knifemonopoly | IC inbox

[That is exactly what Ryou means by ethical though now he has to wonder who Atem knows that can just give bones away for free? Their bones? Bones they own?? It is a mystery.

But that's fine because the movie is on and now they're back with the rest of the group.

Ryou squints at the screen.]

Wait. Hanklin had his knife before didn't he? It's not like a knife will save them, but I swear...he's kind of a whiny jerk.

[Ryou over here with mildly offensive opinions?! Sheesh!]

You're right though, the other guy is walking to his death. Hopefully more creative than blunt force trauma, but old movies like this do sometimes recycle.

I think so...

[Atem...thinks Hanklin lost his knife, at some point. Is that going to be important? He's not sure. But it's extremely funny to see this side of Ryou -- opinionated and a critic about horror fiction! Atem thinks Hanklin's a little too quick to try to gross other people out, but it's behavior he'd have tolerated too much of in his own friends. And besides, Hanklin's the only one who suspects someone might be after them!]

Are you critiquing the Chopman's style?

[Oh, no, Paisley Shirt's checking the freezer the girlfriend was last seen in.]

Oh, there she--

[She's still for a moment -- but then bursts out of the freezer. This gets Atem to jump -- not far, but the full-body twitch will be very obvious to the boyfriend on his shoulder.]

--ah!

[And then the Chopman comes out of nowhere -- with the blunt force trauma.]

She was alive, you were right!

[But Paisley Shirt's hit hard, and oops, Atem's out of his own drink. He leans forward to refill it. He's playing cautiously and sticking to the rules!]

Just a little, but it's not the movie's fault! It's probably just a product of its time, you know? It wasn't contrived then.

[Ryou has Big Opinions about horror movies, okay? He loves them but he also likes to talk to them, and Atem's letting him do it, so it's even better. He may also be a little sugar rushed, and he's definitely a tiny bit buzzed.

When Atem jumps, he can't help the little smile on his face. He tries to stay serious and does not laugh but it is a tiny bit funny. A silly little horror movie got Atem to flinch, huh?

He'll file that away for later, but for now...he straightens both to take a drink of his own and allow Atem to top his glass up.]

Told you~

[Did he just lilt there? Boy...]

I don't think we'll see her again, and you don't have to drink but I think I will. I'll bet on it!

[Just look at that dead expression on her face, it couldn't be clearer. The next death is Hanklin's a little later on, and when Ryou drinks for that one, he's pretty sure that they've reached the climax of the film. He's also...pretty sure he's starting to feel the wine, because he's fallen off with his commentary in favor of cuddling with Atem.

He's still watching! He totally is, he's just...comfy. Yep. How he can be this comfortable watching someone else die and then watching Tally run away from quite possibly the most athletic backwater chainsaw-wielder is anyone's guess. He drinks for the dead couple upstairs--should he? Shouldn't he? Too late, he did it. The wine tastes really nice, okay?

...Sorry Atem, your boyfriend might just be a lush for today.]

If that's your call, then I'll put my trust in it, too.

[Pour one out for freezer girl. And for the decision to leave the car to look for their friends, and Hanklin's death, and Tally getting her cut sucked by a living corpse, and...

...yeah, he's fallen off of talking. His whole body's become very warm, and it's nice to hold Ryou. There's a lot of screaming, a lot of close-up shots of eyes so close you can count the lashes, and honestly, stroking Ryou's shoulder idly with his fingers as his arm rests around Ryou's back is a little more fun. His face tilts against the top of Ryou's head, cheek pressed against his hair.]

D'you think she's going to get away alive?

[In Ryou's expert opinion.]

[Ryou's watching...he's watching but Atem is distracting him with all that softness and tender touching and it's niiiice.

When he's addressed, it takes him a moment or two, but he does respond.]

Hmmm, yeah...probably. Good movie's gonna leave one alive. Just my thought. Needs a happy ending.

[Ryou brings the drink to his lips when Tally gets whacked with a hammer, he'd already put off drinking at the finger-sucking, since he couldn't un-drink for the apparently not-dead grandfather but that hammer looked gruesome.

