isawallflower | RYSLIG; ic inbox

[ Ah, oh no. It sounds like he's panicking, to Riley's ears, as someone who is always panicking. ]

Okay! Let's not stress! Don't...worry about the food for now, just...listen to what your body's telling you. I've got all kinds of...bird instincts, and I've never actually become a bird. Like...what's telling you feels safe? Maybe- do bats nest?

[He's quiet. Thinks about that. He doesn't know that they nest, but he's endeared to Riley suggesting it. He thinks they...roost? In dark places?

And...what's his bat brain telling him is safe? What would be good, what would make him calm down...

...

...

...he breaks into a laugh. A wry one, and a tired one.]

Sorry, but it's the second time this week that someone's suggested calming down, and I haven't had the first idea of how! I know how Adam calms down, and -- I know how a different me calms down -- but I...

[Honestly, the last time he felt really safe was when Iso-- Lust, she goes by Lust, had wrapped him up in a four-armed hug. He'd never been quite that calm before.

And didn't bats sleep with their wings wrapped around themselves? Maybe there was something to this hugging thing.]

...you might be on to something with the nesting idea. Bats sleep in caves, with their wings around them!

[ Riley's almost taut, forced pep fades to something softer, more genuine. ]

Hey, it's okay. This is all...kinda something no one could prepare for, you know? We just have to do our best.

[ Okay, not no one but no one like...relatively normal? He seems relatively normal, right? ]

And, like...to be honest, I have, uh...a bit of a hard time relaxing too, sometimes. [ Riley admits this reluctantly, dropping her gaze back to her pouting kitten. ]

[Heh. His tone's quieter, and you can hear a little bit of a grin in it. Curiously:]

...does having a cat help?

[He knows petting cats is nice. It's nice when they purr! It's really reassuring to have a little meter that tells you "yes, you're interacting correctly with me!" Petting cats is rewarding.]

[ She hums softly, reaching a finger to Maple, who tries to grab it through the mesh of his carrier with a whine. ]

...Yeah. Sometimes. Makes everything a little less... [ Lonely.

But, she trails off, not willing to say that much, and instead turns her smile back to her guest. ]

So! I'm thinking we get a few spare blankets, turn down the lights, and maybe, maybe, your little bat body will think it's in a cave.

[...that looks nice. It's probably nice, having an animal around to love you. The other Yugi's not sure he wants one himself, he's not certain he'd be able to take care of it right, but he recognizes why someone might choose to keep one.]

I think that's worth a try!

[He sounds optimistic about it. And not quite as wound up as a moment ago -- not feeling alone has always made him feel better, and he's not alone in having difficulty calming down and stepping back. Even though, objectively, it's not great they both have trouble with this, it's...nice that someone understands it.]

[ There. Weird mood completely evaporated, good job, Riley! She gives herself a little mental pat on the back and stands. ]

Okay, wait just a minute and...hm, maybe we can set it up on one of the counters? [ Riley's got one of those apartments where the living room and the kitchen kind of blend into each other ~~because you write what you know~~ so she frowns at the counter that could vaguely be considered their separation, before deciding against it. ] Look around for anywhere that might feel "comfortable" and we can go from there, okay?

[ True to her word, she'll be only a few minutes as she scrounges some extra blankets that came...quite in handy in the colder months. ]

[She leaves the room, and he finally stops clinging to the wall. He flaps around a little, landing on the arm of the couch, looking around -- ah, the table looks likely. Table dark. Blankets could go over it.

When she comes back, when he spots her feet from where he is, hanging by his feet under the table, she'll hear a voice:]

I'm under here!

[ Not seeing where he's gone fills Riley with a very brief, very small rush of panic. What if in the time she's been gone, Maple got out, ate him, and then put himself back in his carrier and zipped it back— okay, no, that's ridiculous even for her. Still!

She looks around for a moment, talons tapping, before he calls out to her. She kneels down and tilts her head a little too far to the right in trying to see him. Bird flexibility, who knew? ]

Oh! There you are— under the table feels safe?

[Look at her head go! That's probably useful when it comes to high shelves.]

As safe as anywhere. It could be pretty cavelike with some blankets over it!

[blanket fort, riley]

[ Bird neck, extend. ]

Huh... Yeah, I can see it. In that case...

[ Prepare for darkness, because Riley straightens and starts draping blankets over the sides of the table. ]

[Hahahaha he is the darkness!

And a bat man, come to think of it.

Anyway, the blankets go over the table, and the other Yugi tries to make peace with his bat-self. It's okay. He can see everything that's going on. No cats. No guns? The under-the-table space isn't completely dark or completely close, which is good. He's got some bad memories from one life about not being able to move around and some bad memories from another about being shut in total lightlessness.

He waits.]

[ With nothing much to do, Riley also waits. She sits back, focusing on keeping Maple from fussing in his carrier. Little boy's getting more treats than he probably should right now, but it's keeping him quiet.

She doesn't say anything, just leaning against her couch, almost reveling in the peaceful moment. She wonders if this is something harpies do too, if maybe one day she'll get too freaked out and just turn into a bird. What kind would she be? Small? Large? Common garden bird or predator? Maybe she should look into that... ]

[...it's really nice of her to do this, isn't it? Instead of letting him get eaten by an owl, Riley sat down and talked with him about what she knew, and got blankets out, and made a little cave under her table. She didn't have to! But she did.

He never wanted to play through Ryslig. It's not something he ever would have asked for. He misses his friends, back home. He misses Yugi. He doesn't know who's running this shadow game, or why. He's confident he'll reach them eventually, whoever they are! At the very least, he'll figure out how to win, and get out. But, in the meantime...it's nice to know that there are people he can go to, if he needs help. People he can count on...make this place less lonely.

