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Be there in

[ And Marik lists a time that's quite a bit shorter than one might expect, given Bavan traffic.

Does someone knock on the door precisely after this increment of time has passed, regardless?

Of fucking course! DAMN, HE'S GOOD!

(Just...ignore the rubber squealing that happened like a minute or so before the knock happened.) ]

[Atem's just wondering if that tire squeal is normal traffic or trouble and if he should check it out when there's a knock at his door.

Huh. That's...impressively punctual. Unless it isn't Marik, and this scene's about to take a hard left -- but, no. It is. The door into the goth little apartment with a blanket nest near the one uncurtained window opens.]

They're over here.

[Because what else would this be about? Atem leads the way to the coffee table, which is an actual coffin, where three very dirty damaged cards are laid out on a clean hand-towel.

Behold: Obxlxs the Torn, Saint Drag of Osiris, and the.....something or other of Ra.

How many people have died for these??]

[ Marik sniffs as he comes in. He's got a bag of books slung on his back - all topics. The only thing they seem to have in common is that they're hardbacks. ] I figured it'd be bigge--

[ But his opining about living quarters that are not his SWEET-ASS PENTHOUSE is abruptly cut off when he sees the object of his quest, and reacts as if some invisible third party has punched him in the immaculately-toned gut. Complete with a slight bending over. Jaw dropping. ]

T-that....!!

[ It had been bad to hear they were damaged, on the computer. His mind had gone all kinds of places and then worked itself back to a convincing argument about how it couldn't possibly be that bad, the Pharaoh has made miracles happen before, etc., something something every now and then he listens to his sister, destiny, something. But this....This.

Marik sinks to his knees in front of the coffin, bag thudding unneeded to the ground (sticking the cards in a book will...probably not help, here). The problem with hope is that when it leaves your body there's a hole where before you hadn't realized you were empty.

He's going to murder Ryslig. Like. As a concept. He's going to figure out a way to make it pay. He had an entire custom-built table created to house one of these things once, that's how valuable they are, how important they are for the future of the -

It's blasphemy, is what it is! The symbols of a King!

Marik trembles. He wants to explode. But he can't move. ]

[...that moment when your literal religion is trading cards, huh?

But Atem doesn't make fun. He knows how much these cards can mean to people, knows miracles can be worked through them, if your heart is aligned with them...so, seeing Marik lose it like this, dropping to his knees in despair, evokes sympathy more than scorn.]

I know. It's bad...they were never meant to withstand being in the ocean.

There might be a way to restore them magically...but it'll take time. I don't have many coins left to trade with Mana, and bringing back any magic they had will cost much more than just cleaning them up.

[ Time. Time. They don't HAVE time - they have until the fog thickens again, until the power grows.....turn to the Fourth? But these are Gods themselves, they won't like a manmade God attempting to meddle in their powers....

...the gods for whom he endured a lifetime of pain, so easily rendered USELESS.... ]

--No. It's fine. This is....This is proof. Proof we'll succeed.

[ The pieces start clicking into place for Marik. Ryslig tossed him out of the vortex, but it's also been tossing things that could aid them, or be of value, taking great pleasure in destroying them. The memorial tablet the long-lost Priest erected for his rival-slash-friend - and now, these, the source of that friend's power - Marik himself - ]

It's mocking us. Trying to demonstrate its power over us. But the fact it's compelled to make us abandon this tactic is proof it's AFRAID! Even if we don't have the God Cards, the Fog is scared we'll challenge her to a Duel....she's trying to DETER us!

[ That has to be it. It makes sense to Marik, and therefore is the only possible solution. He grabs his bag, starts pulling books out - pulls a case of cards out, too, puts it on the counter. ~~this is why his pockets are so huge~~ ]

I'll try to salvage them anyway, out of respect. These are spares I happened to have on me. Fortify your deck.

[ A depressingly large number of the cards in that case are burn or lockdown. Whoever assembled this card collection duels like an absolute dickhead. ]

Edited 2021-08-11 13:51 (UTC)

....ah.