...The other times though, where she's only mildly tapped, he doesn't.]

What about you? You think she'll get away? They're...dragging it out a little.

[Speaking of dragging, he shifts a little, wrapping an arm around Atem to hold him like a body pillow. He's feeling pretty relaxed right now.]

'S turning into torture porn.

[...Wait. What the fuck did he just say? Ryou's ears flick upward as he realizes what words had accidentally escaped his mouth. He's, uh. He's not sure whether to laugh or to apologize. So he freezes.]

--???

[Scuse him, what? What did Ryou just say??]

Turning into what, now?

[Did he hear that right? Torture porn? He's been drinking for an hour now and he's confused as hell about the implications there.]

T...orture porn?

[Oh fuck. Ryou's so conflicted, what the hell does he do? What does he say?]

...I just meant...they're...torturing her a lot...I don't know why I said that canwepretendididntsaythat?

....

Heh--pffft--hrrk--

[Sorry, Ryou.]

Ha ha ha ha ha--!!

[The idea of someone beating their meat, if you will, to Vandare Chainsaw Massacre is too much for him. Oh god. Oh god you don't think that's why they drew this out, do you? That's horrible, and also, extremely funny.]

Oh, I hope that's not why they're drawing out the action like that! The actress should be paid double, if what she's doing is having the same effect as that kind of work!

[No. No no no don't laugh oh god now he's shaking with his own suppressed giggles, because Atem laughing is not only cute, it's incredibly contagious. Furthermore, he just brought up a good point that made Ryou think of something else.

Which, in turn, makes him snort unattractively before explaining himself.]

Pffh, look. D-did you see that...that up-shot tracking whatever-her-name's whole butt? All the way up to the house??

[Oh man. Oh, the word butt is funny right now, he can't deny it.

Everything's funny. Why is everything funny?! What's even going on in the movie anymore?!]

[Pfffffff oh no he's so confused--]

Why did they do that?! The point of this movie is to be frightening! It's not that kind of film, right?

[Look, the only other horror Atem's seen up to this point has been atmospheric Hitchcock-style fare. He's not well versed in "watch them fuck, watch them die" as a horror staple.]

For aesthetic, b-but really...really it's probably just the moviemakers trying to cash in on a good looking woman. Terrible, really. It's awful, no one ought to be objectified in such a way.

And you're right, it's not that kind of film, it should carry itself on the horror. And yet here we are!

[...Ryou is definitely on a tangent, but Atem had asked, and so he had to answer and now he's taking a drink because the Chopman almost sawed his leg off. ]

B-but anyway, torture porn isn't about it being horny right out in the open like tracking a woman's behind, 's about being made for people who...who get off to seeing people hurt. Which is like half of this peninsula now that we're on the subject.

And also that's terrible too!

[Ryou no.

He has to be stopped. Stop him, he's losing objectivity and starting to expand the topic. Atem has only one chance to make Ryou calm the hell down before he goes off on a longer tangent about horror movies, oversexualization, and the loss of substance to the inclusion of over-the-top torture elements.]

[Wow....he didn't know Ryou had those kinds of feelings about it.]

You're right. Feeling excited about seeing someone hurt...that's wrong. It's not a good kind of person, who feels that way...or, if they do, it's important that they find a partner who likes being hurt, too. If everyone's okay with it, and there are limits everybody agrees to, then it's fine...

[Hey, guess who talked to Larry Laffer about masochism once?]

But you have to be really careful, to do bad things in a good way, so it feels bad, but also good....

[And is drunk?]

A partner who likes being hurt?

[Inadvertently, that's the stopgap. Ryou has to put his pretty sloshed mind to work there.]

H-haha. That's kind of. I mean, who likes to be hurt while you're trying to be romantic. Is that romantic?

[They're in credits territory now, the movie's over, now they can just discuss the merits of pain during intimate situations. Because Ryou is legitimately curious how that even works and he's too tipsy to be embarrassed about it.]

