knifemonopoly | IC inbox

[The sound of flapping wings gets Ryou's attention, just in time to watch Atem crest the building and alight closely. If anything's going to get him out of his spiral, even remotely, then it'd be Atem.

Ryou smiles faintly when he sees the melon pan and the blanket. Below the water line, his tail glows, fluctuating from a quick-enough-you-could-miss-it purple to a light cyan. The only evidence is how it lights up his face, honestly.]

I could eat.

[He reaches out for the snack, his smile still a bit distant.]

Thank you...for the snack. And the blanket.

[He's pretty cold, since he's been up here for hours. So the blanket around his shoulders does help.]

And...for being here. You didn't have to be.

I want to be.

[He takes one of the pastries for himself, taking a bite out of it, and settling into a comfortable crouch next to the tub of water.]

Mana just said till sunrise, right?

Sunrise, yes. Something's flashy is supposed to happen, I imagine.

[He's kind of uncertain about it, to be honest. The last time he spent this much on something, it wasn't pleasant to achieve his goal.]

I think it's probably going to hurt. It hurt last time. But surely it won't last for a whole 24 hours this time around, I'd probably die from that.

[He takes a bite of the melon pan, and stays silent for a while, chewing slowly and glancing sidelong through his bangs at Atem. Then, after what feels like an age or two, he swallows and adds:]

...If it does turn out that way, I suppose it's penance.

[He hopes not. He's going to report Mana to the BBB if these kinds of painful quests keep happening. Leave a truly scathing Yelp review.

Atem waves his bread airily.]

Please. All of us deserve some kind of punishment. But even if we do, that doesn't make it a good idea to suffer it. It doesn't help!

[Polar opposite of his nephilim logic, here: it's fine to be lazy, it's fine to be happy even if you don't really deserve it, it's fine to be content even if others aren't. Punishing yourself pointlessly doesn't get anything done!]

...Maybe not. Heh.

[Ryou shakes his head. There's something charming about Atem when he's a demon. He's so carefree and unconcerned with what should or should not be. Ryou wonders if that's what Mana has in store for him?]

I wonder if at the end of it all, I'll turn into a demon? Since I'm not going to be repenting, right? H-hahaha.

[Another bite...and Ryou's glowing eyes affix to the horizon.]

I'm glad to shed this weakness though, no matter what happens. It's not good to be so vulnerable, to something someone can produce easily. So I'll bear whatever is in store.

And if you're here, then it's easy to do so. Because all I have to do is focus on you, right?

[...Okay he's still nervous though. His tail flips up out of the water and accidentally sends a few droplets towards his face, and Atem's. Oops.]

[Atem nods, agreeing wholeheartedly.]

Right...!

[Shades are tough monsters, and difficult to fight. If they can short out technology, they're almost invincible at night, unless you can produce powerful lights without electricity...

...and, if they don't spend so much time being a physical little goober that they have a tough time being a scary ghost.

Getting rid of the light weakness is a good call.

When the droplets splash, he covers his face a moment! Hey! But the nervous motion is clear, so Atem shifts so he's behind Ryou's shoulders, and wraps his arms around him from behind.]

I hope she does make you a demon. It's a good monster type -- strong abilities, and so on, you know -- but it's also fun...

...you can be the one to possess the teddy bear, yourself!

Ah!

[Ryou doesn't expect Atem to hug him from behind! It surprises him into making a little sound, but then...he relaxes, and listens. Maybe it's selfish, but he derives a great deal of comfort from Atem's close proximity.]

There you go, making sense again. Except that possessing a teddy bear, while fun, wouldn't be half as fun as possessing you. I enjoy it when we spend time together that way.

You complete me.

[...It's corny and he's not sorry. Come what may, with the slightly brightening sky, he's going to express how he feels. He knows he's selfish. He knows he's bad.

But Atem is here with him anyway...so for a minute more, he'll watch the horizon, and wait until the sun starts to peek over the invisible dividing line.]

[Atem shakes his head, as he brings his melonpan around to take another bite.]

You're a complete person, all on your own!

...

But it's a lot of fun, having our souls be that close.

[That sky sure is getting lighter. Whatever's about to happen is coming soon -- what's it going to be?]

You're too kind.

