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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]

Ah, Bruno-kun!!

[ She clings on with two of her right hands, and settles herself in the crook of his horn for when they move. Hopefully she doesn't add too much extra weight, but she is much smaller than him. Her wings fold back against her back. ]

I guess... I just have since I first met him. He seems like the kind of person who deserves that, is all... he's really smart, and wise!

[knifemonopoly]

Oh, him!

[Atem's not sure Bruno seems particularly smart or wise...he seems sort of like a hedonist blessed with foresight, but...he's a kind sort.]

He saw me talking to a girl in a bathroom, to be perfectly honest. I was fixing her makeup, and telling her to break up with her boyfriend...

...so, I thought, if I was feeling well enough to go to a party, and vouch for a human, then...this month must not have anything too bad happen!

[waitingforplayer2]

Oh!...

[ Nanami nods along. That seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Atem's making a change this month. He deserves a break.

Then part of that story comes back around like a boomerang and hits her. In a bathroom. And she glances down at his form, and from where she's sitting, the difference in his chest is much more noticeable. ]

OH! That's why you need new clothes! [ Blunt as ever. ]

[knifemonopoly]

[Atem...doesn't entirely take Nanami's meaning, yet. He's in a chunky sweater. It's only obvious from, specifically, where Nanami's sitting.]

Well...I don't have anything yet, that I'd be happy to wear to a party...

[except, maybe, the skirt from the spa day. but that's....a little obvious. he wants leggings, at least, especially with november temperatures--]

cw: early/mid-2010s gender presumptions

[waitingforplayer2]

You...

[ Atem no-- that's not what she meant--

Wait is she wrong? Maybe it's just that this form has unusually large pecs? ]

Atem-kun, did you... did you turn into a girl?... [ Or is she imagining things. ]

cw: unfortunately, it's that way all the way down,

[knifemonopoly]

[His cheeks flush -- she might see it, close as she is.]

So, you noticed...

...this monster form is a girl's, yes!

cw continues

[waitingforplayer2]

So... does that mean that you're a girl too now, Atem-kun?

[ She kind of keeps her voice down, even though-- there's nobody really around? But this is a sensitive topic! ]

cw continues

[knifemonopoly]

....

It's funny....

[He steps into the elevator, that'll take them down to the ground floor, where they can walk to, or catch a ride to, the mall of Bavania.]

...I don't know if I am! I don't feel any less like me than I did when I was possessing you, or Cagliostro...

...but being like this doesn't make me feel not like me.

It's not as different as being a nymph, for example...

[waitingforplayer2]

[ It's a little strange, moving so quickly under somebody else's power, and oddly a bit more disorienting than when she was riding along while he was possessing her.

But it's not a big deal. She'll get used to it. She hangs on with two of her right hands and one of her left hands.

(No, she's still not used to the multiple arms thing.) ]

Was that really different for you? [ Oh that's interesting. The most that she saw him as a nymph was in the wasteland, and then after she came back and he fed her - and that still seemed like Atem? ] What about it?

cw: gross pitcher plant feeding description, sexual harassment mention

[knifemonopoly]

My insides...they were all different! It was only obvious when I ate someone, but I didn't have any human organs at all. My neck would get as wide as it had to be, to swallow a human....and then the acid inside dissolved them.

[A beat, as the elevator doors close.]

But, inside my head...that was different from me, too.

I kept thinking about how...cities, they were like -- infected wounds. Factories, that made things people needed -- they bothered me, more than usual.

It was like I could see the whole picture -- the way everything, eventually, fed on everything else -- and it meant that nothing in particular mattered. It'd just be eaten eventually.

[He grimaces.]

Plus, human men mistook me for a girl a lot, and weren't very nice....

[waitingforplayer2]

... That way of feeding sounds really ...

