knifemonopoly: (tripping out)
̷A̷t̷e̷m̷ ([personal profile] knifemonopoly) wrote2021-02-05 06:28 pm
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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.
 
 
Main handle: < Player1 > Anon: < turtleluck >, < actuallydied >, < burner >
softspokenlandlord: (63)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-15 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
...Maybe not. Heh.

[Ryou shakes his head. There's something charming about Atem when he's a demon. He's so carefree and unconcerned with what should or should not be. Ryou wonders if that's what Mana has in store for him?]

I wonder if at the end of it all, I'll turn into a demon? Since I'm not going to be repenting, right? H-hahaha.

[Another bite...and Ryou's glowing eyes affix to the horizon.]

I'm glad to shed this weakness though, no matter what happens. It's not good to be so vulnerable, to something someone can produce easily. So I'll bear whatever is in store.

And if you're here, then it's easy to do so. Because all I have to do is focus on you, right?

[...Okay he's still nervous though. His tail flips up out of the water and accidentally sends a few droplets towards his face, and Atem's. Oops.]
softspokenlandlord: <user name=raptorscribbles site=tumblr.com> (ryoushade7)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-15 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ah!

[Ryou doesn't expect Atem to hug him from behind! It surprises him into making a little sound, but then...he relaxes, and listens. Maybe it's selfish, but he derives a great deal of comfort from Atem's close proximity.]

There you go, making sense again. Except that possessing a teddy bear, while fun, wouldn't be half as fun as possessing you. I enjoy it when we spend time together that way.

You complete me.

[...It's corny and he's not sorry. Come what may, with the slightly brightening sky, he's going to express how he feels. He knows he's selfish. He knows he's bad.

But Atem is here with him anyway...so for a minute more, he'll watch the horizon, and wait until the sun starts to peek over the invisible dividing line.]
softspokenlandlord: <user name=raptorscribbles site=tumblr.com> (ryoushade14)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-16 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
You're too kind.

[Ryou's pointed ears wiggle a little though, showing that he's not entirely against what Atem's saying. It's not like he thinks he's half a person, but his heart...it's just as much Atem's as it is his own anymore.

He starts to draw his own melonpan closer, to take another bite, but then he starts to feel the irritation at his skin, from the sun. His fingers loosen their grip and Ryou drops the bread into the tub.]


N-nngh, sorry I...

[He trails off as the sun breaks the horizon completely, shining upon his exposed skin and making it hurt worse. His immediate reaction is to try and sink further into the tub, to hide from the light.

But then the water starts to heat up, rippling faintly from the bottom up. It's like waiting for your noodle water to start boiling--it begins with small, nearly imperceptible little bubbles at the bottom of the surface.]


A-Atem, let me go. Let me go, please...!!

[He knows demons can't be hurt by fire, but he can't risk the heat of the water being an issue, not without knowing. And it won't take long for it to start boiling, he can already feel the discomfort of the heat biting at what solid skin is exposed.]
softspokenlandlord: (YGOS0_EP25_62080)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-16 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Within half a minute, the water's at a full boil, and Ryou can't do anything but cry out in pain. He's not sure if it's the impossibly hot water that shouldn't have heated up so fast, or if it's the fact that the sun is eating away at his skin, but it hurts, as he expected it to.

But it's not just dissipating his shadowy form, even though he's long since lost control of his corporeality and has begun to thrash. Instead, it's causing the blackish gray to recede, to change into a more human skintone. It's a slow, subtle process punctuated by his agonized yells, but it's clear after a while that he's changing.

The water continues to boil, dissipating itself into steam a bit at a time. By the time a fourth of it has evaporated, Ryou no longer has claws, and his tail has become a tan color, with a tawny tip.

Something's happening, and he has no idea it is, or even if he did, what.]


Why...! Why does it have to hurt? I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!
alchepistol: (pic#15711970)

[personal profile] alchepistol 2022-07-20 10:35 am (UTC)(link)
Bleeding....?

[ Oh. So she is. But that is insignificant, in the face of the blood and tears humanity and monsters alike have shed under Ryslig's mechanisms. She shakes her head. ]

This is nothing. Continue.
alchepistol: (pic#15712007)

1/2

[personal profile] alchepistol 2022-07-20 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not you who causes me pain.

[ He's going to be stubborn until she explains, isn't he. She takes out a handkerchief (...frilly....) and daubs the blood up, then folds it over on itself. ]

I dedicated my life.....to freeing humanity's souls from the yoke of subjugation. To a future where no one would suffer the humiliation of control. So I am not hurt.
alchepistol: (10)

2/2

[personal profile] alchepistol 2022-07-20 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She frowns. Her eyebrows triple in Power. ]

I'm angry.
softspokenlandlord: (150)

Post-Memshare

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ryou knows what he's doing is wrong. But after receiving all of the memories from his stage narrator...he couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't pretend he hadn't seen what he'd seen, or heard what the narrator heard.

He was, at the very least, good enough to make sure that Atem got home safe, was hydrated and fed...and he even leaves a reheatable bento on the counter with the same note he's going to leave in Atem's inbox, just to make sure that whether he eats first or checks the network first, he gets it.]


I'm going out for a while. Don't worry about me, I just need time to think.

I love you.


[No "I'll be back soon". No "We can talk later". Just that he's going out for a non-specific time.

