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[gothicgambit]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CELESTIA LUDENBERG. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 888.06.111.44 *** VersaillesWitch has joined 888.06.111.44 <VersaillesWitch> Say what you will, but do say it quickly. (alt anon account) <whiterabbit>

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[gothicgambit]

[He. He would support her? Even she doesn't fully support her, or what she's done. Somehow, that shakes her more than anything. Why...]

Do not make promises like that, Atem, I shall certainly make you regret it. [It's said on another smile, the only warning she can give. He would only get hurt caring about a person like her.

But she doesn't want him going after Mukuro.]

It isn't necessary, I can quite easily handle it myself.

[She shows her cards as well, two of a kind, she'd admittedly been more focused on the conversation than the hand. Weak.]

[knifemonopoly]

I can see that!

[That his intervention isn't necessary, she isn't in a situation that's immediately unsafe.

He flips over his own hand. Three of a kind. Not the full house he was looking for, but both their hearts are on other matters, so neither opening hand is particularly strong. Atem scoops the chips over to his side, then passes the deck to Celeste; they're take turns dealing.]

But to say something like that...do you feel like you need to protect me from Mukuro, or from yourself?

[Because that's what she's doing, by warning him off, isn't it?]

[gothicgambit]

[Celeste takes the deck, shuffling it quickly and business-like. Her hands slow ever-so slightly at the question.]

I'm not certain you need protection from anything, now do you?

[Well, she's not going to bother warning him again. It would be far too telling to answer his question...
She stacks the deck in her favor. Quickly, and efficiently without the slightest tell that's what she's doing. Now to circle back like she'd intended.]

Though Ryou-kun might need protecting from you.

[knifemonopoly]

[He'd argue that, yes. He would, if she didn't go on to the topic that she chooses.

(He doesn't catch the deck-stacking; she's very, very good at what she does.)]

If you're implying something, Celeste, you'd better come out and say it!

[gothicgambit]

[She deals each of them their next hand, certain she'll have a good round, barring him pulling luck above skill. His immediate guard, the hesitance and warning in his voice makes her just a little nervous, and so she laughs - that cold giggle that makes a chill run up spines.]

Well, Ryou-kun is such a sweet thing. Watching you two chase each other around is adorable, but it does make me wonder...

[She places her elbows on the table, and her chin atop her hands]

Are you just playing with your food? Because I'll admit I'm tempted to take a crack at him myself.

[And when she smiles, for once it's with teeth, cruelty glittering in her eyes to leave no doubt about what she means. She thinks Atem is planning on hurting Ryou on purpose, and if he doesn't... she will.]

[knifemonopoly]

[He pulls his cards off the table, and, huh...this is a really terrible hand. Can he bluff his way out of this one?

And then she distracts him. He goes still. It's clearly meant to be a distraction, obviously intended to unsettle him, but that smile, combined with those words...what precisely is it that she means? Obviously, it's a threat, but....]

What, precisely, are you implying your intentions are? Are you threatening to eat him alive literally or figuratively?

[They're monsters. They have to ask.

......also how did she know he bit Ryou, she wasn't there, what the hell, Celeste.]

[gothicgambit]

[Don't you know? I'm psychic
She giggles humorlessly again - aw, that was almost cute.]

Figuratively, dear.

[She says with the tone do keep up and leans back, crossing one leg over the other and tossing a single chip into the pile, to get things started.]

Unless you have more literal intentions? I wasn't aware you were into that sort of thing, though that might come with some of your- [she motions to his outfit] aesthetic?

[knifemonopoly]

I see.

[is that why her hair's so big, it's full of secrets

He throws a chip of his own into the pile, his face carefully blank, a smile tugging up at the corners of his mouth. But, hey, is that a slightly shadowy cast to the parts of his body that, in a living person, usually have the most visible cutaneous capillaries? He's totally bitten Ryou Bakura -- only days ago.]

Well, if you want to romance him, I won't have a problem with it. He really is just my roommate, and of course, I want to see him happy...

[gothicgambit]

[Aaand he's fallen right into her little trap. She trades one card to the side and grabs another, and tosses in another two chips.]

Noble. [she chides, lips turning upward. Now to twist the knife he's so politely poised over his heart-]

You're cute. But I don't want to romance him, I want to break him.

[knifemonopoly]

[He does not discard yet.

His eyes flick up to her. His tone is light, but his smile is gone.]

Why? He's done nothing to you to deserve it.

[Right? Unless something else is going on? Ryou does have a history of being possessed. Is there trouble?]

[gothicgambit]

[She smiles again this time with lips closed and cynical eyes half-lidded in a predator's smile. And her heartbeat has gone calm, calm, calm at this particular gambit. She always did play cruel-]

No, he hasn't. You've never had the urge? When someone is so very innocent?

[knifemonopoly]

Never.

[Now he discards his cards; three, then draws three more. It's a bad hand, just a high card, a queen.

He folds.]

[gothicgambit]

[Her head tilts as he folds, hm, perhaps she'd stacked it too well that time. Fortune does not always favor the bold. She slides the very few chips back to her side and hands the cards over.

While they pass them off, she smiles again. Now more cruelty then grin.]

Really? It's quite entertaining. Perhaps I shall have to lead by example, and Ryou can be practice.

[knifemonopoly]

[It feels like fire is flickering under Atem's skin when she calls Ryou practice. He likes Celeste, cares about Celeste, would support and protect and help her as much as she needed, and he'd thought he understood Celeste, at least enough, but what she's saying is pulling on something fierce and fundamental to who he is. He'll kill before he sees a friend hurt the way she's implying.

