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knifemonopoly) wrote2021-02-05 06:28 pm
knifemonopoly) wrote2021-02-05 06:28 pm
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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. | ||||
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...well, being hit with a little bit of snow is less cozy. Luckily, he's got a jacket on, but it does hit his cheek. Atem wipes it away, looking in surprise at just how fast the clump of flakes turned into water.]
It melted...
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[Ryou moves all the way inside, allowing Atem to follow more easily. He has the decency to look a little sheepish about it, but his body language isn't too terribly off-putting. No tail tucking, no ear flattening, though one does flick to the side a little.]
I'm not sure if it melted so fast because it's cozy in here, or because you're just warm, honestly.
[He says it with a bit of amusement in his tone. It really could have been worse!]
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[The words are mean but the tone is sympathetic; poor guy can't get close to snow without it turning into slush.]
I hope he temp-swaps to something good next year, so he can "enjoy the season properly."
[He's making idle, fond conversation as he navigates his coat around his shoulder-spikes. Taking it off is always a whole thing...how does anyone deal with spines like this all the time?
He hasn't noticed yet that someone's been in here.]
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It's not his fault, he couldn't choose his own monster type, but I do hope that he can afford a swap as well, for next winter. Being a demon has benefits, but...um...
[Ryou trails off suddenly, his nose twitching. Hmm. Something...is different in here, than when they left. It smells like...]
Atem? Did you...ask Mana for something?
[He remembers her scent, from when he'd extended this change.]
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[Still, it doesn't preclude the possibility of someone else buying them something from her. He trusts Ryou's nose -- if he says Mana's been here, Atem trusts him.]
Someone else might have asked her for something for one of us, though. As long as it's an item, not a power, it's allowed...
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[Ryou seems distracted as he says that, but that's normal like this--once he's on a scent, he gets pretty focused. He sniffs a few good times, getting a half-decent read of the room. It's not far away at all, actually. It seems like she left something on--there. On the kitchen counter. He pads over to it, reaching a hand out to grab...]
...A snowglobe?
[There's two, actually. But Ryou grabs the one that's closest. As luck would have it...that one's his. Curiously, he gives it a shake and waits for the snow to settle inside while glancing back at Atem.]
I suppose as long as it's not dangerous, right? I think there's one for each of us...
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[Atem picks the other one up, which has Mana and her batlike wings spread around the bottom of the globe serving as a base, and turns it around curiously.
....
Oh.
He goes quiet, looking at it.
Surrounded by friends...the first moment he realized he wasn't fighting alone...who gave him this?
Red-on-black eyes flick up, glance over to Ryou's, curious and more indiscreet than usual. What's in his boyfriend's?]
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A family. Every person in the family had snowy white hair--a mother, a father, and two children. It looks like they're getting ready to pose for a photo, actually. Ryou...remembers it. He doesn't remember the occasion, but he recalls, vaguely, that they were trying to look nice.
His mother...his mother...he hasn't seen her in so long that he'd nearly forgotten what she looked like. Her hair was much softer than his, feathered lower at the tips, and her eyes were a rich brown, her skin just as light as his used to be. Amane...her skin was a little closer to their father's tone, but she'd gotten their mother's hair.
They...they all looked so happy here. He looked happy, holding his sister's hand, with his father's gently rested on his shoulder.
Ryou sets the globe down, his ears slicked back. This...no one should know about this. No one cared enough. No one knew his mother's face.
He backs off for a moment, stepping away from it. He's...distrustful of it.]
That's...
[The words die on his lips.]
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[He knows Ryou's relationship with his dad was not good, not good at all. He knows Ryou's sister was gone. He doesn't know anything about Ryou's mother.
Seeing something like this...is it making Ryou happy? Or complicated?]
...do you mind if I take a closer look? If it's all right, I'd like to see them.
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[Ryou isn't entirely sure if this is making him happy or not. His body language is uncertain...a bit frightened. But he doesn't stop looking at the globe, because it...it's his family, like Atem said. Maybe his family is broken now, but it wasn't always...