[suddenly, cards.

Atem picks them up, flips through them -- he barely recognizes any of these. He takes in descriptions, abilities, stats, even as he answers, in a tone full of doubt:]

It's true this place is demonstrating its power...but I'm not sure it's meant to stop us from playing a specific game, or assurance that we'll succeed in this specific tactic.

[Shuffle shuffle shuffle go the cards, whispering in his hands.]

You're right that it's meant to make us feel helpless. This place will try to convince you that there's nothing left for you where you came from, and Ryslig is your home now...taking things that matter to you and breaking them may very well be part of that! This might be meant to horrify you.

[He separates a few cards, placing them between his fingers -- just two or three.]

Still...of course, I'll try it. Yugi's been here two months already, and he won't be able to avoid feeding much longer. We have to get out, before he's forced to make that choice -- whether to feed on a soul of his own volition, or lose his mind trying not to!

Yugi, huh...

[ Yes, that makes...that makes sense. (Well, not the part where he had been told he was only half-right. Marik is always full-right. Atem will see. It's okay.) The Pharaoh is preoccupied with the well-being of his partner, who is in the process of growing monstrous. He's working with the same time crunch Marik is, except on another person's behalf. So Yugi is going to have to feed on souls.....

He's going to starve. Marik knows it. Yugi Mutou is quite possibly the only person on the planet who can rival Marik's sister for the title of Incredibly Decent Human Being. No wonder the Pharaoh is so tense, so grasping at straws. He probably hasn't been making time for - other things Marik has plans to counteract - as a result, too.

But Marik can use this.

While his brain schemes, Marik's hands keep moving, securing each of the cards within nice clean leaves of different books and setting them down to press and dry. He'll shift them to new pages, further into the books, once some of the moisture has been absorbed. Marik Ishtar is rather shit at giving up. ]

I don't want to see that happen to Yugi either. [ A pause, picking up the final God Card. Oh, Ra, Ra, what has the nasty humid lady done to you, this was not how you were meant to return to your Pharaoh in glory.

When he thinks he's waited enough for brooding effect, he adds, casually: ] It's bad enough that it's happened to Ryou.

[Oh, they're going to talk about Ryou, now?

The way Atem's eyes flick up isn't an obvious tell, but all the cobras on his head, which have been low-key agitated over the damage to the cards and the fear for Yugi, stand up straight.

They totally talked. It's in the past, and Atem doesn't plan to make anything of it, but he totally knows. It takes a moment for calm to return, Atem's calm reply takes just a moment too long.]

It is. He's had to live with something terrible, in order to avoid something worse...that's a cruel feeding type. I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

[He's not going to say what living with it has done to Ryou, not until he knows how things stand between the two of them. But it's been hard, anyone who knows Ryou can tell that much.]

[ ...Shit. The Pharaoh's going to duel the Fog with their freedom on the line and he doesn't just have snair, he has mood snair? Marik had been counting on that man's poker face! Curse you, adorable little snakes!

...Maybe they don't know how to duel?

But anyway. Ryou. Marik nods. ]

He's overdue for something good to happen to him. I know....I haven't been that something. Ever.

[ This is not something he wanted to talk about with the Pharaoh so he is very glad he can address it in passing, on the way to a greater goal. ]

If he had someone making him happy, every day - that can't erase the pain. But, like you said. It's better to not be alone.

[ As he closes Ra's book, he gives it the slightest, subtlest caress. ]

[....dark eyebrows, which are probably the last human hair left on him, go up.

Oh. Oh boy. Oh, dear, that's...Atem is probably very well equipped to help with that, actually. He's. He has to, doesn't he?]

....if you feel that way, I'm afraid you've got a long way to go! What you did hurt him very badly. It'll take time. But he's a good guy, and pretty openminded...it's not hopeless!

