#millenniumgod

In most circumstances their trips to Domino were scheduled long before the dates.  The eldest Ishtar siblings were often very busy and they trusted Marik to handle things.  But when Marik had called and confessed what was happening, and having the rod, Ishizu and Odion were on the next flight out.

Thus began a several day long battle of wills as the siblings began discussing what to do.  It was this evening the brothers had left to pick up dinner, while Ishizu rested.

She was awake now, on this evening, brewing a pot of coffee.  Hair freshly washed and his curls untamed for the moment.  Once this arguing and tense energy settled this would end up being a rather nice vacation.  

Industrial Illusions’ main headquarters is located in San Francisco, California. For Keith, it was about a five hour flight from Maine- barring any stops, of course. A little inconvenient, but at least theoretically he could go get his dumb mandatory zombie check-up and then get back home the same day.

...So he was pretty sure the Tenma twins were just being dicks, making him fly all the way out to Domino Fucking City every. single. time.

The bright side, though, was that the gaming scene in Domino was pretty good. He’d learned to give himself a little extra time before his flights home to visit a pachinko parlor or scope out some of the seedier gambling opportunities if he was feeling lucky, or sometimes, like today, to just check out one of the local shops for something to bring back.

As they traverse the city, Ryou sips nervously at his drink until it gets to the point he’s just sucking up air. It keeps him from having to say anything, keeps them both from having to talk about what’s going on. He almost appreciates the silence that’s fallen over them. At least the ring is quiet, too.

When they reach the door, he hesitates for but a moment. Are they really going to release his darker half on purpose? If it’s going to happen, though, it’s best that it’s happening now. Atem is really the only person that Ryou would trust to keep control of the situation.

The Pharaoh lets go of his hand, and he’s left with little choice but to continue. He punches his combination into the lock, and pushes the door open. This is the last thing that he will remember for the next little while.

As he crosses the threshold, his entire awareness is immediately consumed by a familiar inky blackness - as if he’s just had a sack forcefully pulled over his head and been shoved into a box. No matter how many times he ends up here, it never gets better. It’s a violent shift, one that leaves him disoriented and disconcerted. There is only nothingness here - no books, no games, no light. He’s left to just while away the time in his own head, surrounded by the void. He closes his eyes.

Ryou’s body pauses briefly mid-step. It takes just a second, and then he is in control. As he climbs into the driver’s seat, the weight of being hits him, and he has to get used to it again. He pulls the bag off of his shoulder and tosses it to the floor near the door - hopefully, in Atem’s way. He steps out of his sneakers and kicks them to the side discourteously.

Bakura brings a hand up to play with the new necklace and slowly turns to face his most hated visitor.

“It’s been a long time, Pharaoh. How have you been? After you took the puzzle from this plane of existence and nearly destroyed me, I really thought you weren’t going to come back.” He sneers. “Seems I was wrong. That’s a shame.”

The shift is immediate and incredibly apparent. The energy shifts around the boy. His posture, his movement, everything becomes sharper and more jagged. That is not to say that the spirit does not have grace, which he does. Merely that the shape of that energy takes on the form of knives or claws. 

Atem stepped into the apartment, scooping up Ryou’s bag before he closed the door behind him. He hung the bag on one of several hooks on the wall and looked to the other with a stern expression. 

“It is a shame that I did not actually manage to destroy you. How incredibly sloppy of me. For all of your flaws, no one can say that you are not resilient,” the Pharaoh replied as he scrutinized the other’s form. There was quite a lot of him that wanted to lash out at the thief then and there, but there was the tricky reality that it was still Ryou’s body there. The boy was serving as an unwilling shield made of flesh and bone. 

Atem tilted his head and said as he rested one hand on his hip, “What game are you playing? What could you still possibly hope to accomplish? And give me one good reason that I should not take this conversation to the shadow realm and rip you out of that vessel.”

Bakura’s sneer morphs into a wicked smile as he turns the gold disk charm of the necklace between his fingers.

“It’s not your fault. I’m not entirely sure there is a way to get rid of me. Too many little bits scattered about, you see.”

He sidles over to the kitchen counter and leans against it as nonchalantly as possible.

With Ryou’s life hanging in the balance, he’s almost eighty percent sure that his eternal adversary isn’t going to do anything to him. Actually... now that Atem has his own body, he’s far more vulnerable than he had been while inhabiting Yugi’s. If Bakura were to, say, stab him...

