[The sound of the laptop being shut so forcefully...is actually somewhat cathartic for Ryou as well. It helps that Atem's feelings are starting to bleed into his own, and that he's being touched. Comforted.

Even though it's basically just Atem holding himself...Ryou feels as if he's being hugged and touched.

He glances up, because that's the way their head's moving, and he listens. It's easy to let Atem talk, to hear the voice echo in their head in a way that's different, because hearing someone's voice from the outside is one thing, hearing it from the inside seems to have a different resonance to it. It's how Atem hears himself, huh...

Most importantly though...he gets it. He understands why it's hard for Ryou. He'd just been trying to extend an olive branch, and yet...it had been snatched from his fingers, thrown to the ground, stamped and spit on.

But Atem knows.]

I didn't want to hurt Lila. I know...she's important to people.

[Ryou just wants to feel important to people too, sometimes. But...he doesn't.

The thought of it makes him feel very, very lonely. But he fights that by taking control of one of Atem's hands, running fingers through his--their--hair.]

I'm sorry that I jumped into you like this. I'm sorry for what I said before I did. I just...nnh. I just felt...like who I am, what I can do...it just makes people angry. And it made me angry.

[He's still angry, but that layer is peeling back, revealing more of his loneliness and self-doubt, rather than the bitter, unforgiving part of him that's powered by his monster type.]

I want to be.