[Atem draws in another breath, then lets it out again. There's still so much in his head -- all of his mistakes, his errors, misjudgments, all hauled to the surface. He knows it's because of magic, but...it still makes him wince, to think of all of it. To think of all he's done wrong, and all of the wrong he's done. The fact that it's magic doesn't change all of the hurt that he's responsible for, and none of it has the protective layers of time and more-recent memory that fall on bad memories like dust.
It's ugly. But he can do it. He can skim over the surface of his worries and fears, like he always does...he can put it all away, again.
Webbed hands curl over the edge of the bathtub, and his gaze goes up to the ceiling.
Did I do right...? he wonders. By him?
...
Is that the question I should even be asking...? I want time apart, even if it's not what's best for him. That's enough...isn't it?
His feet, nearly dry now thanks to evaporation if nothing else, change back to something more suited to land-walking. The scuba-diver flippers shrink back into frog toes, more moderately webbed, and the shape of the legs, while still froglike, is slightly more human in its proportions. It's also importantly got bones built to hold his entire weight against gravity.
I just hope it doesn't accelerate his plans, with the amulet...I've got a really bad feeling about that...
He shuts his eyes, and pushes himself to his feet.
...but I can't bring it up now.
A discarded towel gets wrapped around his waist, because even if the lines of his body are smooth and unbroken, like when he was a naga, human legs mean a backside that reads as naked when exposed, and besides, he's still damp. It's early, but it's morning, which means he's gotten nearly a full night's sleep, before all this happened. He'll have to decide what to bring with him, what he'll need for a few days away from here, and what can safely stay...
...he crosses the hall to his own room, and starts to toss a few changes of clothes, his laptop, a couple thousand solars, and the Millennium Puzzle into a bag. Celeste's knife comes, too, and Komaeda's book, and Rachel's teeth-earrings...
After a minute or so, he sticks his head out of the door.]
Do you want me to take Tybolt...? Looking after him won't be too much trouble for you, will it? Or, he can go to Poundmates...
[It was his idea to bring the lion home. Saddling Ryou with full time lion care feels a little like a jerk move.
(The lion in question is in one of his hides, in the living room. It's very clear which hide it is, because one of Ryou's feathers is sticking out of it.)]
GOD THE DIVORCE VIBES I'M LAUGHING SO HARD
It's ugly. But he can do it. He can skim over the surface of his worries and fears, like he always does...he can put it all away, again.
Webbed hands curl over the edge of the bathtub, and his gaze goes up to the ceiling.
Did I do right...? he wonders. By him?
...
Is that the question I should even be asking...? I want time apart, even if it's not what's best for him. That's enough...isn't it?
His feet, nearly dry now thanks to evaporation if nothing else, change back to something more suited to land-walking. The scuba-diver flippers shrink back into frog toes, more moderately webbed, and the shape of the legs, while still froglike, is slightly more human in its proportions. It's also importantly got bones built to hold his entire weight against gravity.
I just hope it doesn't accelerate his plans, with the amulet...I've got a really bad feeling about that...
He shuts his eyes, and pushes himself to his feet.
...but I can't bring it up now.
A discarded towel gets wrapped around his waist, because even if the lines of his body are smooth and unbroken, like when he was a naga, human legs mean a backside that reads as naked when exposed, and besides, he's still damp. It's early, but it's morning, which means he's gotten nearly a full night's sleep, before all this happened. He'll have to decide what to bring with him, what he'll need for a few days away from here, and what can safely stay...
...he crosses the hall to his own room, and starts to toss a few changes of clothes, his laptop, a couple thousand solars, and the Millennium Puzzle into a bag. Celeste's knife comes, too, and Komaeda's book, and Rachel's teeth-earrings...
After a minute or so, he sticks his head out of the door.]
Do you want me to take Tybolt...? Looking after him won't be too much trouble for you, will it? Or, he can go to Poundmates...
[It was his idea to bring the lion home. Saddling Ryou with full time lion care feels a little like a jerk move.
(The lion in question is in one of his hides, in the living room. It's very clear which hide it is, because one of Ryou's feathers is sticking out of it.)]