[ She wants to say interesting; lay off of her real feelings on the thing to spare his; but there's a little niggling itch at the back of her mind, and the real word slips out. ]

... cool. Sorry, ahh!! [ SHE DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY THAT. ] I mean, it's-- if it was hard for you, that's-- really understandable-- [ It sounds grotesque! But also--

Well, anyway, moving on. The other stuff is... a little sad? ] Mm... it was a little similar, for me, but also kind of different?... I love everyone so much, but as a nymph I loved even more than that, every plant. I guess it was kind of overwhelming...

[ The niggling itch at her mind is different now, than a moment ago. Now she doesn't really want to stop talking about it. But maybe that's also just months of steadily growing frustration, finally bubbling over, now that there's someone she feels safe talking about it with. ]

But I think even more than that... being a nymph is just... hard for me. I know it's not hard for, um, for Giorno-kun, or Elsa-san, or... a few others... and Spengler seems to think it's an easy monster type to be...

But... it's really not, I guess... I kept having to learn how to move again, when I first changed, and when I came back after the wasteland, and again in Felfri... it wasn't ever easy... [ She crosses her arms over her chest, hugging herself. One of her lower arms still grips on. ]

Not like being a merperson was. Or like-- flying, in Felfri. Or even like now! [ Being a faerie is A LOT, but it's not hard. Just different. ]

[knifemonopoly]

[The idea that she thinks it's cool...it makes his head tilt, a moment. She'll feel it. But, Atem's used to Ryou...he's used to friends with an unusual relationship with the macabre.]

Feeding like that wasn't that hard...it just smelled bad, and it was difficult for other monsters to watch.

But, I understand...you're used to moving around in water, and now, you get to move around in the air. As a nymph, you're landbound!

[Is he understanding right...? That having to move in two dimensions, when she prefers three, is the difficulty...?]

[waitingforplayer2]

That's exactly it, I think. There's just! There's so much less to do, as a nymph. I could control plants, but... all sorts of monsters have magic, so that's not something that's really special!

I don't know which is the right monster type for me, but... um, I'm starting to think it isn't nymph. Even if She thinks it is.

[knifemonopoly]

I don't know...

...being a nymph didn't feel like there was less to do, to me. True, I couldn't explore the sky or water...but feeling like the whole forest was my friend was something new.

It was easier...to hunt, in that form.

[He's quiet a moment.

The doors ding! as they open, and he picks his feet up, and heads for the exit.]

But there's nothing wrong with trying out new monster types. You'll have to tell me which one ends up being your favorite....heh heh!

[waitingforplayer2]

... Yeah. Hunting while I was a willow was pretty easy. We were a pretty good team, huh?

I think being a nymph... helped me get better at hunting. I'm not really sure how I feel about-- mm. I guess I'm a little relieved, but also sad about it?

[ Truth-telling is taking a toll. She rubs her head with one of her hands. Is it gonna be like this the whole month? ]

I've been thinking for a little while that I want to try all of them... but you know, I think I might try to actually do that. I have enough coins for a few, at least.

... There's a project I might want to make, too. It's kind of related.

[knifemonopoly]

[...wow that sure is some faerie truth telling. Atem doesn't make a habit of lying, but he notes it, in case he takes that form himself, down the line.]

What kind of project?

[Down through the main lobby, out the doors...]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Nanami doesn't really lie either. What's different now is... whenever she feels hesitant to talk about how she feels, she feels an itch to keep talking, which isn't resolved until she's honest and open.

It's strange. But he's not upset about it. So that's... kind of a relief, actually? ]

Spengler's. I've basically memorized it... but I really think it's only a little bit helpful. I think it needs an expansion.

[ Heart hammering a bit, but not with anxiety - with excitement. ] I want to write one.

[knifemonopoly]

[How could he be upset? Relieved that something unpleasant but vital is easier, but sad about taking lives more easily...that sounds like the most normal reaction he can imagine.

He hopes she finds a way to kill and eat that doesn't bother her at all. Not that all killing won't bother her ever again...but that she can find the way to do it that doesn't sit wrong with who she is.

Atem's had that, since before he ever came here.