[ Marik shakes his head. ] If he never wants to forgive me, I'll understand. Of course, I'd like to make amends - but that's selfishness.

[ HOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW IS THE PHARAOH SO BRILLIANT AND YET SO DENSE

LET US TRY ANOTHER APPROACH

His hand curls into a fist, his eyelids lower. He has to really sell this. It has to be convincing. He has to...well, he's not sure he's ever fully felt what it looks like Ryou and Atem are refusing to see they could have, but he conjures up the next best thing.

Rishid....Sister....he's trying. He's doing this...for you. ]

If he can just...build up as many good memories as possible, in a place like this....I think that'd be enough for me. Even if I'm not in them.

[ His lashes quiver, ever so slightly. ] There has to be someone who can be his light in the darkness.

[ before marik's own light goes out, motivate the pharaoh, break through the fog, before the darkness closes in again and he can no longer see--

.....SHOOT

HE THOUGHT TOO MUCH ABOUT HIS FAMILY

AND NOW HE HAS MADE HIMSELF SAD

HE IS TOO GOOD ]

[Wow, Marik's really got it bad, huh...

This is a little awkward. Atem knows Ryou likes him, and, he likes Ryou back a lot, but they shouldn't date, not at a time like this...but should Marik be dating Ryou instead? That feels like a recipe for disaster, but also, it's not Atem's call, it's Ryou's.

...

He'll just have to deal with how lonely that makes him feel. Because Marik gets it, right? As long as someone's making good memories, even if they're with Lila Zacharov and not you, that's okay, especially when it's for the best...

He puts a hand on Marik's shoulder.]

I understand. I had someone like that, too...but, if you wait for them to be happy with someone else...even if you're sincerely glad on their behalf, and you know it's for the best, it's a lonely feeling!

You should tell him how you feel. He might not take it the way you're hoping...but I don't think it'll hurt. He really is a good guy!

[ .... ]

......

[ ........ ]

..........

[ ............ ]

..............What?

[With all of the confidence of someone who can count on one hand the number of times they've felt anything remotely resembling doubt:]

You're telling me this because you like him, right?

[ Marik keeps staring. Apparently confirmation he'd interpreted the Pharaoh's words correctly make things worse, not better.

His eyebrows twitch, and for a moment it looks like he might start to lose his temper - his cheeks even flush -

but then he's tempering it down, chuckling. Keep it together. Keep it together-

nope still twitching. ]

...I understand now. So that's the challenge.

[ A little forced keh. ] You're formidable indeed, my Pharaoh!

[ FORMIDABLY DENSE ]

[Man! This is such a mess! How much drama is Atem going to find himself unwillingly caught in?]

It's no challenge! I have no intention of challenging you for Ryou's affections. I know he's got feelings for me, but...it's not something I can pursue.

[He's got to be happy with what he has! It's better this way!

He does not realize the double standard of "if Ryou wants to date someone who's hurt him badly, that's his choice I trust him to make and I'll be there for him if it goes bad" and "I might hurt Ryou if I date him," or that it adds up to, "I'm afraid of being bad at a relationship because it's outside my usual, extremely specialized skill set, and my moral code says hurting someone's feelings is punishable by death/madness/immolation."]

So, if he decides to start seeing you...I won't get in the way! "Pharaoh" or not!

[Still a little weird to have someone around who keeps calling him that.]

Edited 2021-08-12 18:44 (UTC)

That's not....

[ Marik runs a hand through his bangs. Argh. How to play this? Is there anything to gain from rolling with this misunderstanding, so he doesn't have to cop to what he's actually doing (but, ideally, achieve it anyway)? ]

I can't do that! Not when -

[ --Yes. He can do this. He can!

Marik turns to his King, letting his real agitation (at said King's BLOCKHEADEDNESS) add passion and desperation to his words. ]

- Not when you're the only one who can make him happy! His only chance of making it through!!

[ Ryou, it's for the sake of getting you snogged. Deal. ]

So please don't say it's impossible!