[Ryou's pointed ears wiggle a little though, showing that he's not entirely against what Atem's saying. It's not like he thinks he's half a person, but his heart...it's just as much Atem's as it is his own anymore.

He starts to draw his own melonpan closer, to take another bite, but then he starts to feel the irritation at his skin, from the sun. His fingers loosen their grip and Ryou drops the bread into the tub.]

N-nngh, sorry I...

[He trails off as the sun breaks the horizon completely, shining upon his exposed skin and making it hurt worse. His immediate reaction is to try and sink further into the tub, to hide from the light.

But then the water starts to heat up, rippling faintly from the bottom up. It's like waiting for your noodle water to start boiling--it begins with small, nearly imperceptible little bubbles at the bottom of the surface.]

A-Atem, let me go. Let me go, please...!!

[He knows demons can't be hurt by fire, but he can't risk the heat of the water being an issue, not without knowing. And it won't take long for it to start boiling, he can already feel the discomfort of the heat biting at what solid skin is exposed.]

What the hell--

[Atem does let go, his own half-eaten snack dropping onto the rooftop. He knows from personal experience (as in, inflicting it on a demon, not experiencing it himself) that boiling water hurts, that the immunity is only to fire.

But why is the water boiling? This much sunlight shouldn't be enough to boil water--!]

...

Mana.

[Atem's pointed fangs grind. Why does she have it out for Ryou, specifically? Why do the quests she gives to Ryou always hurt?]

Son of a--!

[Within half a minute, the water's at a full boil, and Ryou can't do anything but cry out in pain. He's not sure if it's the impossibly hot water that shouldn't have heated up so fast, or if it's the fact that the sun is eating away at his skin, but it hurts, as he expected it to.

But it's not just dissipating his shadowy form, even though he's long since lost control of his corporeality and has begun to thrash. Instead, it's causing the blackish gray to recede, to change into a more human skintone. It's a slow, subtle process punctuated by his agonized yells, but it's clear after a while that he's changing.

The water continues to boil, dissipating itself into steam a bit at a time. By the time a fourth of it has evaporated, Ryou no longer has claws, and his tail has become a tan color, with a tawny tip.

Something's happening, and he has no idea it is, or even if he did, what.]

Why...! Why does it have to hurt? I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!

[If he can, he's going to get hold of one of Ryou's hands.

He doesn't have a monster type that can borrow pain. Only the Nephilim stigmata ability, and he won't change into that monster, absolutely not, not even for this. Maybe one day, he should get shade under his belt, so that he'll be able to help, if not heal...

...but, for now, all he can do is grip Ryou's hand.]

It's not your fault! It's going to be okay -- keep breathing! It's working!

[Ryou's skin aches under the light of the sun, even moreso as it rises and seems to heat the water even more. He knows it's magic, and that it's just another trial Mana's putting him through for what he paid for, but it doesn't make it hurt less.

It takes him a moment to realize that Atem's fingers have curled around his, and despite the pain addling his thoughts, it occurs to him that Atem's hand feels...bigger. Or is his hand just smaller? That's the barest warning he receives that something big is about to happen, before a very different pain strikes him, causing him to throw his head back and kick against the wall of the basin just to somehow offset it.

If it's visible enough through the steam, Atem will have a pretty good view of a pair of brownish-gray horns with golden markings bursting forth from the top of Ryou's head, dripping in blood which has become a deep red as he's transitioned from shade to something else. The horns are then followed by a pair of diminutive winglike growths sprouting from just above his temples. The feathers are soft and delicate, gray on the right side, white on the left, but stained in blood just as the horns were. Then, as if that weren't enough, more blood weeps from his throat and down the bridge of his nose, splitting into twin rivulets. Something's clearly going on where the eye does not see, there.]

It hurts...!!

[And yet he does try to breathe evenly (it doesn't work) because he wants to be strong, to prove that he can be, even as the markers for his new monster type rip him open, make him into something that never needed to hide from the light in the first place.

The water is nearly gone now...but Ryou has a sinking feeling that, whatever's going on, isn't finished yet. There's an ache below his shoulders, a burn that's nothing like the heat of the boiling water as it evaporates or the light of the sun that's actually hurting less and less.]

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cw; blood, body horror, just the ryslig staples

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.