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Heh heh! Anyone who broke into our apartment while I was basking would be in for a surprise...you could say it was bone-chilling, if it weren't meant to do the opposite!

[Spooky.]

[Ryou tries to grab at Atem's suspended body and pull him down in rebellion. No you have lost face-to-face privileges, sir. He's smiling but you still deserve to be punished!]

You can't just say that! That is a terrible pun!

[Then why are you smiling Ryou?]

Ah--!

[Atem's pulled downwards, eyes wide (they're always wide but extra wide now) in surprise.

Oh.

Oh no he doesn't. Atem pushes himself up, fully intending to slide right up through Ryou's closed hand, since there's nothing to hold onto and he's basically a long tube. Once he's gotten enough of himself through, Atem will throw the upper two or three feet of his body around Ryou's shoulders, going behind his neck and sticking his face out the other side, sticking under Ryou's jaw.

This happens very fast. Nagas are quick!]

Yes, I can.

[Rude. Ryou can feel the scales slide through his fingers but he's not about to grip tighter, that could hurt Atem, surely! But hey, wait a minute, wait!]

Hhhgh!!

[Ryou can feel Atem coil around his shoulders like some kind of living boa, and the sensation of scales against the back of his neck has him do a full body wriggle because hsdfhskj it tickles! He normally has hair covering the back of his neck! And then Atem has the snaudacity to camp under Ryou's jaw like the absolute sassy bastard he is!]

You...you're incorrigible!

You don't mind, do you? Heh heh.

[Said snaudaciously. He's perfectly aware that he's being a shit, it's the playful variant on the self confidence he draws on to walk into places strangers don't want him in and convince them to wager their lives.

It's just being used to plant himself around Ryou's shoulders, this time.

Oops, this is the relationship Ryou has found himself in. Any roommate regrets yet? Maybe you moved in too fast...]

[Ryou pouts. You can't even see him pouting can you even be satisfied at your work, Atem.]

Of course I don't mind. I offered, didn't I? The issue in question was your terrible use of puns. B-but now I have you where I want you, don't I? Now you can't go flying off the seat!

[J...just as planned? Ryou doesn't even sound convinced at all. It's very much just posturing because if he just keeps running the joke then Atem won't look at him and see his pouting, flustered face, right? Probably.

Here's a fun fact--one of them being a snake doesn't really make this any less weird. It just means Atem feels comfortable enough around Ryou to wrap around him like ribbon.]

[What are you talking about, this is definitely less weird! Atem does not have a face or arms, he is an animal! That means none of this handling is weird.

(They're not going to talk about what it felt like to slither his entire self through Ryou's hand.)

Ryou blushing just makes his neck warmer. That's very nice, actually. Still in that playful tone, but with a touch of laziness creeping into his voice:]

Yes, I suppose that means you have the upper hand...

[Unconcerned. More of him moves onto Ryou's knees.]

Mmm, if "bone-chilling" bothers you, maybe I shouldn't tell you about the names I gave some of the penalty games, in Domino...

[what's wrong with puns, Ryou, giving things names with double-meanings is a clever and highbrow form of humor!!]

[Nothing is actually wrong with puns, Ryou's just being petulant because it's a good joke and he didn't think of it first.

He's in too deep now, he can't admit defeat.]

Oh no...what kind of names did you give your penalty games? Now you have to tell me.

[He's surprised how very much of Atem is still slithering along his legs. It's kind of funny, actually...Atem really didn't lose half as much length as he had mass in the transformation.]

[Good, because his penalty game names are clever! ...some of the time!]

I admit, they weren't all winners...but some of them were pretty good!

[More of him slithers over Ryou's shoulders, so that he can warm more of himself, but also so that they can talk face to snace again.]

I'm not sure I should just tell you, though. I'm vulnerable in this form, you know! If you decide I've committed a terrible pun offense and deserve to be held down as punishment, there won't be anything I can do about that!

[Besides slither through hands again and that's not being discussed.]

[Okay. Okay. Ryou doesn't want to hear that. He needs to know what Atem's penalty game names are, and the very thought that information might be withheld at this point makes him pout harder.

Maybe once he no longer needs to take painkillers to deal with healing wounds, his brain will clear enough to realize that he's being extremely childish. For now though...filter off, no thoughts only very adult whining.]

