softspokenlandlord: (Default)
Ryou Bakura ([personal profile] softspokenlandlord) wrote2020-11-18 01:10 am

IC Inbox | [community profile] ryslig

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, WhiteWizard.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 007.80.751.19

*** WhiteWizard has joined 007.80.751.19
<WhiteWizard> Hello, this is Ryou Bakura!
<WhiteWizard> Feel free to reach out to me if you need anything. :)
<WhiteWizard> I will get back to you as soon as possible.
knifemonopoly: ([fog] and often leave scars)

cw drowning imagery/memory!

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-06 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[The apartment's been lonely for a week and a half. Atem's not been alone in it, technically, but he's still been lonely. What he says next isn't how he wanted to act, when Ryou was back. The too-still space between his lungs hurts as he raises his voice to match Ryou's volume, his wings flaring.]

When the attempt to get the parasite out of me destroyed my body, I revived in the ocean! Off of Vandare! Would that have been better?!

[Alone. Waterlogged. Miles and miles from home. Starved, body dried out and stiff and unfamiliar, with no one around to help, knowing he was down a life and it was his own fault for not being sharp enough to spot where the danger would come from...

Or, worse, still underwater, opening your eyes to murk and dark, lungs full of city-water and filth, crawling out of a canal while your body tells you you should be drowning, until you cough it all out on the pavement of an unfamiliar street.

Pain and fear, inescapable, unstoppable, like the words that come out like runoff out of his lungs.
]

Do you want to talk about what to do with our bodies if we die, Ryou? Because I'll respect your wishes, but you have to tell me first!

You didn't, so I picked what I thought would hurt least based on what I knew, and I got it wrong!

[There it is. He admits it; even through the vampire arrogance, the kind that makes you sure your decisions are right, he's admitting it.]

I'm sorry that my guess was wrong!

[A moment. Then, quieter, with a little more clarity, more of a sense of self:]

And that it hurt you.

I never meant to.

[Ryou was going to have to figure out sooner or later that Atem isn't perfect. That, in a game like this, a perfect score every time is beyond his capabilities. Atem wants to be better than he is. Thing is, his honest best isn't good enough, not for the people who are relying on him -- Ryou, and Yugi. But this is the reality of the situation, and if Ryou's put him on a pedestal, then all Atem can hope for is that the fall isn't far enough that he breaks.

And that his dishonest best will work better.
]
knifemonopoly: (doin' okay!)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-06 08:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Atem has to just let his ears ring, through Ryou's description of what happened. He can't sink into it, can't let himself imagine what happened, or he'll be lost himself in how much it hurts to hear what it was like for Ryou to die.

It feels to Ryou like he's being criticized. And it feels to Atem like he's being asked for help with something that he can't do anything about, that he can't change. He and Ryou really do deal with this kind of thing differently, don't they? Atem's come back from his deaths with very little complaint. He offered a description up to a room full of monsters once, but aside from one instance in which he saw a way to make it useful, Atem moves on from them as fast as possible. He skims lightly over the surface so that what's happening to Ryou doesn't happen to him, so that he doesn't sink into how terrible it had been, into awful memories he can't change, and can focus on the next task, on solutions.

Ryou...doesnt want that, doesn't want nudges in the direction of what Atem thinks will help. It sounds to Ryou like he's being told his decisions are wrong (no, just not the most efficient).

Is he telling Ryou that Ryou is recovering wrong?

There's frustration, deep down in Atem's heart, that's not exactly fair, but that's tied to how he's got so much of his own that he feels he can't burden Ryou with, because Ryou has his own problems, problems that feel like they haven't so much as slowed down since June. Atem wants to tell Ryou about some of his own cares, about his worries about Yugi, but if Ryou isn't avoiding him, or not sleeping, or falling into vortices and losing limbs, or ending up burned, he's dying. Atem doesn't blame Ryou for any of those incidents, of course. None of them are his fault; they're the game catching him, a game Ryou never deserved to be forced into. 

But it feels like he's spending all of time mending Ryou's bat-shattered playing piece with one hand and gluing his own up with the other. The beginning of September was okay, but being around Ryou had been the brightest source of happiness for a vampire fighting personal wars on ten different fronts, with at least half a dozen things that counted as top priorities (escape for yugi. protection for riley. revenge for steve. locating nagito. support for ryou. becoming a monster among monsters, for all of them.) Just about the only time he found himself relaxing anymore was when he and Ryou were together, so Atem didn't want to talk about anything sad.

Yugi's situation compounds it; there's so much Yugi doesn't understand, so much Atem can't tell him because it's too dark, too sad, there's no point, they're leaving anyway -- and with Yugi hungry, he's got his own problems without Atem adding to them.

