Ryou Bakura (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
softspokenlandlord) wrote2020-11-18 01:10 am
softspokenlandlord) wrote2020-11-18 01:10 am
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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. | ||||
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As he'd thought, eating the soul hadn't changed much at all. Even though he doesn't feel it, his entire posture is defeated, and when he turns back to his friend, there's a defeated look in his eyes.]
You...look better.
[The implication that he doesn't mean to make is but I'm not. Really, he wanted the other Yugi to be better though. He looks filled out again. It's good. Yeah.]
Do you think we should take the body somewhere? We probably shouldn't leave it here, right?
[Why is it like this? When will he be better? Will he ever be better? Ryou doesn't have the answers to these questions and he really does want them. But he doesn't know where to begin. He hasn't known were to begin since day one of this new reality.]
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[He stands, looks at his own hand, flexes his fingers. He feels his full range of motion coming back, and that's a relief. Thank god the game he'd pulled together hadn't required much dexterity. The other Yugi's still weak, sure, but he's not doing nearly as badly as he was before.
But, he can tell...this hasn't done much for Ryou. He's fed, yes, which is important, but -- the inner wounds aren't healing yet.
All right. One thing at a time.]
We'll take it to the soup kitchen. The body's still good, for the monsters who eat meat.
[The other Yugi grabs the man by his arm and hip and hoists him over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. There's really not a better way to do it, and he's strong enough for it easily.]
Unfortunately, we're going to have to walk -- I can't carry him as a bat!
[He sighs.]
All his blood is completely gone...I was going to save some for later, but...
[Nothing for it now. He'd needed all of it, apparently. Thank god he hadn't decided to take the risk and bite a friend -- he really wouldn't have been able to control himself. He can barely remember actually drinking this guy. It's really true -- it's dangerous to push your hunger too far.]
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Even feeding had been fine this time, though it likely wouldn't be okay later.]
It's alright, Yugi. You needed the sustenance this time, and I think being hydrated is more important than saving a small amount. There's other ways to get blood.
And you don't have to kill the next person, which is always a plus.
[He's trying to be positive, even if it all just sounds coldly logical at this point.
...And although he doesn't have much to put behind it, he follows the rubric of his personality as it lays things out for him:]
I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. With me like this, it can't be pleasant.
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[A beat. That came out reflexively, but is it true? He should clarify.]
That's not to say I'm not worried, or that I won't try everything I can to find out how to fix the emptiness you're experiencing!
But, I don't mind being with you this way. You're still my friend! Another kind of injury wouldn't change that.
[Especially one that Ryou took for the other Yugi's sake.]
So, don't worry. I'll definitely help you out, for as long as you need!
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[Meaning it and sounding like he means it are still two distant concepts, but much like when he'd looked over at Katrina and said what he did, Ryou does find himself almost, almost feeling conviction.]
I haven't really thought about this being an injury really, but maybe you're right. Perhaps it is. I don't blame it on you though. You know that, right?
[He glances down. If it's anyone's fault, it's his own. He hadn't thought it through, he just wanted to help. The concept of consequences rarely strike him until it's far too late. But he'd do it again, and again and again. It's all a weak person like him can do--to use their conviction to strengthen their soul and pull a Hail Mary out of their hat at the last moment.]
I'd do this again if it helped.
[That sounds believable. There's a firmness in those words, a deep truth about who Ryou Bakura was as a person that didn't need overt emotion to convey the point.]
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It was kind of Ryou to do this. And the other Yugi hasn't talked with the Ring-Spirit yet about how this is a pattern for the guy.]
Ryou, I...
...of course it helped. You turned a horrible death into a peaceful one. I passed away surrounded by my friends, knowing that you'd won, and the thing that had been in me wouldn't hurt anyone else.
[It was a consolation he hadn't deserved. He'll make eye contact, if he can -- what Ryou gave him was incredibly valuable, and he won't forget it.]
But before you go doing it again, we should find out what these effects you're experiencing are, and how long-term they'll be.
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He wants to tell the other Yugi that he's so thankful for his concern! But if he says it, there'll be no weight. Just like everything else he's said, it'll be flatter than an untuned guitar.]
Yes. We should, because while I would do it again, I would prefer a point of reference on this. This...is just another way of making people hurt, because no one wants to know that they had any part in this kind of effect.
