knifemonopoly | IC inbox

[The other Yugi knows that museum exhibits are too-personal for some people. Doppio, for instance, vandalizes his regularly. The Kul Elna survivor, on the other hand, treats his as a memorial, one he wouldn't have gotten under other circumstances. And Larry's had opened up a really interesting conversation about the nature of reality.

If asked, the other Yugi will avoid an exhibit.

But Riley hadn't asked. And he had been at such a loss -- he'd hurt her without meaning to, and she'd said he didn't understand. He didn't know anything. So, maybe, seeing what the museum has up about her will give him a clue about how to help her through the scary situation she's in without accidentally being more upsetting.

If he can't actively help, then he wants to be someone she feels comfortable going to.

He's looked over what's there, and come to the conclusion that Riley had had a terrible night. Something bad had happened, some of her friends had been killed, and it had something to do with that cheerleading video. The freshman...she'd blacked out, and she didn't remember doing it.

But that's not so odd.

Yugi and Ryou had blackouts, too.

He's out of her section and leaving when the girl herself appears, marching past like someone on a mission, and he can't help wondering if something's wrong.

So, he turns to follow, and sees her pick up the newspaper, and the knife, like she's done it a million times before.

So, she is like Doppio.

From near the exit:]

You're one of those people whose exhibit is too personal, aren't you?

[ All at once, Riley freezes. The duffel bag over her shoulder, where she planned on putting all the offending evidence, slips a little, and she does nothing to move it.

It's like with Giorno, months ago. Except Giorno didn't even see her exhibit, Giorno was stopped at the door, and she hadn't had him start to pry earlier, to—

She spins around, and with a bite to her voice that the other Yugi has never heard before, she snaps: ]

What the hell are you doing here?!

[Oh, shit.

What's in here must be extremely personal.

Something about that bite in her voice sets off an alarm, deep in the back of his brain. He's not sure if the alarm is the sense that he's done something wrong, or if it's something else, something to do with it being far from the first time he's been asked that, when he's taken over and had to navigate a dangerous situation with dangerous people. Whatever it is, something about it makes the idea of groveling, of asking forgiveness, out of the question.

Evenly:]

I could ask you the same thing.

[It's a sign of the regard he holds her in, the care he wants to treat her with, that there's no mania in his tone, no hint of the mad kind of of poker face he wears when he scents danger, or intends to be dangerous himself. It's just...calm.]

[ No, this isn't good. Already she's screwed it up— no, he shouldn't— ]

You saw the plaque outside, right? It has my name on it. If anything that should've kept anyone else out.

[If there's established etiquette for visiting other people's exhibits, the other Yugi isn't aware of it. She didn't lock it, or put a "Keep Out" sign -- but then again, that would only have attracted more attention, wouldn't it?]

If it's a problem, you should do something about it. Ask Noa Kaiba to include something about museum etiquette in his welcome materials -- "only visit others' exhibits with permission." Some monsters, myself included, don't mind ours, but I'm sure Noa'd do it, if he knew it made you uncomfortable.

[But the kind of determination she was walking with would attract anyone's attention. She passed him and didn't even notice!

What's in here...is it really that important that no one sees it?

The video, the murders, the culprit who blacked out...there's nothing here to suggest that Riley did anything wrong. She just experienced something terrible -- a scary night right out of a horror movie, where one of her friends turned on the others.

(There's no reason to be ashamed of what's in here. It must have hurt, of course, but there's no reason to hide it, that he can think of...)]

But, all right -- I'll leave you to it, to do what you came to do.

[He backs toward the rest of the museum.

Whatever the other Yugi saw, he clearly still doesn't suspect a thing.]

Wait.

[ Riley can feel her hands shaking. She can feel everything feel like it's coming apart. ]

What did you see? Tell me.

[ The fact that she's so desperate, that's a tell in itself. But how can she not be? How can she not, she has to know what she's working with.

[She's scared. She's really desperate to hide the intended contents of this room. It has to be because something about it's embarrassing, or painful, and maybe there's future context he doesn't get -- maybe someone from 2020 would see something in this room that he doesn't.

(What am I not seeing?)

So, he tells her the truth.]

I saw that you'd been hurt.

That's your cheerleading team in the video, right? Someone filmed an accident, and put it online for everyone to see...and hurt all of you in the process.

[which was wrong of them, wrong wrong wrong, how dare they hurt his friend like that, if he knew who'd taken it, if they came here, they'd answer for it...

...but, he has to be gentle with Riley, normal and kind and easily frightened Riley.]

Then, during a night spent in a basement like this, people you knew were killed. I don't know if it's to do with the video, but...it must have been terrible.

[Maybe that's why she doesn't trust her friends to help her. She's been betrayed. There's something else to it, something to do with her specifically, something that cuts deeper than what was in the articles, he's sure of it...but he can't put his finger on the missing piece, and if he reaches for it, he risks hitting something painful by accident in the attempt. He's not willing to try.]

No one should ever have shown that tape. I'm sorry that happened to you.

[and sorry he hadn't been there, to find who did it, and to...quietly fix it for her, before it spiraled into deaths at a sleepover. She wouldn't have to know. People rarely knew what happened, when he stepped in on their behalf. But it's vain to make wishes like that -- vain as wishing he'd known Ima when she'd been growing up in more lives than one. Bullies, he is coming to understand, are a universal constant, one he can't go back in time and protect his friends from.]

[ The video. He looked at the laptop, he looked at the articles, he looked at everything—

And he doesn’t know. He still thinks what everyone things, she’s a victim, a harmless kid, a person who doesn’t solve problems with violence, by ripping apart innocent girls who were her friends.

He’s trying so hard to be soothing. And yet all she hears are Farrah’s desperate pleas for someone to help her, all she sees is the way Chess looked at her, shocked and scared and fucking concerned. She’s hid it so well (she’s a ticking time bomb why the fuck did no one realize does she have to scream—)

Riley doesn’t look away from him, even though she barely focuses on the here and now. There are so many things she could say, so many innocent or innocuous things, but she’s falling apart. She’s been falling apart since before she got here and just never realized it. ]

Don’t… Don’t tell anyone. [ She has to work so hard, to keep her voice even. ] And never come in here again.

[He can respect that request.]

I won't.

[...but, why is it that he feels even less like he understands her than he did before? Why is it that his feelings fail to reach her every time, even when he thinks that, this time, he's sure he's got it?

He's got pieces, but he can't see what shape they go in. And, until he does....he'll continue to upset her, and she'll continue to shut him out, and he's not sure what to do about that. She is so terribly brittle, right now, and what's left of what had been between them -- someone he treasured, someone he trusted, someone whose feelings he wanted to protect enough that he learned how to lose for her -- feels like one of those scrolls so ancient they dissolve when they're touched. How could it have gone this sour this fast?

Is he going to lose her? Will this Aunamee guy get her, and he'll never know? The idea makes him want to put a fist through a wall, or tear open the throat of someone he's never seen -- it fills him with the same hot rage he can't let Riley know about.

There's nothing else he can think of to say that won't damage things further.

What is he missing?!

Damn it!

He puts his fists in his pockets, and he leaves.]

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cw intrusive thoughts, teen murder talk

cw murder ideation

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