[--he adds, to Ryou's list of names, but doesn't otherwise interrupt.
Until Ryou suggests pretending to be just friends, to drive their meddling mutual acquaintances up a wall. Atem's shoulders start to shake, first, like the tremors before an earthquake. Then--]
Heh. Heh heh. Ha ha ha--!
[That would be funny! That would be so funny! Imagining their faces, watching the disbelief, the frustration...! He's going to need a second to recover, pressing his face into Ryou's hair in mirth.]
Ah, ha ha, ha...hm! I'm not sure we can pull it off! Celeste at least will know we're lying, she knows our tells. And we'll have to be careful...someone might get the idea one of us is completely unattached, and then we'll have to admit we lied...
[Some monsters might be okay with it. Atem might be okay with it. When in Rome, do as the monsters do...Ryou doesn't belong to him, and should have people around him who make him happy. But Atem sort of wants to navigate the early waters alone...get an idea of what a relationship with Ryou is like at level one, get his feet under him in any relationship at all, before he worries about sharing Ryou's attention with other people.
no subject
[--he adds, to Ryou's list of names, but doesn't otherwise interrupt.
Until Ryou suggests pretending to be just friends, to drive their meddling mutual acquaintances up a wall. Atem's shoulders start to shake, first, like the tremors before an earthquake. Then--]
Heh. Heh heh. Ha ha ha--!
[That would be funny! That would be so funny! Imagining their faces, watching the disbelief, the frustration...! He's going to need a second to recover, pressing his face into Ryou's hair in mirth.]
Ah, ha ha, ha...hm! I'm not sure we can pull it off! Celeste at least will know we're lying, she knows our tells. And we'll have to be careful...someone might get the idea one of us is completely unattached, and then we'll have to admit we lied...
[Some monsters might be okay with it. Atem might be okay with it. When in Rome, do as the monsters do...Ryou doesn't belong to him, and should have people around him who make him happy. But Atem sort of wants to navigate the early waters alone...get an idea of what a relationship with Ryou is like at level one, get his feet under him in any relationship at all, before he worries about sharing Ryou's attention with other people.
A little more seriously:]
...You don't have anyone lined up, do you?