It's not fair. I wanted to do something for you that would be absolutely guiltless.
[He glances at the other Yugi, and his eyes could bore holes with their intensity. But if at any moment his friend looks towards him, Ryou himself looks away. No, he can't stare. His brows hardly move, if he stares then he's probably unsettling.
But he wanted to look at the other Yugi and feel like he did right because he looks alive and restored. Being told should be enough but it's not.
He lets out a long exhale, then changes the subject. Anything to be almost-normal.]
...How far is the soup kitchen anyway?
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But...the other Yugi's not in any condition to tackle that moral Gordian knot. Especially with neither of them really normal, and only one of them approaching it. He thinks that worrying about whether something is guiltless isn't the right approach. He thinks that supporting one another is a good thing, and sometimes that means sharing the pain, and the difficulty, and the danger.
He holds off on it, though. He senses Ryou's frustration, and he allows the subject to change.]
It's another district over.
[Then, he realizes...]
...now that I'm back to 100%, I can pick up the pace if you can.
[He can't change into a bat, but...there's not really a reason not to run/levitate the distance, is there?]
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[Truthfully, he hadn't had the energy for it before. He really shouldn't put off eating when he knows he has to eat relatively often, but alas. No feelings, no regard to your needs.
Hell, the fact that they were taking this body to a whole other district felt like a lot of effort to just dump a body. The only reason he's doing it is because of a false memory.
The memory of the other version of him leaving his father's dead body to the wolves, so to speak, and the memory of what had happened to his mother and sister in that scenario.
There's no emotional connection, just a deep-seated need not to relive that situation. It would be uncomfortable.]
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It's at the corner of [ADDRESS REDACTED]. We'll meet there if we get separated.
[Then, rendezvous point set...it's time to fast-travel. The other Yugi takes off at a run, ramping the pace up slow enough that Ryou doesn't lose sight of him immediately, but in a few moments, he'll just be a blur.]
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By the time the other Yugi arrives, Ryou himself will be a fair bit of distance behind. He doesn't get lost since he has an address, however. Eventually he finds a shadow being cast by a nearby building and rises out of it like a specter, solidifying quickly afterwards. Somehow, he finds himself out of breath. Not from running of course, but from the expended effort of using his powers.
Even then...he's unusually unbothered.]
You move pretty quickly, Yugi. I guess I really don't know the extent of your powers yet.
[To be fair, apparently Ryou doesn't know the limitations of his own.]
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Well, there's a lot I can't do. I don't have wings, or webs, or poison, and I've got a very common elemental weakness! So, the speed helps to even it out.
[Because everyone starts at level one, right? Because this is a game, and it's got to be even.
But, he wonders....and he wonders how to put this, since he and Ryou haven't really discussed Ryou's eating habits....]
Have you been by here before?
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One, I'll leave it in an open area where it can be found. That dispels any misconceptions of what happened to the person, at least that's what I go for. Or two, I'll find another monster to offer it to.
[He inclines his head to the side and lets his eyes close, giving him a thoughtful appearance as he crosses his arms.]
I used to try and put them somewhere peaceful. I even tried to dig a grave once. The truth is though, I'm never too sure what's the right thing to do. All I know is that any option is better than what I did during my first feeding.
[Perhaps that was volunteering too much information. Ryou doesn't care though, he wanted to give as clear an answer as possible, and the consequences don't feel as if they'll affect him here.
He's completely distant from how callous everything sounded.]
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He doesn't envy soul feeders.]
....
Do you want to tell me about it?
It's fine if you don't.
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I would like to talk about it, yes. But I don't think...we should talk about it now. It would be a disservice to what happened to who I hurt, and all the other monsters that were hurt that month, and also...me, I suppose.
[Maybe another time. When he can feel the weight of his words.]
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[He puts a hand on Ryou's arm, with no idea if it'll be reassuring or not, since emotions and physical contact are often intertwined but not always the same. He does it anyway, though.]
For now, let's go home.
[He'll figure out his next move there.]
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Thank you, Yugi. Your patience is very much appreciated.
[He won't harp on how he knows it's hard, he already did that once and he's not full of ultimate anxiety like he usually is. Lucky for you, other Yugi. Ryou's pretty compliant.]
Alright, home it is.
[...Too compliant.]