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[waitingforplayer2]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHIAKI NANAMI.

FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

*** galagamer has joined XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
<galagamer> This is Chiaki Nanami.
<galagamer> I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Comments

[waitingforplayer2]

Yeah...

[ Something about the way he says it... even as she takes her hand back to move a piece, she considers him.

I died thousands of years ago, and my spirit was sealed away. He'd said that to her, maybe a week or two ago now. And the way he talks about making memories while he can... it's familiar. ]

How old were you, when you died the first time?

[ What a question to ask, and out of the blue. But the room is quiet, and the game is long. They've both got nothing but time. ]

[knifemonopoly]

[He looks at her, wondering if he's been perceived -- if she's seen through the light part of I want to make a hundred hundred memories! So many I forget a lifetime's worth! into the dark behind it. Not easy to say. His tone and face are neutral when he replies, makes the statement of fact:]

Sixteen.

[Too soon, he feels.

I want to go to the afterlife, one day. But not yet. Not yet, I'm not ready, I don't want to go now, I don't want to be sent away...

It's only when he thinks sent away that the muscles in his face twitch, a tell. There's aching loneliness behind this wish for more memories, an emptiness in half his soul that nothing yet has filled.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Younger than her.

She gets up. Before either of them knowing it, she's hugging him, gently with her good arm.

It's not fair. He should've had more time. But now they both get it, at least. ]

Then let's make some really, really good memories here.

[knifemonopoly]

[She's--?

?!

That's not what Atem expected. Not at all.

Even after everything she's been through...she can still find it in her to be kind.

He takes a deep breath in, and then -- slightly, just slightly, leans in. His own arm, the opposite of hers, comes up and wraps around her back.]

Yeah. A million of them...so many good times that we can't keep track of them all!

[He's fine. He's just going to. Hug her back, and let his tail wag, slowly, gently, behind him.]

You're a really kind person, you know. That kindness...I've only seen kindness like that in one other person.

[waitingforplayer2]

Ah... it's not a big deal!!

[ It feels a bit awkward to be called out like that, actually. It's not even the first time. But she'll hug him as long as he needs, gentle and warm. ]

Who was the other person?

[knifemonopoly]

The person who had this apartment before you -- Yugi.

It takes a rare kind of strength, to be kind even when you're hurting, yourself. Not everybody has it.

[Atem certainly doesn't, he thinks. He has confidence instead -- the strength to fight back.

(He is horribly incorrect.)]

Try not to lose it...but also, don't forget, you have to take care of yourself, too. Don't just look out for others, Nanami. Be sure to rest, when you need it.

[waitingforplayer2]

The one with the game collection? [ This is starting to sound like somebody she'd like to meet someday. She finally breaks off from the hug long enough to look around at the apartment walls, wondering what they were like when that person was here-- whether they were less bare, more lived-in.

That's also long enough for her to remember-- oh yeah, they were playing a game. She half-listens to Atem's advice. ]

Oh, I'm trying to! Protect my heart, like you said. [ She moves one of her pieces. ] But I'm okay, really. There's been a lot to do, but a lot of it has been fun!