No, you can't do that! You have to say it, that's not fair. Tell me!

[He even makes sure his hand is open, completely disarming him from doing what he'd done before.]

I promise I won't grab you again. Come on, Atem, please tell me.

[A snake-y head tilt, like he's considering.]

You really want to know?

[Open hand: good. Painkillers Ryou asking about his old games: also good.]

[He huffs, because now Atem's milking it. But he can't very well walk it back, his curiosity's been awoken. That's usually dangerous for everyone.]

Yessss. I wasn't there!

Tell me!

[This is going to be so embarrassing later...]

Well...all right!

Most of them were pretty straightforward. "Mosaic Illusion," "Mind Crush," "Illusion of Avarice"...but "Beat Festival" was pretty good. And there was a television producer who tried to cheat Jounouchi in a game show...when I made him reveal his true nature in front of the cameras and the studio audience, I called that one "Mind on Air."

[The game itself hadn't been particularly inspired, but man, the penalty game name had. That one was good. It's a shame it made the ZTV studio go bankrupt, though, and Jounouchi wasn't actually able to collect the winnings...Atem feels a little bad about that!

A little quieter, an aside:]

...then, there was the guy whose soul was fed to 25 dragons...I really couldn't come up with anything good there...

[Finally! Ryou's expression slowly shifts to one of complete interest. He doesn't really give away what he thinks of the names yet, he's just listening! But...he thinks they're all pretty neat. Maybe he needs more context for some of them, but the ones he gets an explanation on are fine...surprisingly.]

Mind on Air is pretty good! You have to explain the other ones though, like Beat Festival. It sounds like an interesting story.

[A pause.]

Wait, you fed someone's soul to 25 dragons? And...you didn't know what to go with? H-heh, if you don't know, always go with alliteration. Feeding Frenzy, or, um...Death by Dragon.

...Actually no, not that one. That's bad.

But also in what situation would you feed someone's soul to 25 dragons?

[Maybe he will! Maybe he'll explain, if he's asked again, but first, he's been asked to address why a soul should be fed to 25 dragons. Because, on the one hand, there's the natural disasters that would have come, if a game hadn't been played at all, but that was what Yugi had been playing for. The stakes for Atem had been different.]

To keep the dragons from devouring Yugi's soul, instead!

There was a game called "Dragon Cards"...a classmate of Yugi's, Imori, brought it to the game shop one day. Grandpa told him it was very old, and very powerful...and that he must not break the seal on that game, no matter what! If he did, then the negative energy of the dragons would send the world out of balance. He needn't have bothered, though. Imori already knew...and he knew the only way to replace the seal would be to play a shadow game. The loser's soul would go to the dragons...

Edited (tagging awake) 2021-08-15 12:39 (UTC)

Oh.

[Well, that's kind of...heavy. Yugi really was a magnetic attractor for trouble, huh? Which is a rich thought coming from Ryou "I'm keeping this Ring" Bakura, but alas.]

Then...it's understandable. That is to say...I wouldn't want to sacrifice anyone's soul, but if...if they made the choice themselves to break the seal, then you only did what you had to.

For Yugi's sake.

[He doesn't like the idea, but this Imori guy had brought it on himself. Yugi hadn't broken the seal. His soul...needed protecting. Ryou can understand that, and he likes that Atem is willing to protect his other self without question.]

...That means that you bet your soul too, doesn't it?

Yes.

[His soul was absolutely one of the terms of the wager. Atem stands by everything he did to Imori: no one made Imori break the seal, or try to become the guardian of darkness by winning the Millennium Puzzle. A soul had to go in that jar, and Atem had no intention of letting it be his own or Yugi's.

He knows feeding a soul to dragons might hit a little close to home for Ryou. He's glad Ryou understands the situation.]

I really don't understand it.

[It might have almost sounded like he was responding to Atem's thought process there, but actually, Ryou was shifting to a different line of thought.]

...Why are people back home like this? I give this place a great deal of grief for what I've had to do to survive, and what we go through, but Domino isn't a very safe place, is it? All of us have been hurt there, numerous times.

People like Imori exist in all scenarios. People with darkness in their heart exist, always. Like the guy you told me about--Ushio. A-all these people you had to make up penalty games for...they all come from Domino, don't they?

Is it the place, or is it who we are that attracts the darkness?

