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[youngtimer]

NeverAcorned - Standard UN || HoratioV - Fog/Lighthouse UN || 5ofDiamonds - Casino Business || Odyssean - Anonymous/Sock UN

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Comments

sorry, November ate me alive

[youngtimer]

[he's seen Ryou exhausted and bedraggled before, of course, but it's the lack of collar that really sells the situation to Horatio, and tells him the most. whatever's happened isn't on the level of the little squabble they had after their return from the Wastelands. no, this is serious. big. damning for at least one if not both of them.

he lets the silence do a little heavy lifting as they move into the living room, breathing in slowly as he tries to consider how to handle this. Atem is his brother, but Ryou is his friend, and he cares deeply about them both. he can't take sides.]

Hm. ... You don't have to tell me what happened if you're not ready to. We can just talk about places, if you want. Pretty sure there are a decent amount of single apartments for rent around Bavan...

[he slips behind the bar, willing to play the role if needed, but just as willing to simply make a drink and then retreat to the couch so they can both sit and talk. he'll leave it to Ryou where he wants to land, how he wants to continue]

meeeee too fam

[softspokenlandlord]

If it's all the same to you...I think I'd prefer a drink.

[He says it with such an air of defeat, even as he leans without manners on the counter. He really is in a state, and he doesn't really want to look at Horatio yet, in case he catches a hint of pity. Not that he expects it...he just hates it when people pity him.]

I'm sure there's somewhere I can go. Or...I could pay Mana to make me a place, just for me.

[A containment zone, more or less. Because he should be contained, right? He should be kept away from people he can hurt, or bring hurt to simply by existing in their space.]

[youngtimer]

[for whatever it might be worth, Horatio's look isn't one of pity at all, just concern. he nods and starts to fix something for Ryou - a Midori sour, based on how much his friend enjoys the melonpan from the conbini.]

Her rates are pretty reasonable if all you want is something small. I'm not trying to talk you out of this, by any means, but ... you're sure you want to be by yourself? Right off the bat? Not even around friends?

[softspokenlandlord]

I've been by myself before.

...It's safer for people, if I am. It's never really changed, has it? Back home, the closer I got to people, the more they were hurt. It's no different here, only I can't blame it on the Ring-Spirit anymore.

I'm the one...who's the problem. I'm the one who seems to attract terrible things and causing those around me to suffer in turn.

[Ryou stares at the counter as he speaks, looking forlorn.]

Being alone...it'll be fine.

[youngtimer]

Now wait just a minute.

[he slides Ryou his drink, garnished with a few maraschino cherries, and gives him his patented 'I Smell Bullshit' eyebrow.]

You can't use the "I'm a disaster magnet" excuse. You do realize you're in Ryslig right? Each and every last gruesome bastard here is a disaster magnet. What makes you any different than the rest of us? You're not usually one to show up at the pity party, let alone make yourself the guest of honor.

[softspokenlandlord]

I'm not--it's not pity, Horatio.

If it didn't keep happening, then...maybe I'd be wrong. But all these powers, the kind of things I sacrificed whatever good will I had towards some people I thought highly of...it wasn't for anything.

Those powers can't save me from this place if it really wants me to be hurt, and me being hurt is hurting Atem!

[Ryou shakes his head, takes the drink and without really enjoying it, takes a massive swig. He wants it to go to his head. He wants everything to swim in his vision until he can't see the ugliness of this place and what it had made him do.]

Y...you didn't see his face like I did! You...didn't see how afraid he was of being anywhere near me, because--because he knows that I'll always be a source of pain!

[youngtimer]

[he listens patiently, as any good friend - let alone bartender - should. when he realizes what the crux of all this is - not any remorse on Ryou's part for the sacrifices he made, just ... his dismay at Atem's reaction to him and their neverending cycle of sacrifice, revenge, repent, repeat ...]

Ryou.

[he breathes in slowly, then sighs, his eyes narrowing a bit: not in anger, only concentration and concern]

I'm gonna tell you three things, and you might not like them, but they're all true. The first one is that how Atem reacts to or feels about anything that happens here is not your responsibility.

[he points at Ryou with a capped claw for emphasis, then starts making himself a drink, his movements precise and practiced as he continues. ice cubes dropping into the glass, bottle caps unscrewed, shots measured and dropped, all serve as punctuation at just the right points.]

The second one is that the Fog brought us here because she wants us to live our best lives. Not the best lives that we think other people want for us. Ours.

And the third? I learned it within months of being here, because I got to know Javert. It doesn't matter how much power She gives you. Shit is still going to happen. And you have to square with that, or it's gonna drive you insane.