knifemonopoly | IC inbox

[Ryou lets out a surprised sound as he's tugged down, made to look Atem in the eye after all. It usually sharpens his focus, to have Atem do this, to be made to answer questions, but all it does at first is take him back to that night, settled before two husks and a man whose throat he'd ripped out, whose flesh had stuck in his teeth because he'd bitten so hard, drank so deeply that all he could do was stand there and let cold, unfeeling words tumble out past bloody lips.

He remembers Atem pulling him by the collar then as well...the moments are smeared together, like so much spilled blood, thick and slippery and red.

Ryou does hear the final question, and it pulls him back a little. Not completely, but enough to answer faintly:]

I'm...yours.

That's right.

[Atem releases the collar, for now. Both his hands come up to Ryou's jaw, holding him in place.]

You shouldn't steal yourself from me, and give you to somebody else. That wouldn't be right either, would it?

[Keep him talking. Frame it any way you have to, to keep him here, to stop him from making his pain worse. A stay in La Forteresse helps no one. Not the people who were hurt, and not the one who did the hurting.]

Whose rules did you break? Mine, or AM's?

I broke the rules of this place, Atem. I broke your rules too, didn't I? I wasn't meant to be your penalty game...doesn't that bother you?

[The hands at either side of his face leave no room for movement. Ryou isn't going anywhere, and he accommodates their height difference as if there isn't one at all, but...in the dim light, it's easy to see his tail starting to glow, purple...then white.]

I don't want AM to hurt me. I'm not trying to take myself from you. But I hurt the situation of so many monsters here. That's the rules...just because Javert won't admit I did something wrong doesn't mean it's true. He's biased.

[Ryou's evidently not convinced yet, that he shouldn't go to monster prison.]

[He knows Ryou feels guilty. He needs something to deal with that guilt -- guilt that might be Atem's fault for involving him, and might be Ryou's fault, for choosing to pursue this path -- and that something absolutely, positively can't be AM.

Frankly...Atem's less bothered than he might be, that his game was interrupted, changed. A while ago, he might have been, but now...? Now he's more than an instrument of the shadow games. It doesn't set off the old sense of nails on a chalkboard, of wrongness.

But Ryou won't accept that right now.]

And will letting AM hurt you help the other monsters' situation?

[Another possibility occurs to him, and he goes on:]

Did somebody tell you that it would?

[Ryou lets out a sharp, frustrated exhale.]

Everyone wants us to be punished.

If I'm punished, then maybe they'll stop caring. Maybe I'll stop caring...

[And there it is. Ryou, once again, letting the whole of the monster population get in his head. Admittedly, people telling him he's making excuses and insulting him is...it's a lot.

His next words are quiet.]

I deserve it. It's like someone's screaming at me in my own head...

Edited (actually lemme add one more. tiny thing.) 2022-03-31 00:31 (UTC)

[He won't stop caring.

The peninsula won't stop caring.

If they even find out Ryou went to the prison, which they might not...

Atem shakes his head.]

I don't care what they want.

I only care about you.

They won't stop caring. They didn't stop caring about Daniel, or Javert. You're falling into a trap that's designed to cause you more suffering, and you'll only come out of it with more scars on your heart, more easy to hurt. And I'll be hurt, because you're a part of my heart, and what hurts you hurts me.

[But, if Ryou needs something to get him out of his own head...

Atem takes a deep breath, and lets it out.]

You broke the rules of my game. If it's a penalty you want, I'll give it to you.

[Ryou's almost completely softened and distracted by Atem's words, to the point that his tail glow starts to fade back, and he almost. Almost relaxes, because Atem's speaking logic at him. He knows it's true

(but you still did something wrong)

and he knows that what he's doing is charting a path down an inescapable road of agony. Ryou doesn't want to hate himself.

(you should)

He just does, with particular regard to this. There's something uncomfortable and angry in him, and he's begun to grow very familiar with it and isolate it as something that's joined the low hum of emotions he can't really control, ever since January.

...Those same angry, dark emotions are brought to attention when Atem mentions a penalty. His glowing eyes focus up, not because he wants to suffer that penalty, but because his brain's eating itself alive.

