softspokenlandlord | IC Inbox

[The blood outside will continue to wait for as long as Atem is petting those ears and stroking Ryou's hair. Nothing matters more than that, and even when Ryou responds, he sounds a little dreamy about it. Eyes closed, being pet, he's absolutely thriving right now. Words are secondary.]

He says...his double was an adult. Time travel things, or something...

[Ryou curls up more comfortably, bringing his arms to his chest and...all of a sudden, his exhale makes a very different sound.

Ever wanted to hear your boyfriend purr, rather than purr yourself? Congratulations, Atem. Ryou is purring very softly, almost inaudible if only for the fact that it's such a different noise from breathing regularly.]

[....oh.

Oh, how very good.

Atem decides not to draw attention to it. Instead, he just keeps going, as they talk.]

Right. He'd mentioned something similar to me, a while ago. It sounded like a complicated situation!

[Pet, pet, pet.

Everything's fine.

(It's not fine. The board is broken. There's blood on their back door. Their friends are recovering from deaths and murders, by their own hands and by their doubles'. Atem has even more memories that don't belong to him floating around in his mind. And he's tired, so tired...)

He's here, and he's him, so it's fine. He feels a little better. Ryou feels a little better. It's fine, for now.]

Edited 2022-01-27 18:21 (UTC)

Horatio's family sounds complicated...but they love each other...and he loves them. So...it's okay.

[Ryou is very relaxed. He's thinking about absolutely nothing but fingers on his ears, combing through his hair, and the peace it brings. He's hungry, but chooses to ignore that for now, because going outside would be awful, wouldn't it?

They should stay here, with each other. Where it's safe.

No bad thoughts. Only pets.

Peaceful thoughts, forced or otherwise, seem to be having a secondary effect on him. The purring is one thing, but Ryou's edges are starting to waver, like when he's a shade. But not quite. It's like a fine mist is blurring the edges.

It feels like he's floating. Light and airy.]

[Atem saw the death trap training hall.

He's not sure it's okay, at all.

But it's not his business. He doesn't know everything about it. His opinions will be kept to himself.

Instead, what he does comment on, is--]

Ryou.

You're misting.

Hm?

[One eye slides open, and it feels like he's looking through a fog.

...He is. He is looking through a fog. It's just something he's created out of himself.]

...Uh. How do I not...do that?

[Because now that he's aware, he is trying not to become mist, and it's not working. It doesn't operate under the same rules he's used to as a shade, or maybe he's just not doing it right, but Ryou is slowly shifting into more mist than vampire.]

Uh....that is, you....

[He clears his throat. Oh dear. Now that it's started, is Ryou not going to be able to stop it?

Atem has horrifying visions for a moment of Ryou blowing away, unable to direct himself, like how he'd fallen from floor to floor to floor as a shade during his Mana quest. When he speaks, it's with urgency.]

....for me, I focus on taking up space. I feel my own weight. I want to appear, to touch the world around me with my skin. It might not be that different from making yourself solid, as a shade....try really hard to be a body. Be here.

[Try to be a body...right, right. It can't be that different from being a shade! Atem's right, Ryou can do this, he can fix himself, he has to fix himself, Atem can't just gather him up when he goes all misty, right? He tries to follow the advice to stay as solid as he can, but it's...just not the same to him. Sure, he's used to being natively intangible, but being mist is a different dispersal system, and he's struggling with sorting it out, to the point that, for one long moment, he's nothing but mist, lingering and shifting in the air just above the bed.

Okay, try harder. Coalesce. Be solid. He can do it, he'll pull it off, he--

--can feel Atem's clothing. Yes! Alright, he's doing it, and it's surprisingly much quicker than disintegrating into mist had been. After about a minute, he's pretty sure he's reconstituted, but...Atem seems awfully big.

Maybe Ryou's just become solid in an unfortunate position. He tries to shift and push himself up, and realizes he doesn't have arms anymore.

Or proper legs.

But he does have wings...]

I...u-um. I'm...

[He is a very confused bat who currently has his claws snagged on Atem's shirt. He's several degrees bigger than Atem's travel form, because rather than being an Egyptian tomb bat, Ryou's travel form is based off of a flying fox. That means he's actually pretty big for a bat! But still small compared to his boyfriend. And still very confused.]

[....oh.

Oh. Well. There it is.

Atem's hands and forearms wrap around Bat-Ryou's back for support; his little claws are digging in, but surely he could use some help with the weight.]

There's your travel form!

[It feels kind of nice to hold Ryou against his chest. He's big for a bat, but he's never been this small before. Atem strokes a hand down Ryou's back. Everything's fine.]

Now, be careful going out like this, until you're good at switching back and forth. Predator animals, like dogs and owls, might be repelled, or they might see you as prey!

[It'd be really embarrassing to be eaten by a dog. Atem is always terribly aware of the possibility, when he's flying. You can't shadow game a dog.]

[Ryou doesn't mind being repositioned, and he might be a bat, but he's not a real one, so he lets Atem support him without digging his thumbs in too much. And of course, he's very content to be pet. Being this small would probably be intimidating if he didn't feel so protected. Cared for.

Though Atem bringing up outdoor predators possibly catching him makes Ryou's ears flick back.]

W-well, I think I better not fly outside then. I don't really have any reason to...

[Is that too extreme? He just doesn't want to die again...]

I wouldn't say never. It's nice to be able to fly! But stay alert, if you do.

