[Atem's arms...they don't cross, not exactly. They wrap around each other, around his chest. It's only superficially similar to the confident closing-off poker face of a posture that's more familiar: this is also armor, but it's folding in, instead of projecting out.

He is upset. Not out of romantic jealousy, exactly -- but because he had to find out like this, after he'd put his own cards on the table. Because, even if Komaeda wasn't hiding it, it was still hidden, still hidden even after Atem found it in him to tell Komaeda the darkest and most difficult things in his heart. He'd even come forward about Nanami. It hurts that Ryou was told, but not him, and now he's left feeling like an idiot.

Komaeda says, it's not like it changes how I've felt about you. And Atem...wants to believe it, but can't help remembering the way Komaeda used to look through him, like Atem was the pane of glass that let him see something, someone else...

Their imbalanced-power postures is what calms him most, first. Komaeda is kneeling, not getting up, and it leaves Atem feeling less unsafe than he might. Because of that, Atem is able to sink back down --]

Okay. I believe you.

[-- and take a cross-legged seat on the steps. His posture is still curled-in, not welcoming touch, and he brings a curled hand to his mouth,
to talk behind it.]

I'm not happy about finding out like this, or about not knowing, before...this already isn't easy, and missing information only makes it harder!

[His eyes flick up, the blue-white light from the pool making them a darker red than usual, closer to wine than blood, edged with dark sleepless circles, his skin pale and papery, clinging a little too tight to the hollows of his cheeks, the divots of his skull. He might look more human than most other monster types, but Atem's body is definitively dead.]

Is there anything else I should know, before we go on?

[He's trying to stay focused and fair, despite how he's feeling...it isn't perfect, but Atem is doing his best.]