(you deserve it you deserve it you broke it you have to fix it)]

...Tell me what I can do. I want to make it right. I don't want to end up like...like them.

[Congratulations, Atem. You have found the correct dialogue.]

Unfortunately...nothing here will ever be "right." It can't be made that way...we can only protect ourselves, and what matters to us, and leave it to others to protect what matters to them.

But...

[Behind his eyes, his mind is racing, wheels turning.]

...let me see what can be done, to quiet your mind, to balance the scales in your heart.

[Maybe, if he can trick Ryou's mind into thinking it's already been punished, it can work like the Haftesal procedure...give the heart something close enough to what it's craving to let the worst of it pass by.]

If you tell me "enough," I'll stop. Do you understand?

I know. Nothing here is okay. That's why I chose this path.

[Much like before, Ryou's tone is quiet and distant. Part of him...it wants to run away from that, make it dead to him, because doesn't it hurt? Isn't it painful to have to remember this?

No. No, that's not a thought he should be having. Instead, he nods to acknowledge the rest of what Atem says.]

I understand what you're saying.

I'm in your hands.

[He nods.

Where should they do this...? He doesn't want it to be in a place that feels too unsafe, but if it goes wrong, and makes a place that feels safe feel unsafe, that's not good either....]

Where would you like to do this? We can do it here, or...I can make you feel as though you're somewhere else, if "home" isn't right.

[This is the first time he's hinted at what his tier 2 powers can do.]

You choose. And, if going somewhere else isn't right either, I can bring you back.

[Ryou glances around the apartment from his vantage. He looks at the bookshelves, the sofa, the coffin-table. He can't see Tybolt...but knows he's around.

This...is Ryou's home. This is where he feels most comfortable, where he retreats to hide when the world is too much to handle. He doesn't want it to become an ugly place where all he can remember is that he told the person he cherishes most to punish him.

...He can also read between the lines, upset or not. He gets the idea of what Atem's insinuating, and it's not something that was native to his power set as a vampire. It doesn't sound like it.

It sounds...scary. But...]

Somewhere different. This is our home, I don't want to be here for this.

...I trust you, with all my heart.

[Which is, ultimately, a very ~~gay~~ odd thing to say when you're telling the person in question to punish you. But Ryou knows what he's asking.]

[He gives Ryou a brief, soft kiss.

Atem already betrayed that trust once, by leading Ryou down a path that made him want to get himself hurt. He won't do it again.

When he pulls away, the world around Ryou will fall away, as well.

He's manacled to a table, and Atem is sitting on the other side of it. The walls are stone, and if Ryou tries to phase out of the restraints, he'll find it very difficult: all his senses tell him, you're in La Forteresse, in a conference-room.

Atem is sitting across from him, a pen and official-looking form in front of him.]

Your confession, please.

[He picks up the pen, places it to the paper.]

This will be going on your official record, and will affect the extent of your sentencing...so, please be thorough. Tell me everything you've done to harm the other monsters.

[Red eyes flick up, to meet Ryou's.]

Whenever you're ready.

Edited 2022-03-31 16:35 (UTC)

[Ryou feels...unbalanced at first, as if he'd blinked and gone somewhere completely different without realizing. It's disorienting and takes him a minute to get used to.

He glances at his hands, moves them a little. The metal is heavy. He can't leave. His eyes half-close, lips parted as he acclimates to this new reality. Then...Atem speaks, and his gaze is drawn upward.]

A-ah. Uhm.

[Confession?

He looks down at the paper...then back up to Atem. A confession. Right.]

Just the monsters...right?

[One long, clawed finger runs along the table, scratching against the surface. It feels real to him. It feels like this is actually happening.

(it should. you belong here)]

I've caused emotional and mental distress to many monsters with my actions, and closed off several of their options for integrating into densely populated human areas like Bavan. I've disadvantaged other shades with what I've done, because no human will ever delineate one shadow from another.

I've said...a lot of things I didn't mean. To make people hate me. Because I...I don't like myself. I said I wouldn't do that again, I'd respect myself better than that, but...I did it anyway.