He shifts from one foot to the other, hands clasping at opposite elbows and his ears still flattened. His family...his mother. They're in there. He can't quite process that they're in there.
Atem will be able to tell that the Amane who he saw back in February was not the Amane inside the snow globe now. Ryou's mind had simply filled in the gaps, brought her to an age that fit her better--to match her brother. But in the globe, they look near the same age, around eight or nine perhaps. After all, Ryou doesn't look much younger than he had as a child during September.
This picture...it wasn't taken long before the accident. He can't remember when, everything's fuzzy...but that much is obvious. So...Amane had never gotten to grow up.]
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He looks at the family -- at how they look alike, how they look different. That's Ryou's mother. That's Amane -- as she was, at this moment. Going from Ryou's appearance, this was at least ten years ago...
His own curiosity satisfied, their images in his head, he sets it down and looks back at Ryou. A hand goes to Ryou's upper arm, warm and solid.]
D'you want to tell me about them?
[Because if Ryou does, Atem will listen. He wants to know about them, now that he knows what they look like.]
cw for a little 90s era toxic masculinity
I've never brought it up. With anyone. N-no one's ever asked either, h-haha...heh...
[He laughs, it's awkward and sad and uncertain and his tail's curling around his leg so tightly that it betrays him. As if the ears wouldn't. Ha.
It should be rewarded, he supposes. Atem cared enough to ask, so Ryou can offer him at least some kind of courtesy. He doesn't move much, except to turn and face Atem, smile softly.]
I had a nice family. My sister, you've seen her before, sort of. Not the real her, of course. The one in the globe though, that's the real her. I couldn't have asked for a better sister. She was much more boisterous than me, and I suppose she had to be, since I was always...like this. Q-quiet.
...She used to tell the other schoolkids to leave me alone. My hair, it was pretty long, even when I was young, and I wasn't really...they thought I was girly. Isn't that funny...?
[Ryou's not sure...if this is what Atem meant, but he's speaking freely now.]
Sometimes, the things I remember, they're few and far between. It's normal to forget things as you get older.
[That's how he's always thought of it anyway. He doesn't know any better, really.]
And not all of the things are happy. But if it's Amane, or my mother...there's nothing I can remember that was really terrible.
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What was your mom like? You -- remember her name, right?
[Remembering his own mother's name...it'd been a big deal, for him. He'd told Ryou -- Ryou'd been the first one to ask, the first one to hear it spoken aloud in three thousand years. Atem wants to know Mrs. Bakura's in return.
He keeps his hand on Ryou's upper arm, listening.]
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But Atem had asked, and continued to seek more information. It's nice. It's...very heartening.]
Hayami. That was her name.
S-she was...she was a very kind person, my mother. I'm sure our home wouldn't have felt so welcoming if not for her touch. I-it's not that Papa--that my father...was a bad person. He just...traveled a lot for his job. And his work was very demanding, but before--
[Ryou suddenly stiffens, and the fur along his back and shoulders prickles up. Even his hair seems to fluff up a little.]
B-before...the accident, we still managed to make it all work out. [Yes. Keep talking. It's fine.] Father would travel, Mother would stay at home, with us. Mostly. During summers, um...w-we'd rotate who spent time traveling with Father. Me or Amane.
So that we could see different places...but I liked being home with her. It was nice reading books, or playing games...she never had a problem with any of our interests.
[And Ryou had some...rather interesting ones, after all. But his mother never cared. Her love was unconditional.]
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[he's got no idea that no one in domino gave a shit]
She didn't mind you trying to talk to ghosts?
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[He smiles at last, because he's remembering something nice, and his fur flattens back down again, slowly.]
She would...cover my eyes if things got too scary, or inappropriate. I remember trying to pull apart her fingers, so I could see, but she was way too strong for a kid like me.
...I-I'm sorry, am I talking too much? Surely...you didn't mean to prompt all of this, did you? It's just a snowglobe.
[It's just his family, back when they weren't broken...]
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[His clawed hand stays, warm, on Ryou's upper arm.]