I don't even like pain. I can't really imagine anyone liking it during intimacy. You...you gotta explain. You can't just say that. B-bring it up and then...we can't just. We gotta talk about it.

[They don't? But they do??]

It's, uh. It's something some of the other monsters do. I can name at least one person who definitely likes being hurt, but I'm not sure if that's because he likes pain or because he wants to be punished. He ended up in a pretty bad situation because of it, since his partner didn't care about him, and just wanted to give pain...

[IT'S JAVERT, HE'S TALKING ABOUT JAVERT.]

But I understand it's possible to have a relationship like that where everyone's satisfied.

[Is he blushing? He's blushing.]

[...Why is he blushing. Is he blushing because he's interested? Oh...oh dear.

Ryou shouldn't assume, but one thing's for sure. He's draining his glass and setting it down because this sure is a discussion, isn't it?]

I mean...it's kinda unhealthy to like it because you think you deserve to be punished, maybe? But if...two adults consent on the matter and there's not baggage and the partners care about one another...then maybe it'd be okay.

Y'know if it's...something you wanted to do.

[He accepts you, Atem. He's not sure if he's ready to commit to this lifestyle but IF YOU LIKE IT HE ACCEPTS YOU!]

W-what?

No, I -- I'm talking about somebody else! I don't like the idea of hurting someone I care about at all!

Did you think I did?!

[He's blushing because he's full of wine and also talking about Javert's sex life. Who WOULDN'T blush?]

N-no, I just wanted to make sure--what I mean is...!!

I don't want you to feel stifled if you felt that way, I'd try stuff for you!

[Ryou can't shut up he needs to shut up holy shit. The valve has been opened though, and now he's got his foot in his mouth. The solution? MAKE IT WORSE!]

I don't think you'd want to hurt me or anything, because you know I don't tolerate pain well, but of what you're talking about, there's...there's some stuff that overlaps and people probably think about it because you...you wear a collar!

[SHIT. Oh no. Bad. BAD!!!]

Which is--is totally fine! Wearing a collar is fine, I couldn't imagine you without one! I'd wear one, they're so cool!

[There. Saved it.

Wait. WAIT????]

Except you know...it...d-doesn't seem like it'd look good on me. Uhm. I think...the movie's done rewinding though, I should go get that, right? I should...go take care of the movie, put it back where it belongs!

[He starts to pull away from Atem, because that--ALL OF THAT--was bad and he needs to not be looked at. Do not perceive him!]

What does a collar have to do with anything....?

[He says, like he's wondering it out loud. He's not going to stop Ryou, he's just going to sit here as his brain buzzes, entirely unaware of what assumptions might or might not be made about him because he wears collars.

?? ??? ??

Still, it's....it's extremely sweet that, if he were into giving or receiving pain, Ryou's apparently willing to try it for him. Luckily, Ryou doesn't have to worry about that, but....wow, what a sweetheart.]

I think a collar would look fine on you.

[This isn't even horny. This is just an Atem Fashion Opinion.]

Th-That's very nice of you to say...

[Untrue, but nice. And he focuses on that because being the reader of romance novels that he is, he's not sure if he wants to engage with "what does a collar have to do with anything?"

Because sometimes you read romance novels with some interesting, vaguely control-based themes in them that don't quite pass into the SM part of BDSM, and you realize that your best friend at school might be into stuff, and then you never, ever ask because then you'd have to move to a new school.

Ryou does get up the rest of the way and move towards the VCR, intending to do what he said. He has to walk slow though, because getting up made him lightheaded. It's not too bad though.]

Maybe someday I can try one out.

~~[Foreshadowing that he won't remember later.]~~

[Atem will remember this.

When, you know, it's time.

For now, though, he rests one elbow on the arm of the couch, and rests his chin on his hand, and watches Ryou make his way over to the VCR. He's going to forget about what anyone else might assume about him from wearing a collar, because whatever they think is obviously their problem, they don't know him. If they did, they'd be able to tell he wasn't a creep, or whatever collars signal.