And I...acted on my own feelings during an event I had no business interrupting. Your game.

[As he speaks, he mostly stares at his own claw, scratching against the table, but from time to time, he peers up at Atem, gauging his expression. That's where his eyes settle at the end of his tirade. on Atem.]

[The pen skitters across the page.

(In reality, Atem's gently directing Ryou to sit down, in one of the living-room chairs.)

The image of Atem murmurs as he takes all this down, disapprovingly.]

Mental and emotional distress -- [to monsters who were warned what the broadcast would involve and watched anyway,] -- sabotage of monsters' integration efforts -- [by participating in an event that would have frightened the humans away from monsters no matter what,] -- especially to shades, who are generally good at integrating with living humans and especially known for their rational level-headed reasoning -- [This is open sarcasm.] -- and...telling lies about yourself. [To protect your friends.]

Finally, losing your composure during another monster's operation. [One that was terrible to watch.] Is that all...?

[His own eyes come up from the paper, meeting Ryou's. They're cool, calculating, weighing.]

[To Ryou's reckoning...it sounds even worse when hearing it parroted back. And he knows, because he's not an idiot, that Atem is being sarcastic with regard to the part about shades.

His claw continues to scratch at the table, harder, making his fingertip ache. His ears lower, and if attention is paid, he averts his eyes. It's always hard to tell, given how they glow.]

...I think that's it.

[Isn't it enough? Wasn't just one or two of those things enough?

Ryou's tail curls around one of his legs, as if to seek some kind of comfort, but if it's him, what comfort is there to give, honestly? He needs to pay it back. That's all...]

All of that's pretty serious! I won't lie, it doesn't look good for you. But...

[He looks at Ryou (sits beside him) across the table (in another chair).]

...you didn't work alone, did you? There were others with you. Others who deserve to be here just as much. You're a criminal, but there was also a mastermind, a thief, a butcher, and the one who made it all public...

[It's meaningless suffering, Atem's found, that's hardest to bear. So, he shifts the focus of the punishment.]

Give me their names, and I'll reduce your sentence. I won't be as hard on you, if I get to penalize them all.

Edited 2022-04-01 00:03 (UTC)

[Impassive as he looks in reality, the Ryou in the hallucination has an immediate reaction to that offer. His shoulders tense, his clawtips all scrape along the surface of the table he's cuffed to as he balls his hands into tight fists, and his tail flashes bright orange.]

No. They don't deserve to be here.

[Ryou sounds very sure of himself there. He won't sell them out. That's why he said all the things he'd said on the network in the first place.]

We aren't going to talk about them. Just me.

[Atem stands, making the chair behind him skid back on the stone floor, making a nails-on-chalkboard scrape. He leans forward, his hands coming to rest on either side of the table, gripping it as his head comes forward. With menace:]

One of them had the idea to put it on television. One of them made the decision to tell humans that nothing can protect them from monsters. One of them cut a human up and called them cattle. And one of them approved the whole thing, and brought the tape to the news station.

They're all as guilty as you, and I want them all.

[He's giving Ryou something to focus on. Something to hold onto. A principle that matters to Ryou, that he can hold onto when this is over: he's not in this alone. He's the kind of monster who stands by his friends. He doesn't have nothing. He has his loyalty, and those monsters are loyal to him, too.]

Give me their names, or you'll get five people's punishments.

[Ryou flinches at the noise, but his gaze turns hard, eyes glowing brighter. Everything about this feels too real.

He remembers the people who told him he was making excuses, who told him that he was protecting his comrades, the ones who publicly renounced his friends, and it makes his lip curl, baring too-white teeth against too-dark skin.]

No.

[That's it. That's all. No. He'd never, ever admit that any of his friends had done this out of malice nor that they deserved punishment. For what, holding a camera? Disarming a lock? Cutting up a corpse?

Claiming power to protect oneself?]

I murdered the humans. I took the power I wanted.

[He leans in closer, matching the intensity in Ryou's voice.]

They all wanted power. And they all took it!