But the idea of an expansion to Spengler's is much more exciting than murder.]

An expansion...!!

Then...you're going to try out the monster types...and write down what you learn yourself?

[waitingforplayer2]

Yeah. That's a really big part of it. It's not the only reason I want to try everything out, but I think it's a way that I can help other monsters with it.

... The other reason I want to is because I want to figure out who I am and what kind of monster I want to be. [ TRUTH-TELLING!! ]

But I don't want to write it all myself. I think what's missing is... it's not personal enough. It's actually really general. It's like Spengler observed a few monsters and wrote down what he saw, but that means that some of the information is wrong or not specific enough. So far my changes haven't been anything like what's in the guide, in a lot of ways.

So I want other people to help me write it too. And try new changes with me, too, if they want.

... Would you be interested in helping me with any of that?

[knifemonopoly]

Nanami...!

[It sounds like a worthwhile project, to him -- both helping other monsters, and helping Nanami figure out who she is. She disliked being called the Ultimate Gamer, didn't she...? Playing games wasn't for fun, anymore. It wasn't for her, when that became her label. So...of course she should try out as many types as possible, until she finds the one she likes -- the one she wants to spend her time here as!]

Of course I will! Trying out new monster forms, and comparing notes with friends...

...it sounds like fun!

[A good distraction, from all of the bad things that happen around them. A project, that'll help other monsters...and someone who's become a very dear friend. Of course he's in.]

[waitingforplayer2]

That would be amazing! I'd really trust your input, because you've been so many types of monsters already!

[ She counts them off on one of her hands. ] Vampire, demon, naga, merperson, nymph, minotaur... am I missing anything?

I don't know what I'll try after faerie, but... so far I really like it.

[knifemonopoly]

Nephilim, and werewolf!

[They stroll casually on down the street. Atem could probably break into a run, and run all the way to the mall without breaking a sweat, if what he's heard about minotaurs is true, but...

...he's not in a hurry, yet. And, running might make it harder for Nanami to hold on...he'll wait.]

But, faerie's one I haven't tried...what do you like about it? Besides the flying, of course.

[waitingforplayer2]

Flying's actually all I asked for. I let Mana pick what I specifically would be... I just wanted to fly again, after Felfri.

But...

[ Okay hmm she has to really think about this. She opens and closes one of her small hands, thinking. The little itch at the back of her mind returns, and she powers through. ]

Well-- I like how I feel, I suppose. I have a lot of extra limbs, but-- well, the flying came pretty easy, and the extra arms are kind of fun to figure out. I know I have a lot of new powers, and I haven't tried all of them yet, but I like the ones I've tried so far. I don't even mind being smaller - I kind of like it? It's just a different way of being, and it makes some things easier. I've never really seen many faeries using this power very much, and I don't understand why...

... And I like how I look too, I suppose. Blue's a nice color. Even though I don't have hair again.

[knifemonopoly]

I like having extra limbs. Just two's never quite enough, anymore! Once you get the hang of it, they'll be really useful.

[No big deal, just strolling down the street, Fog cloak fluttering and fading-out behind him in the cool fall air.]

Is that chitin, then? On your head? It's in the same shape as your hair, so looking at you, I didn't really miss it...

[waitingforplayer2]

Yeah! It reminds me of one of my games, actually. I don't think you'd know it, but it's a new Legend of Zelda game that came out for the Wii.

[ At this she finally rises off his horn, and flits down to fly next to him as he walks, so he can get a closer look. ]

There's a tutorial guide in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword who looks sort of like this. And my wings sort of look like Fi's, from Ocarina of Time... I really like helping people, so that's a nice thing about being a faerie, too.

[ It's a lot easier to be open and honest with him! The truth-telling isn't the only thing making that happen, really. He's just a good friend to talk to. ]

You don't usually have multiple limbs now, do you? Only with ... let's see... [ Now she has to pause to think. ] Wait. None of your other forms have them, do they?...