[Ryou wishes, selfishly, that Atem would comfort him, and tell him something kind...but he knows that Atem is hurting, just as much as he is. So, he derives solace from the fact that they're together again, close and warm and bound together, not apart.

He had expected this to be their true, permanent breakup. He thought it was really over, and maybe it says something about how screwed up his priorities are, that he wants to give himself to Atem through it all.

They're put here to suffer, of course. But this...their relationship, is a subversion. Ryou refuses to believe that it's anything but. He won't let this place take it from him, not after everything else its taken, and will continue to take.

Ryou's not sure when he started to cry, in the midst of all this, but his tears aren't so noticeable at first. A bit of moisture against Atem's shoulder, hardly noticeable at first.

It's only when he speaks again that it becomes most apparent.]

G-good, I...I want you to be able to live your life here, without sacrificing it to mine. I want your support...but I d-don't think...it's good when you do everything...

[It's a big step from their date while Ryou was a werewolf, where he'd been so thoroughly embarrassed by the waitress that he'd basically submitted to Atem throughout the entire date. Not just then, either. He'd submitted the whole month, and given in to appeasement behaviors that had been unhealthy to exhibit.

He can't do that again.]

You are important. But...I-I'm important too. My feelings...matter. My choices...they're mine to make...

[It's said quietly, with Ryou's voice so thick with emotion that he very nearly can't push the words out. It's not for Atem that he says it, not exclusively.

He says it for himself as well.]