Part of him still doesn't know how much of this is a lie, is part of the game, is her trying to fuck with him by threatening what she cares about. But he does know that he won't allow it, and that she should know he won't allow it.]

It's a frequent pastime of yours, then? Destroying a person's heart?

[Five chips in this time. The warm-up rounds are over. The cards slide smoothly over the table, five for her, five for him.]

How do you do it?

[Since. She's. Offering. To. Demonstrate.]

[gothicgambit]

[She glances at her cards and just giggles, smile tight-lipped at his first question. Clawed fingers slide seven chips across the table to raise the bet. The anger, the jealousy that she feels at times, when she thinks about people like Yugi and Naegi and Ryou, who make friends so easily because they're so capable of being 'kind'. It comes in an unexpected wave.]

Do you really want to know?

[She says, instead. Letting that simmer between them.]

Or are you asking to try and dissuade me from your precious Ryou?

[knifemonopoly]

[He glances at his cards, and makes it ten.]

There are as many ways to break a heart as there are variations on poker!

[His voice is smooth, but there's a buzzing in his brain, an echo of a flickering dark, an empty space in his mind that used to whisper to him what justice was, what would balance the scales.]

When you see someone innocent, who you want to crush...

[If she wants to be punished--]

--what are your house rules, Celeste?

[--for what she's done--]

Go on!

[--she's come to the right table.]

Tell me how you play.

cw: suicide ideation

[gothicgambit]

[Well, she had wanted him to threaten her. Celeste had pushed and goaded so he would take this as seriously as possible, and perhaps because what could be more tempting to her then the siren's call of a temporary death at the hands of a friend?]

Hm, I suppose you do want to know.

[She tips a poker chip back and forth between her fingers, before sliding twenty into the pot, making it almost all her chips in the center.]

Then, Atem-dear, I shall do you one better, should I leave this table, I'll show you.

[knifemonopoly]

[There's a mania behind his eyes, a madness, one he's been pushed into less and less since March, but which still lurks when he plays for lives, plays for souls. Threatening a friend...playing a game for their happiness...this knife-edge feeling is like an old friend.]

Celeste, I'm disappointed in you! Raising the stakes in the middle of the game is fine, but you can't expect me to risk Ryou's heart without something of yours on the table in return!

[Twenty chips it is. And the right to walk away from the table. And Ryou. And...?]

[gothicgambit]

[There's a pain, and a hurt that comes from seeing that madness in his eyes. She's never played against a person without them hating her by the end. Atem would be no exception it seemed, but... it's never bothered her before.

Her eyes widen, so momentarily, when he calls her bet. She hadn't expected him to admit-]

So you say you hold his heart? Otherwise how could you bet it?

[That was some new information.]

Besides, what would you want from me?

[knifemonopoly]

It's under my protection. I'd say that's close enough!

[He's promised to hold it, to help put it together again when Ryslig shatters it...it's precious to him, and if Celeste thought she was getting anywhere near Ryou with those kinds of intentions without a nasty fight, she's terribly, terribly mistaken.

But what does he want from Celeste?

That's easy. There's only one thing, isn't there?]

More than just your blood. If you lose...you'll also play a penalty game!

[A death by vampire bite isn't always the worst thing. It can be as gentle as falling asleep. The look on his face says that what's waiting for her if she loses is not that.]

Win, and I won't avenge Ryou Bakura. You can do whatever you like. I won't interfere!

Lose...and it'll be you who gets to see my house rules. I might not have all my powers, but I can still show you what happens when you lose a shadow game...

[gothicgambit]

[Honestly?
She doesn't give a fuck about Ryou. Well no, she does, but toying with him was just something she had played with as an idea when they first met. Long since dismissed. She'd only brought it up to bring out the worst and best Atem could offer, and damn this is more success than she expected.

So she comes close to just saying, 'hm, no thanks' and leaving him twisting angry and useless in the wind. It would really clutch and yank that last emotion out of him. More than that, it's a survival instinct that he'd not only kill her, but he'd make it undoubtedly painful...

But she can't do it. She can't drive in that last painful wrench, and damns herself instead-]

Deal.

[knifemonopoly]

[He settles back in his chair with a grin. This game...it's very, very interesting.]

Is that all for the betting round?

[gothicgambit]

[That's when she looks down and falters- she. she hadn't payed attention to her cards. Too caught up in the gambit and her own emotions, still thrown from talking about Mukuro earlier and from that week and -
She realizes she's probably about to lose this hand.

Atem would hear it, the skip-leaping fear in her heart, still beyond her control. She was so stupid

But she gives him a close-eyed smile, hiding her fear from even touching her face.]

I believe so, unless you'd like to raise the bet again?

[knifemonopoly]

[...oh, she's fucked.

He discards one card.

Picks up another.

And pushes the most chips Celeste can match into the middle.

How self destructive is she, right now? How much does she want to get this over with? Will she fold, and keep fighting? Or is she, like when she came to 806 with a knife in a box, looking for an end?]

[gothicgambit]

[How the fuck could she make a mistake like this. Is this amateur hour? What was wrong with her?? Celeste doesn't move, doesn't shift at all when Atem goes all-in to the pot, even though if she could shoot him in the foot and get away with it she would. Son of a BITCH.

Celeste turns her head to the side, pursing her lips and raising a brow in what should read more like a childish false pout far more then anything genuine. Even as she's cursing her own IDIOCY. She. She... what the fuck does she do. She wants to keep going. God knows there's been almost nothing she's ever given up without fighting tooth and fucking nail but...

but...

but...

What good. would it do her.... In the end?]




Very well.

[Said in the calmest, most measured tone she has, she matches his bet.]

Call.