[ ...the ~~sogs~~ gods can hear them (?)

this is embarrassing ]

[...........he smells something fishy, and it's not Marik any longer.

What's this really about? Atem wonders. His aspect turns sharper, his snakes attentive.]

The bond between us...it's already the strongest connection I've formed in Ryslig!

Are you saying that's not enough to make him happy?

[It is a god damned honor to be friendzoned by Atem Yugioh, thank you. Then, he plays a second card--]

Besides, if I defeat the Fog, and win us our freedom...then it won't matter, will it? He won't be in such dire straits...he'll be able to be happy without me.

I -

[ He's been made, and yet he hasn't. The Pharaoh is onto him, and yet he isn't. The Pharaoh is a genius, and yet the Pharaoh is an idiot.

Atem Yugioh, do you know what the last consequences were for giving Marik Ishtar a headache? It was not pleasant. For anyone.

He looks down, trying to gather his thoughts. That second blow was strong - but he won't falter. He won't lose again. He will always find a way to turn the situation around. ]

I'm saying you can't defeat her...unless you make him happy. Until you make him happy. That's what...what I'd been hoping to tell you.

[ holy hell it's even the TRUTH sort of ]

I know. Really well. [ From messing around in other people's brains. ] That having something unspoken between people becomes - a distraction. You tell yourself you don't have time, you tell yourself anything, but you keep having to tell yourself, and every moment you spend telling yourself is another moment you're defeating yourself.

On the other hand, having made incredible, precious memories with someone - feeling free - don't you see if you don't act on this, she wins? She'll have kept you from something that could have made you both happy. If the world had ended in that vortex, with you and Ryou having never said anything -

[ "Rishid, I'll be heading to the dark soon" -

Huh. Weird. Why the hell is he thinking of that now? Stupid. ]

If the people who run this game want us to be unhappy, then be the King of Games and grab your joy!!

[He can't defeat the Fog until he starts dating Ryou? An eyebrow goes up again in doubt! Oh, he can't wait to hear how Marik sells this one.

...

A distraction?

...

...that might actually be worth considering. The snakes lower a little, thoughtful rather than combative.

Is he distracted? Is he expending more energy acting like things between him and Ryou are just friendship, even though that's clearly not true, than he would if they just--?

It's funny. The advice Marik is giving isn't bad. It's not too far off from advice Atem has given -- you shouldn't deny yourself good things, not here, because having things that make you happy makes this place easier to bear.

But is Atem going to take his own advice? When, in this case, it comes with the risk of, god forbid, messing up?

(Why is Marik so invested? What was that pause -- who didn't HE tell, until it was too late?)

...]

It's possible I'm distracted.

[He admits it. It's taking energy to be careful around Ryou. Even when that's added to the equation, and it takes some of the guilt of being-happy-while-Yugi-is-changing away...there's still the fact that...]

But I'm serious when I say I can't pursue it! It really is better if I don't -- and it's precisely because we've been each other's support the last few months. If our relationship changes, and I hurt him...or, worse, we have a falling-out...! This place is hard enough on him without something like that happening.

[A beat.]

The truth is, I won't make a very good boyfriend...

[...that he has no idea what he's doing.]

That doesn't matter. [ The dismissal is immediate. He's....almost....maybe.....halfway? Making progress? WHY IS GETTING THE PHARAOH TO KISS A BOY HARDER THAN GETTING THE PHARAOH TO DIE AN AGONIZING AND SYMBOLIC DEATH, AND EVEN THEN HE FAILED AT THAT LIKE A HALF DOZEN TIMES. IT STILL WAS EASIER ]

Listen, he thinks he's not worthy of you. You hemming and hawing? Hurting him! Already! The absolute best thing you can do for Ryslig, and for Ryou Bakura, is to grab him in your - coils -

[ or arms but lbr Ryou is probably more into snek ]

- look him dead in the eyes, and confess!! Anything less is wasting the cards in your hand. It's cowardice.

