[The flicker that had caught fire a moment, the energy and animation that came with real relief that there wasn't something worse going on, sinks back into that still, cold ocean as Ryou reacts to it.

Thoughtless. Clumsy.

His heart settles back into a shark's stillness -- unnatural, stifling -- as one of his hands finds Ryou's hair, starts to pet it. His halo is dull, like light reflecting off of unpolished metal.]

I don't think that.

[He thinks it's worrying that the kind of emotional support Ryou sought out was this, but at least it isn't the kind of emotional support that makes Ryou disappear into dreams, where Atem really can't reach him. He doesn't think posting on the network, angry about the gods and drunk, makes you an idiot. It's not even close to the worst mistake Atem's made this month.]

But that's just how I feel about it. What happened hurt you badly, didn't it? [In a way Ryou thought Atem couldn't help with, or there was something else that made Ryou shut him out. Too many broken promises, maybe. His patience for imperfection running out.] Painful circumstances led you to deal with it like that, in a way that was unusual for you.

[Pet, pet, pet. Gently:]

Will you tell me about what happened?