IC Inbox | ryslig

[softspokenlandlord]

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.

Comments

[softspokenlandlord]

[Ryou considers whether he wants to play cards while floating for a little while, or just go solid again, be a little more normal. He really doesn't like being like this for too long...but there are benefits. If he's just keeping his hands solid, it's less of an energy drain, right? Which means he'll be able to play games a little longer before his hunger becomes too hard to manage. Because there's no mistaking when he's reached his social limit--Ryou's the sort to get hangry.

For now though, he situates himself on the other side of the coffin-table, floating above the ground on his stomach with his legs crossed behind him. Yes. The teenage girl pose. It's comfortable!]

Egyptian Ratscrew is fine with me! A little on the nose, perhaps, don't you think?

...I wonder why they call it that, honestly?

[He really does look thoughtful about it as he watches Atem deal out the deck. Seriously. It's a weird name for a game, though Beggar My Neighbor isn't exactly on a higher spectrum of normal.]

[knifemonopoly]

Even I can't say!

[He finishes dealing out the cards.]

The true origins are most likely lost to time at an American summer camp. But it's very unlikely it had anything to do with Egypt...

[....man, Ryou floating like that is really cute. His...boyfriend? Boyfriend -- is really cute. Atem could have launched into a really nerdy explanation of the origins of cards as gaming pieces and how they originated in China but weren't brought west by traders until after 1000 AD, but it...sort of gets lost on the way out.

They're dating. They're dating and it's okay.]

[softspokenlandlord]

[Boyfriends or not, Ryou would have accepted that explanation and regarded it with rapt fascination. Because they're both nerds. However, he's also similarly contented with floating where he is, listening to Atem talk and nothing else.

Because he is very much comfortable. It takes a great deal of comfort and trust for Ryou to stay in his shadow form without concern, after all. He wants to be here, playing card games with Atem for as long as he can get away with.]

I imagine not...Americans really will come up with anything, especially if the name sounds even remotely vulgar.

[He's thinking of BS when he says that. Deeeefinitely BS. But Egyptian Ratscrew somehow sounds more vulgar.]

You first? Royalty before peasantry.

[He smiles, and it looks weird because his shadows are so dark, and his teeth gleam white in comparison. He's joking but if it was anyone else it might look threatening.]

[knifemonopoly]

Age before beauty.

[And he flips over the first card, starting the game!

He's actually got a vague sense that the game's name may have been Egyptian Rat's Crew, but got corrupted into something more vulgar-sounding...but Ryou's point stands, that the corrupted version of the name was what got popular. After all, the abbreviation is ERS, not ERC...]

[softspokenlandlord]

[Ryou shakes his head and chuckles, before flipping a card of his own--no face card yet, and it's non-sequential.

Atem would take something that was self-deprecating and flip it into a compliment, wouldn't he? It's very charming. He's...very charmed by Atem in general lately, but that's probably what it's like when you start dating someone.

...When someone asks you out on a Ouija Board. Ryou wasn't aware that was a lifetime goal, but here they are.

Now, all that being said...]

"Age" is a matter of debate, actually. Are we counting your actual age, or all the years in between?

[He laces his fingers, trying to look coy and not quite succeeding.]

B-because if we're counting the thousands, then I'd say you look pretty good for your...um. Your age.

[...That's not even flirting. That's not real. Ryou immediately regrets it, it's so dumb...]

[knifemonopoly]

Heh heh! Thank you! But, really, you have--

[Another card; nothing yet.]

--the most captivating smile of anyone I know.

[Figuring out this flirting thing is kind of trial and error.]

[softspokenlandlord]

[Flirting is hard. Ryou's trying not to get too distracted by the compliments, but...Atem really sounds like he means it. He probably does mean it.

Ryou can't help but smile just because of it. It's a soft, genuine smile. Atem probably knows the difference at this point between a real one and a slightly dishonest one...and this one's full of heart!]

Ah...that's, um. That's really nice of you to say.

[He flips a card--and it's a queen. Oh thank god a distraction!]

Well...that's pretty early on. Good luck.

[knifemonopoly]

[He flips over his own card, and seems about to say something--

--but it's a king.

Atem's hand shoots out to cover the pile.]

[softspokenlandlord]

Ah--

[Ryou...is nowhere near fast enough on the uptake. He kind of just watches that happen with wide-eyed surprise.

...And then he pouts. But only a little.]

That's one to you. Let's see if you can get more than about 10 percent of the deck next time, shall we?

[Friendly trash talk! That wasn't very much at all, do better next time, nyeh!

...Don't worry about how he knew the math.

Ryou flips a fresh card once the pile has been cleared, while keeping in mind that Atem now has at least two face cards to his name. Hopefully the split in the deck is fair, because two out of a possible twelve face cards plus the four aces can't all be in his half.]