Atem's Monster World piece isn't being smashed with a bat. It's being crushed in a pedestal-trap. And he can't tell the two people who matter most in the world how bad it is.

He needs Ryou, wants support from him; Ryou's not the only one Atem talks to, but Ryou's positioned to understand in a way not many others are. Ryou's his favorite. He wants Ryou to be doing better. He wants Ryou to put together I can help myself by seeing a doctor about dehydration so that maybe Atem can talk to him about how scared he is that he doesn't see a way to get Yugi past the feeding hurdle without breaking his heart, about how he's failing at what matters most to him and doesn't know how to get it right.

So, he might be telling Ryou he's doing it wrong, in a way. Atem's being unfair, and god but it stings to have to be the one who's recognizing that he's being unfair as his head is being bitten off for -- one mistake? One? In how long? After bringing in a friend to heal the worst of it, after doing all he could to keep Ryou calm, while listening to Ryou scream his way through a situation Atem hadn't magically predicted and forestalled? But he can't say that, not now, because it's Ryou's problems that they have to deal with, Ryou who's suffering. Because what Atem could do for him wasn't good enough.

(Metaphorically bitten off. Not a good metaphor to use right now.)

Atem shuts his eyes. For someone who doesn't want to be a burden, he thinks, unkindly, Ryou doesn't really get how to avoid situations where the people around him have to carry him.

No, that kind of thinking isn't helpful. He's got to be better.

Slowly, measured:
]

I'm trying to help you come back. From a situation that I made worse for you.

[Up pop his choices.

> Try to help again and get your head bitten off some more (metaphorically)
> Leave him alone, so he gets stuck in his own thoughts and the situation gets worse


What a set of options. But he's not ready to throw in the towel yet. When somebody's hurting, they aren't their best selves...it'd be pretty pathetic if he couldn't take this.
]

I do get it. I know how frightening it is. How much it hurts. If what you want is to deal with that alone, then that's fine. But I had to deal with it alone the first time, and the second, and the third. If I had the choice, I wouldn't choose that.

It doesn't have to be me. But you should be with someone, right now. I want to be here for you, but only in a way you want. If you'll let me.
Edited (polishes the bad mental health on sleeve so its shiny bad mental health now) 2021-10-06 16:40 (UTC)
knifemonopoly: (cheep cheep)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-06 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[...that's less biting than Atem was braced for.

Okay.

Ryou's not feeling better, exactly, but Atem will take what he can get, and cooling of outright hostility is a step.

(He needs Ryou thinking clearly for whatever the Tågevalgten scraps were warning them would happen in October. It's going to be big -- of course Halloween month in a horror game will be showy -- and that's one more thing to worry about, one more thing to plan for. Atem doesn't know if he's going to get that, but he'll try.)

His wings fold up, tuck back down on his shoulders, pressed close to his back. He steps forward, clawed toes extending on the floor as too-big feet carry him closer.
]

It doesn't have to be right now.

[Forward he goes, slowly closing the distance, crossing into the kitchen.]

You just got home. It's all right to rest a while.

[Atem doesn't reach out yet, just...stops just within reach. Which is still a bit of distance, but not far.]

...I missed you.
knifemonopoly: (we stan a bat man)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
[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.]
knifemonopoly: (we stan a bat man)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
[What was said had hurt.

Atem had hurt Ryou first, by making a quick decision about where to keep the body that had unanticipated consequences, and by being critical when that wasn't what Ryou needed. He understands that today has been terrible. But his feelings are sore, wrung-out. He's not sure how to unpack all of them, but he knows for sure that now's not the time. Later, maybe. Once the skin Atem dried out is back to what it was. If Ryou is in a place where burdening him with it won't be too much for someone coming back from death for the first time. For now, just not being pushed away is helping; it lightens the weight on him. Atem still doesn't see the way out of the pedestal-trap, he's still in it, but he can keep going, like this.

And that's the key: to keep going. Atem can't spend too much time now wondering whether he could have predicted it after all, if there was a sign he'd missed. Reviewing the last round once you've learned all you can is wasted time; what matters isn't a perfect score, what matters is staying in the game. And Ryou's made it clear that it's not over.

He can feel Ryou's face beside his. Gently, with a very, very small motion, Atem brushes his cheekbone against Ryou's. Sorry. I missed you. I love you.
]

You don't have to. And you don't have to be grateful to me, for doing something that ended up painful, and wasn't useful to you...I know it hurts. But it won't hurt forever.