[Pet, pet, pet. Ryou's head is in danger of getting tucked under Atem's chin, at this rate. It's really relaxing, to just hold his boyfriend like this...]

I'd offer to go flying with you, but I don't know if there are any nice places for bats to visit...I never explored, not really. I only used it as an efficient way to get from one part of the city to another.

[So, a flying date wouldn't be much good.]

I think I'd like it if you came. I wouldn't want to fly alone...

[He looks up, his ears flicking about uncontrollably. They're even more active when he's in travel form.]

But it makes sense, I suppose, to travel in this form if you want to get an aerial view. Vampires are fast, but they're not as good at jumping as werewolves, right? So...flying's best.

[Ryou shifts in Atem's grip, just a bit, to pull himself up further and settle his head against Atem's collarbone. He's comforted by the contact, for certain. He almost wishes he could stay like this forever.

The scent of blood...it's a constant reminder though. They can't keep ignoring it, can they?

Please...just a little longer. He doesn't want to see what's happened

(to her)

out there. The source...]

[Thinking about flying around's brought Atem's attention to the outside, too.

It's so nice having Ryou curled up against his collarbone, holding him this way, his little rotating ears tickling, but...he sighs.]

We'll have to go out sometime, won't we...

...Yes.

[He agrees, but his claws only latch on harder. Ryou presses his head up firmly under Atem's chin in a clear request. It's like a kid asking for five more minutes to doze.

Not yet. Stay here.

They can talk about at least one more thing, right? Just a little more talking, and then once the sleepiness fades away, even Ryou will have to attend to the his need for blood. It's so different, to crave a drink rather than a solid meal.

What they're smelling though...even if his most base instinct is to see if it counts as a food source, Ryou wants nothing to do with it.]

[Atem's hand strokes down Ryou's back, slowly, soothing.]

It's okay. You can close your eyes if you want. Or I can go look alone.

Mmnh.

[It's as much an acknowledgement as a noise of uncertainty. They have to do this...they have to see but he doesn't want to see.]

...I'll go with you. I want to.

[Just because he doesn't want to see the end to this week's troubles doesn't mean he'll let Atem go alone. And as Atem had said, he could just close his eyes if it gets too hard.]

...okay.

[Slowly and with care -- with an almost supernatural smoothness of motion -- Atem moves them off the bed, and gets to his feet. He holds Ryou to his chest one-handed, and takes careful, deliberate steps through the apartment.

There's a sliver of one window visible through a gap in the curtains.

There's blood splatter on it.

Step by step, Atem crosses to the back door, which Tybolt is sniffing and pawing at.]

Ah-ah. Go to bed!

[Tybolt makes an argumentative, plaintive squeak.]

Go to bed.

[Tybolt, unhappily, follows the command and trots to one of his hides.]

[Ohh, the smell is very strong out here. Ryou really doesn't care for it at all. It smells like dead blood, dead before it had happened. So clearly, since he didn't want to focus on it, and how very close to their own blood it was, he instead focuses on how quickly Tybolt listens to Atem.]

...He's quite an obedient lion. Y-you've done well with him.

I don't want him...

...I don't want him to get into whatever is out there.

[Eating it, rolling in it, tracking it into the house...Tybolt isn't permitted to do that.

Speaking of...

I really can't put it off anymore, can I?

Atem reaches for the doorknob, and turns it.]

It might help, to hold your breath--

[And with that advice, Atem pulls the door open, on...

On gore.

Not just Ankhsunatem, everything she was reduced to purplish-red chunky paste across the stoop and door and window. There's patches in other places that Atem can see from up here: disgusting red starbursts stretching across a sidewalk, patches of smeared, sinking viscera on buildings' walls.]

...ugh.

[The others are mostly a brighter red, though. The blood on their doorstep...it's dead, deoxygenated.

This is a vampire's remains. And, it lines up with Atem's memories -- this is where she last was. The pieces fit, it all adds up...]

So, that's how it ended, this time.

[Ryou nods quietly, holding his breath. It helps, not needing to breathe. Or...it might if he didn't immediately gasp upon seeing the remains of Ankhsunatem smeared across the entire area.

And now he can smell it too, but not just her, everyone else too. Every single doppelganger who had exploded within the nearby area. Ryou...really hates it. He buries his face into Atem's chest, his thumbs clinging harder to Atem's shirt.]

It's...it's awful.

[His words are faint, because the scent of it all is deeply overstimulating, and even when he stops breathing again, it's already in his sinuses, in his brain, and he can't help but be equal parts disgusting, and disgustingly interested.

No. No. Nope. He refuses.]

[The No. Nope. is mutual.

Atem reaches a decision, and takes a step back.

He shuts the door in front of them.

Maybe it'll be cleaned up in a few days. Maybe they'll have to do it themselves. But he doesn't want to take it on right now.]

Back to bed?

[Ryou doesn't immediately open his mouth to answer. Instead, he lets out a stressed chittering noise, because he can't help himself. It's embarrassing, but eventually he gives a less bat-like nod.]

Yes. Bed.

[And that's exactly where they'll go. They are going to crawl right back into their cave, and wait for the super to clean that up, and Atem will hold his boyfriend as a bat as long as he chooses to be a bat, and hold him in his normal form as long as Ryou likes that, too.

There's nothing to be done now but rest, and try to fix what's broken.]

IC Inbox | ryslig

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Oh my god the LITTLE FACE IN THAT ICON

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.