Under the table, there's a thud! and an "Oof!"

Looks like human feet aren't any good for holding onto the underside of tables.]

[ Sometimes it's nice not doing anything with someone else. It's...rare that she feels that, because Riley's all about go, go, go— get out there and do what you need to, because no one is going to hand it to you. Prove yourself.

But...

This is nice. Sure, it's an impromptu visit spawned from poor Yugi's monster growing pains, but still. Sometimes, Riley can just put everything aside and care for a friend. She likes those times. It makes her feel...like a good person again. Like the girl who sneaked into the hospital on the night of the eighth grade dance, because she didn't want her best friend to be lonely. The kind of girl who felt bright and happy, who despite everything still saw potential in the world around her. Saw a place for herself in it.

Those feelings are few and far between, nowadays.

It's while Riley's a little lost in these thoughts that bat goes back to boy, signaled with a little bonk. Immediately, she's out of her reverie and back to reality, where she's got ruffled feathers and a yowling cat, and a guy under her cheap 1950s coffee table. She swipes up the blanket with a worried grimace. ]

Oh— jeez, are you okay?

[The blanket's hauled off, and under her table is a boy -- a pale boy, who looks uncannily like Adam yet not perfectly like Adam, whose hair's a bit less '50s and a bit more '90s, who's got baby fangs in his mouth and eyes a brighter shade of red but whose expression of slightly embarrassed relief is one she's seen before. He's wound up on his stomach, not even properly on his hands and knees, as he looks up at her from under her table, sheepishly undignfied.]

Yeah. Yeah, it's good to have arms and legs again! Hello, Riley.

[ She takes in the differences—they're minute, but they're there. It's the eyes that are the most startling, but...she supposes hers probably are as well. That was one of the first things to change for her, the eyes. Eyes, ears, claws...and the little wispy starts of feathers.

It's almost funny to think of how slow it started, looking at her now. ]

God, Ada— sorry, Yugi, here, lemme help you up. [ Careful as she always is of her claws, she offers him a hand. ]

[He takes it. His own nails are a rusty dried-blood color, they're claws when they're allowed to grow, but he's kept them trimmed neatly. The other Yugi deftly avoids hers as he puts his palm in Riley's, and pulls himself out from under the table.

He's got a big, clunky necklace on, an insanely flashy statement piece, which proves that Ryslig's got a very soft magic system that lets the other Yugi carry his clothes and anything that was on him at the time along with him in a travel form.

Give him a second to brush himself off and un-floor-wrinkle his clothes. This whole thing has been an experience. But at least he didn't end up eaten by a wild animal! That would have been embarrassing.]

Thank you.

[For the hand up, and for the advice, and for building him a table cave.]

[ Thank goodness, she first thinks, that he's not naked under there. She didn't think he would be, after having some experiences with people shifting to animal forms, but still, the worry had been there, ever-so-momentarily. ]

No sweat. [ She takes the opportunity to shake his hand, before letting it go. ] I guess this should be...nice to officially meet you?

[He nods, and shakes the hand back!]

Nice to officially meet you.

[They've talked as Adam-and-Riley, and over the network, and as a bat. But there's a nice neatness in making it official! It feels like Day 1 of something -- or Night 1, as it were.]

I should be fine now, if you want to let Maple out.

[poor little prisoner! he got friendship advice from Steve to be nice to girls' cats and he is taking it.

(He does not know it was dating advice, but this is fine, it's just the friendship advice that's relevant.)]

[ Riley gasps, as if only just remembering her protesting kitty. ] Oh...! Oh, jeez—

[ She spins around, dropping the other Yugi's hand and hurrying over to the couch. ]

Sorry, honey, it's okay, out you go— [ Maple loudly yowls, but he starts rubbing up against Riley's hands. His owner. His. ] Aww, it's okay... See, no more scary carrier.

[ ...Ah. So Riley spoils him, that's the answer. ]

[....aww. That's pretty cute, actually. That cat loves his mom very much! Maybe Steve was too quick to judge when he called Maple a mean toddler.]

...he looks a lot smaller when I'm like this.

[It's a joke. That is a joke he's making; the warmth in his voice makes that clear enough. The implication is: cats are much cuter when you're a human and not a flying mouse.]

[ Almost wistfully, Riley pokes at her kitty's nose, letting him paw at her finger. ]

You should've seen him when I first got him. He was just...skin and bone. Could fit almost completely in my hand. Just a scared little thing.

[ ...But now he's happy. Enthusiastic. Her little cat. ]

[...oh.

That'd be a very small cat.

The other Yugi can feel the affliction coming on where the closer he gets to a cat, the more inane his thoughts become. This is absolutely wild for a creature of darkness, a manifestation of judgment, to experience, because while normally his brain is buzzing with alertness and contingencies and observations, all he can think right now is, little cat. Fits in hand. Scared? No! Bad! Protect cat. Should be happy.

With effort, he pulls together a question that is reasonably intelligent:]

Did you pick his name?

[ She turns her attention back to the other Yugi, neck doing that...strangely flexible thing, as she doesn't move her body at all but seems to be looking right at him. ]

Hm? Oh, yes. He... I don't think he had one when they gave him to me? They don't seem to— [ Wait. Rewind. ] Has anyone told you about the bugs?

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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHEERYCHERRY. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.46.820.17 * CHEERYCHERRY has joined 019.46.820.17 <CHEERYCHERRY> It's Riley! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please leave a message! <CHEERYCHERRY>** Please be someone with their priorities sorted out properly!