And he does it while Atem's sleeping, because he can't, and his mind is buzzing. But...he doesn't apologize either. Atem must be so tired of hearing him apologize for everything...

Ryou's left his laptop and money pouch behind. He won't be reachable for at least a full 24 hours. But he does bum a laptop off of someone, somewhere, to check near the end of that day.

His guilt is too great to allow him to continue any longer than that.]
softspokenlandlord: (30)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
["I'll be here."

Ryou is left to think about that, for another few hours. It's too dark for him to come home, since he didn't take a flashlight with him. So in actuality, he returns some time around eight in the morning, a few hours after daybreak.

Mostly though...he's been thinking about how he can fix this. How could he make sure that he's not weighing Atem down anymore? And his mind cycles over, and over and over and over to his research, to the gem, to the only thing that would make him behave like a normal human instead of a base creature who can't do anything but be angry about something that happened half a month ago.

Something...that he could have prevented, if he was just better.

When Ryou arrives back to the apartment, he does so by flying to the roof. It's easier that way. He can take the stairwell down to the eighth floor, rather than ascending from the ground level.

He's politely quiet as he lets himself in, but he's not trying to hide himself either. That never works, does it? Atem always catches him. And if he does catch Ryou, because he's up later than usual, or slept earlier...he'll find Ryou looking pretty haggard and in need of a bath, a brush, and definitely a preen.

Someone's not used to living on the street like he'd done for some time. And worse, he's hungry. Still, although his first trip is the kitchen, Ryou pauses to wash his hands first. His fingernails seem unusually dirty, but there's only so much he can do about that right now.]
softspokenlandlord: (40)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[Even after his whole sojourn out into the cruel, cruel world, even after trying to figure out his thoughts, and how he might be less of a burden...

...Ryou still forgoes his own health. He ignores his hunger pangs, the discomfort of his own grubbiness...and he walks towards the bathroom to see why Tybolt had been hanging around there. Tybolt's not due a bath, and he generally doesn't linger around the bathroom like that.

He has an idea of what he'll find, but Ryou is still cautious as he pokes his head around the corner, both headwings flaring out a little in curiosity.]
softspokenlandlord: (dsod7)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ryou's expression softens, and he lets out a quiet sigh. Seeing Atem sleeping so peacefully makes his heart swell. He's glad there was rest to be had, underwater, in the comfort of a no doubt cool bathtub.

He chooses not to disturb Atem, and instead backs out, moving to the kitchen to properly forage. However long it takes Atem to wake up...Ryou doesn't leave this time. Even though he wonders whether he should. Atem looks terribly comfortable where he is, maybe...not having to worry about Ryou so much was better.

Ryou makes himself a cup of duck ramen, then, if he has time after eating, he'll brush out his hair. If Atem takes a while to get his rest in, once he wakes up, he'll probably find Ryou shirtless and preening his feathers. No seriously. It's an involved process, and he usually doesn't need to spend so much time on it, but...being outside and not taking care of himself means that the feather barbs are a disaster. So, he's using some store-bought moisturizing oil and doing his best.

His best means that his headwings, and almost one of his two primary wings are sorted out. Ryou doesn't envy harpies...but he kind of deserves this. It's his fault.]
softspokenlandlord: (3)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[All of Ryou's wings puff up, and his halo flashes extra brightly as he hears the water splash. It definitely scares the shit out of him, because he didn't expect that.

(And Tybolt absolutely has a 2 foot feather to play with, but since Ryou's been flustered, another couple smaller ones drop from his primary wings and flutter downward. Have fun little buddy.)

Ryou straightens a little too fast, and the top of his halo scrapes at the ceiling, which saves him a knock on the head, thankfully...but showers bits of dried texture pattern from the ceiling into his hair, and the sink and ground as well.]


Ah. Y-yes, I'm...I didn't mean to wake you up but...yes. I'm back.

[He notices Atem's expression, and the dirty wing seems to compress itself, to try and hide. Not that it matters, his hair's brushed, but still in need of a wash, and he's very obviously in want of a bath.]

...I. Um. I needed some time to think. There's a lot that happened, and...I just...I flew, and I thought. S-sorry for the short notice, but. It looks like you were sleeping well. So that's good!
Edited (begone typo) 2022-07-20 22:54 (UTC)
softspokenlandlord: (dsod4)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
M-mostly. I visited some people, but I didn't want to impose myself for the night. And I didn't bring anything with me, no money, no laptop...nothing. I wanted to be alone.

I wanted you to be able to be alone, too, I guess.

[He doesn't lie...but he also doesn't want to bring up the fact that he'd stayed in an abandoned building when the sun got away from him. Because as he said, he took nothing. That meant no flashlight either.]
softspokenlandlord: (65)

[personal profile] softspokenlandlord 2022-07-20 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ryou's headwings lower, and he stares into the sink with a passive look in his eye as Atem continues to speak. He's done it again, hasn't he? He didn't...play this out right, and he'd made it harder for Atem.]

Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about it...and I lost track of time. Being awake all the time is offputting, and--and--

[No. This is an excuse. He's not doing that.]

When I saw the sun starting to go down, I panicked. I didn't want to be at the 38-8, or the Lucky. Maybe I could have asked Horatio to stay at his Academy building...but I didn't do that. I spent the day out trying to clear my head, and then I found somewhere...private to stay, and think some more.

I'm not hurt or anything...isn't that enough? I wouldn't want you to worry, so I didn't put myself in danger.