it well enough that Atem never noticed.]

I'm glad it came off so cleanly, for the most part! Now that it's over, you can use that shiny new tail of yours to hug me all you like, if you want to pay it forward.

[Well! That's bold, isn't it? Look, he's in a good mood. It's fine. This is the Ryou Bakura that Atem gets to see whenever he likes, right up until they start kissing or something, and then the boldness melts away.]

[...having heat vision only means taking extreme penalties to perception checks. He figured Ryou was asleep. For once, it snuck by him that Ryou was doing the thing Ryou keeps doing, which is putting himself last. He got away with it this time.

And -- heh! True friendship. Isn't that right. Atem absolutely believes Ryou would have helped anyone he cared about through something that difficult, because he's a good friend. Atem likes that about him! But...the amount of effort, the sacrifice of time...Atem appreciates what was done for him, and what it took to give it.

...then, Ryou makes a request. It's not quite phrased like one, but the implication's clear enough. He grins, a little wicked, a little warm, and he pushes Ryou backward -- forward for him, backward for Ryou -- onto the blanket pile. He doesn't move fast, it's not a shove -- it's playful, and he hovers the human half of his body about a foot above Ryou's torso, juuust out of hairsnake reach (though they're reaching down, giving it their best try), a hand still at the back of his neck.]

You don't mind, then?

[--as coils wind behind Ryou's knees and start to curl down his shin. It sounds like Ryou wants to be held, and Atem, even though his nerve-endings are still jumpy and new, wants to hold him back! This seems like a good situation.]

[Ryou can feel the shift in gravity as he's pushed back, and he's definitely surprised about it. He didn't expect Atem to call his bluff like that, and it's not terrible! But it is a little, uh. Exciting? He refrains from thinking too hard about unfortunate snake anatomy making this weird because as long as they don't get too involved, it'll be okay!

...Yes. Even when he's basically put in a request to be canoodled with, he's still going to worry about Atem's comfort. This is his life. This is how he operates.

Ryou smiles, though the way he does so edges on a smirk, because he can see the snakes reaching, but they're not even remotely the biggest thing on his mind. No, that's reserved for the coils slowly working their way around his legs, the hand at the back of his neck...basically any other contact.]

Atem...come on. You asked me to date you through a Ouija Board. I spent a week moisturizing you. If I minded anything about the situation, I probably would have said something about the humidity...or your grumpiness. Not your snake half.

[He reaches up, runs a thumb over Atem's cheek, and then curls his too-long fingers around the back of his head. He doesn't mind putting his fingers in Snaketown, but he does kind of miss Atem's normal hair sometimes.]

I love you. All of you.

[And he means that so sincerely and without innuendo that it's probably depressing, if saccharine.]

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OH MY GOD RS'S BELLA IS IN THE SUBCULT?? omg

the mods said "5 humans, half are traitors", so, 2 real converts, 2 traitors, 1 fangirl....

amazing.

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cw monster fetishists being gross

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cw burnscars/burn metaphors/homicidal ideateon/gore ideation

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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.