[He doesn't just mean him or Atem specifically. He means all of their friends too. His mind's just going over the situations, playing the ones he knows out and remembering all of the pain they'd all felt...

Then suddenly, he shakes his head.]

I'm sorry. maybe we shouldn't talk about this. It's too heavy, isn't it? We were having fun before.

It is heavy...

[But that's not said in a way where Atem sounds like he's complaining. He retreats a little, so that he can bump the top of his head under Ryou's jaw, then retreats a lot, so that he can place his chin on top of Ryou's head, settling right at the top, facing the same direction as Ryou. It's warm!]

...but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it! I've always thought it was that the world was full of people like that...people who didn't care who they hurt, as long as they came out on top. A lot of times, when Yugi was attacked, it was because those people thought he would be an easy target! There were exceptions, of course...Imori was actually after the power of darkness itself, so you could say he was drawn to us...but mostly, it was that they thought they could get away with anything, if they did it to someone like Yugi.

[He's not initially cognizant of it, but Ryou does lower his chin just a little, as if to meet Atem's movement with his own. Afterwards, he considers that perhaps it was a foolish show of affection--something he keeps doing way too much, when he knows it's not right.

But having Atem settle himself atop Ryou's head makes him reconsider. There's nothing strange about it. It's okay. Atem's doing it...so it's fine.]

Yugi...I feel so terribly for him, he's gone through so much. He has such a kind and powerful soul. I wish I had his strength. N-not that...I don't have my own kind of strength. You've shown me that, more than once. But Yugi has always been a kind, accepting person. He never deserved all the people who hurt him, and even though they did, he finds a way to forgive the transgressions of some...who probably don't deserve it.

[If Atem were capable of closing his eyes in this form, he would. He's content here. But he can't! So, he looks out the window, watching the arcade approach.]

He's very kind. But he gets angry, too...

I'd like to protect his kindness, if I can! But the anger might serve him better here. The kind of righteous fury that used to call me...when someone had been hurt, but he didn't have the power to make it right...

The best that you can do is to protect what you can. Preserving who we are at our core is the best we can do...because anything else is tainted by this place.

[It's awful to say, but Ryou knows it's true, and he's sure Atem does as well. They've done plenty of things they regret here. Now they just need to protect Yugi from suffering more than he needs to.]

...It looks like we're getting close. I would like to talk about Yugi later though...about what I can do to help him, too.

[He's a shade. He knows that his friendship with Yugi will become troublesome since they're opposing monster types...but he still wants to be a good friend.]

[There's a little snod (snake nod) against the top of Ryou's head.]

You're right...and, I think you'll be able to help in a way I can't.

[Because of shades' feeding type. Yugi believes Ryou is still the same person he always was, even though he's got to eat some souls so that he doesn't lose his mind and eat all the souls, so...having them talk...Atem thinks it will be helpful.

But they're almost there! The cab is pulling up outside the arcade, and Atem slithers down Ryou's shoulder, unwinding himself and getting ready to get out. Down the arm he goes!]

Edited 2021-08-18 19:00 (UTC)

[Ryou follows him out and that'll go places!

...After which point they head back out, presumably to call another taxi. Ryou's not quite sure how far out from the arcade their original destination is, but he trusts Atem's judgment in the matter.

He's pretty worn out already, but he definitely puts forth an effort to hide it. He did agree to come, and no detour was going to make him back out of that. Most especially not when Atem had gone through the trouble of trying to fix another of Ryou's problems.]

[He's already flagging one down, and Ryou's getting helped in, and this time, instead of trying to curl his travel form up on the seat, Atem proactively slithers across Ryou's knees, then loops back, and loops around Ryou's right arm, once, before pushing himself back up to eye level. Nice and anchored!

He directs the driver to an address near the edge of Bavan, then settles in.]

I know we're making this trip for a serious reason, but I've been meaning to show you this place for a while. There just wasn't time in July.

[Stay with him, buddy. This is the last leg of the trip out, and if Ryou ends up taking a dirt nap, all the better. He might be more rested for the trip home...and by then, Dr. Pierce will have finished the autopsy. Who's got no thumbs and is the king of time management, this guy.]

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.

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TELL ME meme but it's ryou being a baby

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jump to after prosthetic measuring & head to graveyard?

yeah i'm good with that!

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