[He relaxes, a few degrees; Atem's wing body-language goes from restrained and pulled-in-tight (a hands-to-himself feeling, like tucking your elbows in in a crowded hallway) to something looser. His wings' thumb-claws unhook from his wings, and they wrap around Ryou, too.]
Edited 2021-10-07 02:58 (UTC)
knifemonopoly: (bend your back shift your arm)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
[If Atem can take the insults and threats hurled at him by the people he'd played games with in Domino, he tells himself, he can take a fit of temper.

(It's not the same. Brushing off the derisive opinion of someone who doesn't matter to you isn't the same as someone asking you why you did something that hurt them. A few thousand years ago, in Egypt, they used to say that the worst things in life were lying in bed and being unable to sleep, waiting for someone who isn't coming, and trying to please but not pleasing. Obviously, having all of the water drained from you under the sway of a Fog God who doesn't see fit to put it back is worse than all of those things, and Atem can name a few others, but, you know. It's a mood.)

Atem doesn't want to pull his feelings apart right now. He doesn't want to feel hurt. He doesn't want to feel frustrated, not now that he's got his support back. He pushes it all away as unimportant, something he can take, something he's strong enough to carry. Ryou's telling him what he does want, possibly the closest thing he'll get to explicit instructions on what to do with his body if he dies, and Atem pays attention.
]

I'll remember. I promise.

[He doesn't know if it will do any good. This game doesn't want them sparing each other pain. But Atem will be damned if he doesn't try -- if he doesn't do the best he can.

(Even if it's not going to be enough.)

But at least he can avoid making the same mistake twice.

He pulls his face back, not letting go with his arms or his wings but retreating just enough that his red eyes can look into Ryou's white ones. A fuzzy, curved bat-forehead pushes gently against Ryou's.
]

You should come to bed. You're tired, aren't you? Give that water a chance to work. Get some sleep. You can think about everything else when you wake up.
Edited 2021-10-07 04:15 (UTC)
knifemonopoly: (we love a bat)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
Of course I will.

[He pulls back again, this time to press the tip of his snout, just a little bit of his nose and mouth, against Ryou's cheek, near his mouth, returning the gesture. Then, Atem unhooks his wings from Ryou's shoulders, unwraps them from him, and tucks them back into their usual position. Hands back in pockets, elbows tucked in.]

Your room's back in order, but...if it's too hard, after what happened, we can sleep in mine.

[Either way. Sleeping in Atem's room is less frequent, since it's more often that he goes over to Ryou's, but it's not off-limits. Even the boxes under the bed and in the closet have been moved to a better workshop.]
knifemonopoly: (doin' okay!)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
[His is fine. Atem's gotten very comfortable with availing himself of Ryou's space, coming in if he wants to. He prefers a little more privacy in his own space, but inviting Ryou in is perfectly all right.

The door's been open much more lately so that Tybolt can come in during the day. Whoops.

Atem gives the arm in his a gentle squeeze, and does lead the way -- one of his wing-claws hooks a bottle of water behind Ryou's back as they pass the water case.
]

Yes, I do. Actually, I've got a few memories now from when I was alive...they're fragmented, not whole like they were during the fog, but they're definitely mine.
knifemonopoly: (na na na na na na na na na)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[He remembers. He remembers eating flavored ramen on the floor, over there, as they walk past...he remembers how amazing it had been that there wasn't any sand in it at all. He remembers talking about ducks, and he remembers the pond in the garden they had used to come to...]

Yes. I did.

They used to fly into the gardens, and...you could find them in the reeds by the river. My mother didn't like them at all! But...

[He's got to pause a second there, just inside the door to his room. Atem draws a sharp breath. He's been so busy thinking ahout other things, trying to find things to think about that aren't what he doesn't want to look at, that the emotion from this hasn't really hit him.

His voice is still the rumbly monster growl, but it's gone quiet.
]

I remember the face of my mother.

[And her name. And his father. And his father's name.

Give him, uh. Just give Atem a second, here.
]
knifemonopoly: (we love a bat)

sighs in taking sides in the was-tutmom-Kiya-or-Nefertiti debate but Kiya sounds more like a ygo

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[It had been pretty bad. Atem had been frightened. He'd seen people hurting awfully.

There's also the traitorous, suspicious part of his mind that wonders if those memories are real, or if they're like what happened with Marco's portal, which Atem doesn't trust took people to their homes at all.

But...maybe he'll be able to confirm some of it with people from his world. The Ring-Spirit, or Marik. Cross-reference names, places. And, until then...he nods.
]

Kiya.

[He holds Ryou's fingers, is quiet a second.]

I wonder how long it's been, since someone's said her name. I wonder if they found her...