[ It's also wasting this totally amazing speech he's been giving you which is like. Twice as heavy an offense. "Be the King of Games" was supposed to work, dammit. ]

The Pharaoh I've dueled gained strength the more he cared, the more he showed he cared, for the people he loved. You are absolutely, obnoxiously unstoppable when it's for someone else. You beat me. With friendship.

[ Dun dun DUNNNN. ]

So don't you see that love can take down a God?

...and as for sucking at being a boyfriend, I have you covered there, too. Call me before dates. I'll get you ready.

[Hold the fuck up.]

Not wor--!?

[That can't be, that can't be what's happening, after everything Atem's said, after everything he's done, taking the time to help Ryou, coming to Ryou when he needs something, Ryou can't possibly think--!

....

...yes, he can, can't he. If Atem is hurting Ryou already by letting Ryou think things between them won't change from the way they are, then...that changes his calculations...

(snakes move agitatedly, worried. oh no. they've hurt ryou.)

...but that's a matter for another time. Right now, he wants to know something else. Marik's talking like this is for Ryslig, for taking down the Fog God....but he sure was shady about it! And that last bit...it sends Atem back on the offense.]

Oh? And you're some kind of dating expert?

[ you know that tone of voice you pull when you are so utterly sure of yourself that it has never even occurred to you to have it occur to you that you might be full of it, atem? that one? are you familiar?

imagine that, but flat. self-explanatory. ]

I'm an everything expert.

[ Marik has somehow ended up the sassy gay frenemy.

But it's cool! It's fine! It's nothing he can't handle! Especially when he finally, FINALLY, maybe, broke through to this ridiculously bullheaded man! Did Marik's ancestors carve mighty statues of their Pharaohs out of stone to symbolize the object of which their rulers' heads were constructed?? Yet he was raised to serve this Pharaoh! Surely he can overcome this last obstacle and unite all the pieces of his plan -

fuel the Pharaoh with what he needs to awaken his powers -

save everyone from their terrible fate -

rejoin his family -

win his bet with Ryou Bakura, ensuring the boy's happiness and thus good graces -

even if this doesn't work (although it totally will), get to be able to point to Ryou and Atem at parties and say "I DID THAT" - ]

It...it has to be you, all right? For Ryslig, and for Ryou. Nothing's won by staying in darkness.

[ He wants this. He wants them together. He wants to see what kind of power that unleashes, he wants....he wants proof that...

that what he'd been told is still true, even though freedom has been yanked cruelly away from him at the last second....

What do you want, Marik Ishtar? Everything. ]

Only by seeking the light.

[An everything expert. Uh huh. Atem is very, very unsure that this guy, who has given Atem the impression that he's an enthusiastic but not particularly effective planner, who likes to take the results and say, "I meant to do that!"...is going to have helpful advice for dating. Especially when Atem's concerns have to do with things like putting the month's trouble first, putting Yugi first, as well as not realizing what's normal and expected in a romance...he'd have no idea what to ask!

And...Marik really likes light metaphors...but it's not like Atem can really talk. For him, "hearts" are just as important. So let's explore that a minute, since as far as Atem's concerned, he's received new information about Ryou that he'll consider on his own, and the discussion is closed.]

In many ways, the darkness is what I'm used to. The powers and knowledge of darkness...that was what I awakened to, when Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle. I used its magic to punish those who trespassed in his soul. Even here -- my usual form can't tolerate direct sunlight!

But there are other kinds of darkness...like not knowing who you are, and not being able to tell the people you know the truth. Dispelling that darkness...it couldn't have happened if Yugi hadn't come here. I'd have stayed in it until I won this game and returned home, or lost and disappeared...

...what is darkness, to you? And what is light?

[So that he can understand Marik better, and also be on the same page as far as these metaphors go.]

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.

<hotrod> - > action

action!!

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1/2

2/2 i had to make an icon for this

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behold, the fabled "takahashi villain cut-in reaction panel"

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