[To Atem, it's not placation. It's admitting that, maybe, the best thing right now for Ryou isn't going off and plunking himself in a medical setting, so that he doesn't lose any time between this round and the last. That should probably happen later, so Ryou doesn't have to do so much rehydration work, but right now, it'd likely just be miserable.
And it's the truth. He missed Ryou. He missed Ryou awfully. He wants to get closer, without sparking another argument; Atem doesn't want to fight either, not now that Ryou's back.]
Me either.
[He'll put that hand on Ryou's shoulder, he's not afraid to, and as long as there's no flinch back, Atem will take that last step forward and wrap his arms around Ryou's shoulders.]
It's okay. No one's their best self when they're hurting!
[Him, too. Maybe there was a clue he'd missed, somewhere down the line, that this would go badly, but because Atem was already a few days into the decay of the corpse of someone he loved, he was blind to it.]
And nobody escapes everything that happens here.
[He pulls Ryou's whole body in if he can, so that his arms are stretched around Ryou's back, the fur of his head and neck brushing the side of Ryou's. He knows Ryou's uncomfortable, he won't hold too tight, but, he's waited over a week and a half and has only not taken more sad lion naps because there's still so much to do. He meant it, about missing Ryou; this much, at least, isn't a move calculated for Ryou.]
You're back, and that's what matters.
[...he decides not to bring up right now that he wasn't entirely alone in the apartment, that the Ring-Spirit camped here pretty much the whole time. Later.]
no subject
And it's the truth. He missed Ryou. He missed Ryou awfully. He wants to get closer, without sparking another argument; Atem doesn't want to fight either, not now that Ryou's back.]
Me either.
[He'll put that hand on Ryou's shoulder, he's not afraid to, and as long as there's no flinch back, Atem will take that last step forward and wrap his arms around Ryou's shoulders.]
It's okay. No one's their best self when they're hurting!
[Him, too. Maybe there was a clue he'd missed, somewhere down the line, that this would go badly, but because Atem was already a few days into the decay of the corpse of someone he loved, he was blind to it.]
And nobody escapes everything that happens here.
[He pulls Ryou's whole body in if he can, so that his arms are stretched around Ryou's back, the fur of his head and neck brushing the side of Ryou's. He knows Ryou's uncomfortable, he won't hold too tight, but, he's waited over a week and a half and has only not taken more sad lion naps because there's still so much to do. He meant it, about missing Ryou; this much, at least, isn't a move calculated for Ryou.]
You're back, and that's what matters.
[...he decides not to bring up right now that he wasn't entirely alone in the apartment, that the Ring-Spirit camped here pretty much the whole time. Later.]