[A hand darts out, snatching Ryou's jaw to bring it closer to Atem's face, the grip hard, unyielding, unkind. Atem growls the words, slow and deliberate.]

You'll tell me what I want to know. You can't take five criminals' worth of punishment without giving in.

[He's talking up suffering that's really not going to be that severe.]

[This time...Ryou doesn't speak. He just stares coldly. It'd probably be more intense if he didn't swallow so hard, if he hadn't winced so hard after being dragged forward roughly by his jaw.

But it's still a challenge, unspoken.

He'll take it. He's placed himself firmly between a massive threat and four friends before, and then he'd given his soul for the victory. This would be nothing.]

....

[He meets Ryou's eyes for a long moment.]

That's too much. You're too proud, Ryou Bakura!

[Then, Ryou's face is shoved away -- not hard enough to send him falling over, but in a way that's dismissive, unimpressed, and might leave him off-balance. He strides around the table, and he unfastens the manacle-chain from the table. The heavy iron cuffs still press chill against Ryou's wrists, far too small to even entertain the hope of getting past his large shade-hands, and as Atem manhandles Ryou roughly, bringing his hands behind his back and fastening the cuffs together, he says:]

I'll break your pride. I'll show you your strength means nothing. It's only a matter of time.

[And he'll be marched, hands behind his back, to a holding cell (to his room) and sat down on a cold, ugly, utilitarian bench (his bed).]

[Ryou lets out a soft grunt as his head is shoved, and before he can center up again, glare at Atem--

--he's being pulled up, his arms are twisting uncomfortably. His tail whips to the side, glowing bright red, if only briefly. He deserves this...but it doesn't mean he has to like it.

Pride, though...is this pride? Is this what pride feels like? He has to think on it, because the words don't intimidate him quite as much as he'd expect. Is it...because he's thinking of his friends? Do they give him pride, he wonders?

When he's sat again, on the uncomfortable bench with his arms bound behind him, Ryou glares downward. This time, he doesn't bother to look up, to give Atem--no, his warden--the satisfaction of seeing his trepidation.]

My strength has meant nothing for a long time...now, for once, it might mean something again.

[Is this real? It's not. But it is. He feels this...in his heart, as an inarguable truth.

(stop fighting and take what you deserve)

His tail tip twitches by his feet, flashing so fast the color is imperceptible.]

[A hand darts out again, pulls Ryou forward by the front of his shirt.]

We'll see how long that lasts, on your knees.

[He pulls Ryou down roughly to the floor (in the dream only, there won't be bruises on Ryou's knees tomorrow) and --

(Ryou asked him to do this. It's what he wants, what his heart needs.)

-- gives a controlled, open-palmed (experimental, a test) slap across Ryou's face.]

When you speak, you'll call me "sir," or "warden." Otherwise, you'll earn yourself an extra strike.

[So, if Ryou wants him to go harder...Ryou can be disrespectful. He's setting a rule, opening an avenue of communication: "slow down," or "more," without breaking the illusion.]

Do you understand, prisoner?

[When he's pulled to the ground, Ryou's immediate reaction is to try and bring his hands forward, to catch himself better, but instead his wrists dig into his shackles painfully, the only evidence of the movement a metallic clatter. He can't help the pained cry as his knees make painful contact with the floor. This time the color at the tip of his tail is very discernable--A flash of bright yellow, like lightning.

(how many monsters have you hurt?)

Ryou looks up, trying to look impassive...and then he's slapped. His head snaps to the side, eyes wide, cheek burning. It probably wasn't even that hard...maybe it was though. All he knows is that the eye above the sting is watering.

No. no, he can't.

(how many monsters have cried because of what you did. cry cry cry it's what you deserve better start now)

It takes him a moment, before he turns his face back, stares at Atem with one eye slightly squinted.]

Yes...sir.

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.

cw; blood and gore descriptions

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is this healthy? wigglehands. cw for some weird power dynamics

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cw: hallucinations, imprisonment

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lies down. this is just v for vendetta but consensual. i'm so sorry

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cw roleplayed torture threat

honestly cw til further notice we know what's coming

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