[Maybe her tomb was found, or her name and carvings were on a monument, and Egyptologists talk about her sometimes, and she's just not as famous as Hatshepsut.

Or, maybe it never was, and she's resting quietly somewhere, and this is the first time anyone's given her that kind of power in the afterlife.

....

Weird, to go from not particularly caring about religious practices to feeling like this is significant. Okay. Nope. He's going to think about that more when Ryou is asleep, and not get lost behind his own eyes while Ryou is still here, when Ryou is finally back.
]

Come on. You're the one who needs to be resting peacefully!

[He nudges Ryou toward bed.]
Edited 2021-10-07 17:27 (UTC)
knifemonopoly: (all the japanese with their yen)

cw gore/intrusive thoughts

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[Long days in the workshop, nights in Ragnarök's kitchen slicing bodies he didn't source, ribcages snapping open as springloaded winglike bars release their tension, metal hooks sanded down into the shape of claws extracted from torn skin, hearts exposed, still beating, the easiest thing in the world to wind a hand around their backs and bring their open chests up to his teeth, the eighth-floor glances in the hallway between those who witnessed the last gasp of Fabius Bile, the shape of the Ring-Spirit barely seen in the dark, emergency blood drives at the clinic and midnight harvests of enough blood to kill into bags neatly dated and stored, old names in papers, new names on graves--

He shuts his eyes, smiles a you-got-me smile.
]

...ah, I'm afraid not.

[He steps toward the bed, dropping the bottle of water on a nightstand that used to have a book on it but doesn't anymore and then using the same wing-claw to pull the bedsheets down.]

But I've got every intention of sleeping through to tomorrow.
Edited 2021-10-07 18:19 (UTC)
knifemonopoly: (eheheheheheh)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
What are you doing all the way over there?

[If Ryou's eyes are closed, or he's facing away, he might end up caught by surprise as two hands and two wings reach out to pull Ryou in. Ryou's going to end up lying on one of the wings if he doesn't fight it, and the other ends up slipping between Ryou and the blankets above. It's not fast enough to be a shock, there's no weird monster speed making this hard to fight or something that might spook, and it's gentle enough that Atem's being mindful of how bad Ryou feels physically right now, but -- the person Atem wanted to be there most has been absent for painful reasons for over a week. So as long as Ryou's up for being held, Ryou is getting held.

He usually is. So, as long as it's not so rough it hurts, Atem's not expecting to be pushed away. He'll be careful!
]
knifemonopoly: (we love a bat)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly 2021-10-07 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[He gives a little headshake -- no, not too heavy at all. Especially during the fog. This form is tougher...Ryou's fine like this. Atem's eyes fall half-closed as his face is touched. The sore feelings from the fight are ebbing, scabbing over, well on its way to healing. His face presses lightly into Ryou's hand, and his voice is a low rumble.]

I know. I love you, too.

[He's got no idea how kissing would go with a horrible ear-to-ear bat-maw. Nose boops are about the best he can manage, because he's not Lila, who just fuckin goes for it. Instead, he brings their foreheads together again, getting one arm settled under Ryou's head and the other around his back.

...he really does want to do the catlike face-rub a lot when he's like this, Atem notes. He supposes there's a similar scent thing going on with bats, though his own nose isn't nearly good enough to pick it up. He could hold back, but...something in him doesn't mind being a little selfish right now. So, after a moment of forehead touch, Atem does nuzzle the side of Ryou's face with his own furry one, like an absolutely enormous cat.

He doesn't have snakes to show his feelings anymore, so...Atem has to do it himself.
]

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 01:02 (UTC) - Expand

t-t-t-timeskip!!

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 03:46 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 04:25 (UTC) - Expand

cw self sacrifice ideation

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 12:43 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 16:25 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 16:51 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 17:35 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-08 22:15 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-09 02:45 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-09 03:27 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-09 04:30 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-09 05:07 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-09 14:15 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-09 16:23 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-10 00:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-10 01:14 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-10 02:59 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-10 04:42 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-10 05:17 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-10 12:53 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-11 04:51 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-11 11:46 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-11 15:54 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-11 16:31 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-11 20:49 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-11 21:28 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-12 01:24 (UTC) - Expand

cw self harm discussion

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-12 03:22 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-12 04:16 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-12 04:51 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-12 11:02 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-12 18:04 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-13 00:59 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-13 12:17 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-13 18:17 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-13 22:37 (UTC) - Expand

1/2

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-14 13:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-14 16:14 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-14 17:48 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-14 19:59 (UTC) - Expand

nsfw discussion

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-15 13:22 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-16 21:08 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-17 17:18 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] knifemonopoly - 2021-10-17 23:18 (UTC) - Expand