Besides, it makes wearing the Millennium Puzzle all the time more comfortable. He spaces out a little, watching Ryou go and deciding not to give a fuck.]

Did you want to watch another one?

Edited 2021-11-12 21:31 (UTC)

[Ryou takes his time ejecting the tape, sliding it back into its case, and getting up. He's really in no rush to do anything, honestly. Some of it's embarrassment, some of it has to do with the warm, slightly dizzying feeling from the wine. He's pretty sure he could drink more without repercussions...but for now, this is a good stopping point.

As for another movie...he stands, glancing back at Atem as he thinks it over.]

Mmm...maybe in a minute. Especially if we're making another drinking game for it.

[Responsible adult? Responsible adult.]

That wine...it's pretty good though. You make good choices.

[He slides the tape back onto the shelf it came from, then moves back to the couch, taking his seat close to Atem once more. With no movie to worry about for the moment, he takes the time to get close and wrap both arms around the smaller monster.

Which is a bit of a comedy, because he has to slide one underneath Atem's back, carefully so as not to be a total menace. But Ryou doesn't care, he just wants to cuddle. Be close.]

How are you doing?

[...Something about the way he asks that is exceedingly adorable. It's caught between teasing and curiosity, with a definite lean towards the former.]

[--oof, that's really cute. Help. Super effective. Atem ends up turning to face him, leaning against the arm of the couch, getting his own arm around Ryou's shoulders.]

I've never been better.

[It's only obvious to someone who knows him well: the absence of usual sharp focus, the slight slowing-down of his response time, the less-than-perfect precision of his movements, the fuzziness of his words and tone -- he's not any more sober than Ryou. A break between games is absolutely necessary; another one like that, and Atem will be completely out of control of his faculties. No one wants to see that happen.]

Good. Because this is about the nicest birthday I've had ssssince...hm. Since before the whole Ring thing. I wouldn't want to be thoroughly pleased about it while you weren't!

[And he is thoroughly pleased. Seriously, before Ryslig he lived alone in his apartment and mostly kept to himself. Even with friends, he didn't like to draw too much attention to himself. But here, he had someone who had thought it through enough to buy him wine, watch scary movies with him, buy him sweets...

It's just!

So nice!

Nice enough that now that they're facing each other, Ryou leans in for a greedy little kiss that's all wine-flavored with sugar from the macarons as well. He's buzzed, but the relaxed state is counteracted by all the sugary things he's eaten in between.]

[...oh, Ryou...Ryou actually tastes really nice.

Atem didn't expect that.

Maybe that's weird. Maybe, as a vampire, he's more attuned to that sort of thing than usual. Maybe he's just drunk! But Atem finds himself with dark purple bruise-blushes forming on his face, and fingers curling in Ryou's shirt, and he's returning the greedy little kiss with open enthusiasm.

The best birthday in that long? Really? This would be kind of sad, and Atem would be mad about it, if he weren't, you know, busy. Next year. Next year this won't be so last-minute. Even if the whole peninsula is falling apart, Atem will make sure Ryou has as many friends as possible around to spend the day with him.

First, though, kissing. When it breaks, Atem still has the little purple splotches high on his cheeks.]

...you're sweet...

[Ryou takes the compliment at face value, not at all catching on that it could be meant literally. Instead, he's finding himself thoroughly charmed with the fact that Atem is blushing, which tends to be, in Ryou's opinion, a special thing. He's not always fresh off a feeding, after all, and sometimes the color's harder to see.

So, naturally...he presses a kiss to one cheek, then the other, smiling all the while.]

I think you're the sweet one. H-haha!

[He continues to pepper gentle kisses all over Atem's face--his forehead, the tip of his nose, his lips (briefly), and then along his jawline. He's not sure why he's so terribly fascinated with Atem's skin...he just is. He wants to kiss every bit of his face!

Someone...gets very lovey when he's drunk.]

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gonna gently skip a little bit to speed things along, lmk if that's ok or not!

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cw; sexual objectification, he's going OFF sorry

discussion of S&M. this is where we are.

continued discussion of s&m, down the rabbit hole we go

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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.