The spirit offers a small shrug, eyeing the puzzle around the man’s neck. There’s still a small part in the back of his mind that tells him... if anyone could actually get rid of him, it would be Atem. Maybe he should be careful.

“You know... I’m still considering my options. I have a couple of ideas floating around, though.” He lets go of the necklace. “I could start my own business, maybe write a blog, whatever that is... Of course, plunging the world into darkness is always a classic.”  

A sigh. His eyes casually sweep across the room, looking for anything sharp that he might casually pick up. Unfortunately, all of the cutlery has been put away. No sneaking anything out of a drawer without drawing suspicion.

“But you know as well as I do that taking us across the border also puts my lovely little host in danger. I might drag him with me, wherever you try to send me from there.” His voice takes on a sickly sweet tone. “His chances of coming back are a lot slimmer than mine, however.”

The shift in the boy's demeanour is staggering. It is truly hard to stomach the fact that someone like the Theif King could reside within Ryou. Almost as much as the fact that someone like him could have had the sweet and loving Yugi as his own host.

He did not falter in the slightest at the man's words. He was not afraid of him, nor did his teasing find purchase to crawl beneath his skin or raise his hackles. The Pharaoh cocked a brow at the spirit and dutifully removed his shoes, placing them in the entryway of Ryou's door before stepping into the home properly.

As he approached the other he said, "You'd be better off blogging than trying to call upon any powers of darkness. Should you decide that plunging the world into chaos and terror is still your goal, there are a few things that you should consider, old friend."

The faintest of smiles tugged at the corner of Atem's mouth as he said, "The first of which is that the last time that we did battle, I was merely a fraction of the man I am now. I was still piecing together who I was and scrambling to regain my power and life. That is no longer the case and you couldn't even beat me when I was a ghost. The second of which is that Yugi always served as my moral compass. You are no longer dealing with a bleeding heart, but rather, someone who will not hesitate to drag you into the shadows to sever you from my friend and make sure that you are wiped from history even more effectively than I was."

“You might be right about that.” His other self is fairly fond of the metal, too. He’s found a good amount of jewelry in his bedroom that he definitely did not purchase. He can only hope that it was acquired without anyone getting hurt. “But there are worse things to carry across time.”

Grudges, malice, misfortune… He’s seen plenty of horrible traits carry on past death and persist into life beyond. Not just in the instance of his darker half, but in the cases of a lot of his clients as well. There are more ghosts that exist because of negative emotions than there are because of positive ones.

“Thank you. One day I should like to be half as radiant as you, Atem.”

Ryou places a hand over the Pharaoh’s, gives it a little squeeze. It’s as if he’s trying to reassure him without acknowledging the problem. He offers a small laugh that he hopes is enough to alleviate at least a small amount of concern.

He shifts his bag a little on his shoulder to keep the weight from sending his arm to sleep, allows himself one last look over the wares on offer. No, he doesn’t really want anything else here.

“Would you like to look at any of the other stands? If you’re through, I think I might be ready to get something to drink.”

As much as he would like to pick over every seller at the market today, he’s already been out for a while. He’d like to sit down somewhere for a few minutes, get a short rest. And recent developments have his mouth going dry.

The Pharaoh flashed a bright smile at the boy as his hand was gripped. He knew that the boy was in trouble. But he was still in there, still lovely and sweet. His soul was strong to be able to withstand the spirit of the ring. He would help him, but he had to be careful.

He shifted his own hand to lace their fingers together, leading the boy toward the drink shop and replying, "You are radiant, Ryou. You do not have to do a single thing beyond being you to accomplish that."

And he did truly believe that. A should like Ryou Bakura was a rare thing. That beautiful innocence that could withstand even the darkest of evils and remain soft. He could see even from a glance that there was damage, cracks in his being in which the spirit had settled and made his home, but Ryou still endured.

Ryou is already looking through the offerings of the next stall as Atem speaks. There’s not much on sale here, or at least not much that is interesting. Just odds and ends - and some ugly socks. Handmade. He’s tempted.

He feels a hand on his own and has to turn to see what’s changed. The other man’s expression is one of concern. Uh-oh. He’s already managed to slip up.

“Good, good! I’ve been meaning to stop by the shop and see you both.” But I haven’t had it in me to leave the ring behind and I figured it was a poor idea to bring it with me. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to sit down and play anything.”

He’s trying to circumvent what he knows the Pharaoh is talking about. He’s surprised the man had managed to pick up on it so quickly - he’d barely said anything. Atem has always been sharp - and he cares so much. Ryou feels bad for making him worry.