It's much more than "just a snowglobe"! It's something important about you that I didn't know before. I'm glad to know your mother was so good...and to know her name, and what she looked like.
[He sure as shit meant to prompt all of that. This is exactly what Atem wanted to hear about, when he asked.]
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Thank you...for caring. No one's asked before. Not even Yugi. No one knows about my mother, you know? And I don't live with my father anymore--less so here. H-haha...
[Atem caring enough to ask his mother's name, and what she was like? It was truly more than enough to remind Ryou why he loved him.]
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No one had asked...?
Maybe they had been trying to avoid bringing up bad memories. But it had made Ryou feel like no one was interested...]
No one knew about my mother, either. Not until September.
[It had meant a lot, to him, to get to say her name out loud.]
Let's remember their names together. Okay?
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[Maybe Atem had told other people. It's okay, it's not as if he couldn't. But Ryou feels that between them, sharing something about long-forgotten parents that were good and kind is special. A cherished pair of memories.
A hand traces up along the gap between Atem's wings where they join at his back, his pads only softly pressing against Atem's body, mapping the space out softly.]
...I love you.
[There's something so reverent in his words as he stands on one knee, feeling Atem's tail wrapping around his own, the wings and arms encircling him and making him feel wanted.
His gratitude towards Atem can't be measured. He's always so interested in Ryou, and Ryou shouldn't be surprised anymore, but he can't help it.
Remembering Atem's mother is the best he can do. Kiya...he will remember. Names are important, after all. Good family even moreso.]
All this from a snow globe...It's a good thing after all, then.
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If Ryou weren't quite so thoroughly covered in fur, Atem might be tempted to make a move, because having hands at his back always feels important...but, they've just been talking about family, the mood's probably not right anyway.
So, instead, Atem gives a single, firm nod.]
Yes! Yes, this gift...I think it's good.
I love you, too.
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He just wants to hold the demon in his arms as close as possible, cherish him and appreciate everything he does and represents.]
...I think perhaps...she would have liked you. If she could have met you. My mother...though, I'm twice as certain you and Amane would have gotten along.
[Two confident souls put in the same room, and she wouldn't even have to defend her brother. He wonders...what would she have been like at this age with him? How would she have grown?
He's happy for the globe, happy that Atem wanted to talk about his family with him, but that thought, it brings him back a little, reminds him why he misses his sister and mother at all, and his ears slick back a little.]
I miss them. It's nice to see them, b-but...I still miss them.
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...remembering family that's gone...it's good to have memories of them, but it can still make you feel lonely, if you think about them long enough.
[He knows that now. Atem's family...they've been dead for so long...they're separated by an ocean of time, and any remains might not even have made it, or been identifiable if they had...]
But I'm glad I got to see them. Maybe one day, I'll be able to show you something like it.
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[Ryou's tail twitches a little, but he doesn't dislodge it from Atem's, nor does he move away from him. The petting is comforting. Being close like this...it's always good. This kind of thing makes him feel utterly at home, and not so upset that he doesn't have any family here.]
Besides, we both believe in life after death, right...? We'll see them again. For certain.
[Ryou doesn't necessarily tie his beliefs into religion. He...struggles with religion as a concept. But if he didn't believe in life after death, then he wouldn't have gotten so fixated on Ouija as a means of communication. Sure, it didn't work out for him, but he still believed in the concept.]
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[Atem shuts his eyes, nuzzles the side of Ryou's neck. If all 7 Millennium Items are collected, and the Eye of Wadjet judges him worthy in the ceremonial battle...it's possible to reach the afterlife, even without the proper rites done to his body and a tomb to sustain his spirit. He can get there...and, he believes, Ryou will, too.]
Even we doubted sometimes whether we were right about the afterlife. We built tombs and maintained offerings for decades, and we recited the dead's names dutifully...but sometimes we wondered if we had it right, since no one ever came back to tell us.
But there is an afterlife. I was sent to it, and I came back. I might not remember, but...that's the proof we were always looking for. So, you'll definitely see your family again!
We both will.
time to ask a gay question
"no, god, i don't want to be married. i do, though, want to spend forever with you"