noasark | Ryslig IC INBOX

They're very not, you're correct. I'm a little surprised they're your style, actually. Only a little; you could probably make them fair again (Amanda did like to rig them occasionally...)

Hm.

...I'll have to drop in. I don't think I could name anything specific by word...

Of course they're fair! I'd never invite someone to play a game that was impossible for them to win!

[Jeez! What do you think he is? Just a murderer?]

Why don't we go down together? I need a Fog follower to let me in, anyway.

Well I certainly wasn't doubting YOUR methods.

[Just Amanda's!!! And to be fair, he's right in that case!]

Do you now~? Very well, I can manage that...

[He is right!! But it wouldn't be a Jigsaw apprenticeship without that kind of generational disagreement!]

Where should I meet you?

Hmmmm.

How close can you get without (obviously) getting inside?

You mean to regular-Dyster? I'm not sure. I've never tried at night! I'm lucky enough to have a lot of friends who follow the Fog, who'll let me in with keys.

[Ah-

...No, that one's on him, he wasn't thinking entirely when he sent that question, instead gunning in on 'how close to my house will you get without me having to lock up the cult refugees for everyone's sanity'. He realizes now that a number of key words would have been better. Ah well.]

Never mind it- if you want to meet at the middle point between our apartments, that'll suffice; any door will bring us to Dyster.

All right. Outside the library, then?

[THAT'S A MUCH EASIER TRIP THAN DYSTER, THANK U]

Yes, that will work perfectly.

I'll see you there.

[Smash cut, there's a vampire chilling against the side of the library. It's after dark, and the place is in the process of closing up; patrons give him a bit of a nervous look as they leave, pulling their coat-collars up and walking quickly out of sight.]

[Suffice to say, it's the opposite treatment for Noa- many people are cooing and aw-ing at the cat as he scurries along, and a few of the ones giving Atem wide berth even pause to smile a bit awkwardly at the sight of it rushing up a stair rail to see the vampire.] Ahem, [he greets, coughing.

He gives a slight nod to the door.]

Ready to enter?

[His face lights up. It really is always good to see Noa; his reputation's well deserved. Noa deserves people cooing as he goes by.]

Let's go!

Of course~

[It's a simple matter of turning back, sitting up, and setting a key in the lock of the library door. Instead of the library itself, the door opens to Dyster's streets, and in they go; once the door shuts behind them, shimmering oddly in the fog as proof of where they must leave through, Noa turns to Atem.] Care to lead the way~?

[He totally hasn't forgotten how to get there from here, he didn't visit that place often dammit-]

[Ha ha, Atem doesn't even notice Noa doesn't know how to get there. He nods!

Then, Atem gestures to his own shoulders with a thumb, raising an inquiring eyebrow. Want a ride? is what he's asking.

Unfortunately, he's forgotten that he carries Tybolt over one shoulder pretty often, so he's got the smell of another cat on him.]

Hohh? An offer? [He hums, quickly shifting to travel state and preparing to jump.] Don't mind if I d-

[hey wait]

...Atem?

...did you get an actual cat..?

[wait!!!]

[Visibly confused:]

What? No, of course I--

[Atem doesn't have an actual cat, he'd know if he'd adopted a--

--oh. Realization dawns.]

There is a baby lion I'm looking after part-time. Until he can be adopted by someone else! That's probably what you're smelling, since I definitely don't have a cat.

[He's in such deep denial about his foster fail he's in danger of washing out into the Great Green sea.]

[He feels somehow insulted.]

A lion is still a cat, you know...

[OH! OH! YOU REPLACE NOA! YOU REPLACE NOA LIKE HE IS A 2 CENT TOY!!!]

[Atem has never experienced the emotionally-illiterate-boyfriend "what did I do??" feeling before in his life. Either life.

It is extremely confusing.

The normal response is to insist that a lion is not just a cat, and is Atem sure he can take care of it? But Noa...Noa's got a problem with it that isn't that??

Then what...what is the problem?]

Noa, what's wrong?

[What's wrong?? WHAT'S WRONG???

Alright. The cat breathes. He just needs to calm down. It's fine. He's being ridiculous, he's a grown teenager cat, and Atem can have a real cat if he wants. It's fine.

He gets on the vampire's shoulders, with a perhaps rough jump.] Nothing; let's move on to Amanda's, shall we?

[When she says "it's nothing"...

Atem lets Noa up onto his shoulders -- oh boy he IS mad -- and starts the trek to the workshop, but he hasn't let the problem go.

Why does Noa have a problem with Atem having a real cat...?]

Noa...do you think I think of you as a pet cat?

[The bristling intensifies!!!] WHAT-

Don't be ridiculous, I'm a person. ...In the loosest sense mind, but I literally have my own pets, [he mutters, tail occasionally thudding against the other's back.]

I just didn't expect you to get a lion, obviously.

I didn't expect it, either! Really, though, he's not mine. It's just that he was being kept in a storeroom at the shelter...they were doing the best they could, but when I saw him, I wanted to help.

My family kept lions before, you know. A long time ago. After last month's fog trouble, I've got some memories left over from when I was alive!

But, that aside -- I want to be sure you hear it from me. Being friends with you, and taking care of a lion -- they're completely different. You're a person. He isn't!

[Maybe this is some kind of manticore-brain thing? Maybe it's a territorial instinct Noa can't help.]

How on earth did they even accidentally obtain a lion? [Noa drawled, apparently now doing his level best to just not address his own irritation.]

You're stating the obvious, but it's noted.

[It's not going well.]

It was from Mana...and the original owner disappeared.

But, Noa...if it's that obvious, why are you taking it so hard?

[This is the weirdest jealousy Atem has ever experienced, and he was in a bodyshare romantic triangle and he doesn't like to think about what Ryou got up to with dreamworld-Atem in June, so that's saying something.]

Edited 2021-11-03 14:10 (UTC)

Someone bought a lion from Mana?

[Well colour him curious on that note, but now he's just bristling again.] I'm not-! I was just surprised, that's all it was!

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, GREATFLOOD. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 950.04.933.05 * GREATFLOOD has joined 950.04.933.05 <GREATFLOOD>This is the inbox of Noa Kaiba. <GREATFLOOD>Leave a message, and I should reply shortly. <GREATFLOOD>**Undesirables will be banned.

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<GREATFLOOD> me sitting here like 'huh has noa offered his neutral protection to anyone...hm'

<Player1> hmmmMMMM

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