“Uh - thank you! Thank you. I’m just…” He sighs quietly, smile now a little strained. He turns his eyes back to the wares available. “I’ll let you know. Thank you.”

With his free hand, he picks up a necklace and begins to inspect it. He’s not truly interested, but he’s also afraid of the amount of disappointment he might find on his companion’s face.

And now… He hears something - whispering. He has to fight to not look over his shoulder; he already knows exactly where it’s coming from and that he wouldn’t find anything behind him.

“Where would you like to go for tea?”

Atem does not push. That won't be helpful. If anything, it is going to scare the boy off. Especially if his suspicions are correct. Instead, he gives the boy a reassuring smile.

"You're welcome, Ryou," he began softly before taking the boy's lead and shifting the conversation away from his observation. "I would love the chance to play a game with you again, if you did find the time for it. And I am always happy for an excuse to leave the cash register to Yugi to play a game. For product research, of course. Certainly not a lack of work ethic, you understand."

The Pharaoh chuckled to himself at that and then nursed, "There is a little boba shop a few blocks up. They make a lovely mango tea that I would not mind at all."

He then tilted his head to look at the necklace the boy was holding up and commented, "That is lovely. The stones match your eyes. Though, I think you'd look nice with something a bit more like hmm. Like this—"

A suprise, Jou had to mentally walk himself back through the conversation to try and figure what prompted Ryou to try and comfort him. It had been a while since the two had hung out.

He had been boasting about finally having his own place. That was a good thing. How exciting he was to finally be getting out of the house with his old man. Maybe he had complained a little more openly about his dad than he normally would since he didn't have to go see him any more. Or perhaps he had seemed a little sad talking about wanting his sister to come visit but not being able to get her over yet. Whatever the reason, the happy go lucky had slipped a little, not good.

He quickly smiled at the other, lightly punching him in the arm while chuckling. "Hey, hey, don't get so serious on me, everythin's turning up Katsuya!"

He can’t see Atem’s kind gesture, but he can feel it. A warm hand on his own, reassuring and thoughtful. He knows - he must. The struggle Ryou is having is an unfortunately conspicuous one right now. Gone are the days where he was quietly rendered unconscious by the malevolent spirit within him. Every changeover is a struggle now, likely on purpose.

“You make a good point; it doesn’t really matter. Still, I’d like to be a good host.”

There’s a laugh over his shoulder, louder than before. More aggressive. It feels like there are arms wrapped around him, a head next to his own.

You make me feel quite at home.

There’s the slightest bit more pressure on his hand, as if the spirit is reaching out to stack his over the Pharaoh’s. Is he trying to be funny? Threatening?

At the suggestion that they head somewhere more secluded, he gets the affirmative from his darker half.

Do it.

Ryou doesn’t think that this is the best idea. Not having anyone around as a witness might lead to some unsavory results. He’s seen what the ring is capable of. But it feels as if he’s wandered into the middle of a fight between two titans that he initially had nothing to do with, so he’s not sure he wants to disagree.

He nods and when he opens his eyes, his vision is back to mostly normal. There’s still the hint of a shadow around everything, but nothing is a blur. His head is still pounding.

“Yeah - yes, that’s probably… yeah.” He’s not quite capable of forming complete sentences right now, it seems. His words are all muddled. That’s okay, though; the gist is there. “It’s not far.”

He holds on to Atem’s hand like a raft upon a stormy sea, tumultuous waves crashing down upon him as he gets to his feet. He’s steady for now, but as soon as he lets go… it’ll be over.

He makes sure to at least hang on to his tea as they depart.

The struggle the boy is facing is quite tangible and the Pharaoh cannot help but feel a tribe of guilt. It is entirely possible that You might have had a good day where the spirit let him be if he had not shown up.

But now that he was here, he was involved. He couldn't walk away from this situation and could not leave Ryou to face the malevolent spirit alone.

He gripped the boy's hand tightly as they walked. He was not afraid of the Theif. He was not afraid of spirits. But we was afraid for Ryou. The boy was gentle and sweet. He had strength in him, yes. But Ryou was a boy who deserved a sweet and comfortable life. He did not know that he would ever recover from the nightmare he had been given instead.

The walk was not far and under normal circumstances, it would have been a lovely walk. It was a beautiful day. But he could feel the oppressive weight of the spirit around them, watching their every step. They did not even speak as they made their way to Ryou's flat.