*** HARMONIA has joined 710.35.155.17 <HARMONIA> Buongiorno, sorry I missed you. <HARMONIA> I'll happily get back to you as soon as I'm done with whatever business I'm on. <HARMONIA> Please leave a message.
My logic was that, since shades are weak to water, and their natural state is incorporeal, it wouldn't be an issue.
[Ryou's child-body and his shade-body are so different...why is one of them growing into the other? Why is this so -- physical? When Atem goes on, his voice is slower, quieter.]
I've come back hungry before, but never with the injuries I suffered not healed yet.
[Was this, actually, a terrible mistake? Did Atem needlessly make this regeneration harder than it had to be, because Ryou's healing isn't following the patterns Atem's familiar with?
[Slowly, Giorno lowers his hands. As he places them back on his knees, resets his posture, he stares down at Ryou and presses his lips tightly together. He's upset, truthfully. He hates when people hurt more than necessary. He wishes he didn't have to do this — but if it's a choice between the speed at which he can heal and waiting for the Fog to do its work, there's absolutely no question that he needs to.]
[All right. He exhales.]
I don't know how to rehydrate mummified skin, and even if I did, I don't think we'd have time to do that. So this is most likely going to be extremely painful and result in some tearing.
[Tearing. Great?]
Do you think you can keep him calm? He doesn't seem thrilled that I'm here at all.
[Ryou's fingers tighten a little more around Atem's, the stretched skin across his bones looking pretty painful already. Compared to his usual state, he's so small...so weak looking.
There's still blood regenerating within him, at least, and that does help with hydration. Maybe it won't be so bad.
Suddenly, he tenses. For one moment, he could have sworn he could hear. The vibrations had shifted to something he could parse, but only on the side with the actual ear. So, he hears the last thing Giorno says--
"He doesn't seem thrilled that I'm here at all."
--and it puts him on the immediate defensive.]
What--who are you? Wh-who are you?! Where am I? T-tell me!! You're not Atem!
[...Not calm. Definitely not calm.
He tries to pull his hand away, incorrectly assuming the voice goes to the one gripping his fingers and jumping to the immediate conclusion that he's not in a safe place.]
[--can he hear? Atem's not positive Ryou can, or if he can, it's not proper hearing. Atem doesn't let go of Ryou's hand, but brings his horrible bat-head down to it, bringing Ryou's fingers in contact with a furred face.]
It's all right! He's a friend! I'm here. You're going to be all right.
[Eventually. On the other side of what promises to be a lot of pain.
If Ryou digs claws into Atem's snout right now, he could do a lot of damage. Atem's eyes are close to sharp-edged, enormous monster hands. But he presses his face into it anyway, giving proof that's hard to fake.]
It's Giorno Giovanna. He came here to help while I was shedding my skin -- remember?
[It's the instinct to freeze catching hold of him again. Even once he realizes what's happening, though, he doesn't move a hair, both for his own safety and for Atem's. The vampire's got things under control, as well as they can be under control. And if worst comes to worst, well—]
[Ryou's claws seem all the more sharp with the skin pulled tight to his fingertips, and in a panic, he does dig them into Atem's cheek, just below the eye.
The damage is minimal however, for one reason. He can hear, and with Atem this close, asserting that everything's going to be okay...even though it's hard to hear and distinguish the all of the words, like someone's yelling across a room with a screen in front of them...he recognizes the voice.]
O-okay.
[That's all he says. He doesn't apologize for the damage he's done, because he can't see it, and he's too stressed to know that he's cut Atem's cheek at all.]
[The blood-price is small, much less than the most Atem would be willing to pay to reassure Ryou.
The feeling he gets is the crawling guilt of bringing a pet who doesn't understand what's happening to an unpleasant vet visit. What's about to happen is for the best, but Atem can't explain it; it's going to be bad, and it's going to feel like a betrayal.
He pulls the hand from his face, holds it between both of his own.]
It's going to be all right.
[Then, he nods at Giorno. Now's as good a time as ever.]
[Right. It's good that Ryou trusts Atem so implicitly. That's going to make this much, much easier. With a soft exhale, Giorno relaxes, fixing his posture and nodding back at Atem before closing his eyes.]
[Steve asked him once if he had any senses as a monster that he hadn't had before. It was then that he explained the expansive sense that is Gold Experience, the feeling of being able to feel the pulse of every living thing around him, the push of sap and thrum of blood, the feeling of connection. Being in Ryslig in comparison was like being blind for so long. But now it's just a little easier. Because when he closes his eyes and reaches out for Ryou, there he is. That strange body doing its best to heal and struggling against bindings that were meant to help.]
[Giorno doesn't have to open his eyes to find Ryou's hand, to take hold of it in both of his own, a mirror of Atem's actions on the other side of the shade's prone form. When he speaks, it's for Ryou's benefit in the event that he can truly hear now, and for Atem's in the event that he can't, or that only Atem's reassurances will do anything to calm him.]
I'm going to do this as quickly as possible. Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to. It will hurt, but then you'll feel better.
[So saying, he reaches through the alive-but-not regenerating form of Ryou's body and begins his work. Eyes still closed, brows drawn tight in focus. He takes this so seriously. The process starts uncomfortable rather than painful and doesn't look like much of anything, but that's because of the state of Ryou's skin. It's not right, so Giorno has to change it. It's only once it's a bit more flexible, more elastic, more alive that he's able to slowly but surely coax it to grow over Ryou's exposed skull.]
[And so on from there. He wasn't lying: it hurts. A lot. But he's also very, very efficient. If he's not interrupted, the whole process will take something like five minutes.]
[Ryou doesn't like the sound of this...but he's been scared for a very long time. Ever since he'd begun to revive he's been terrified. At least now, it seems he's surrounded by friends, and he can tell because he can finally hear them, at least vaguely.
The fingers of both hands curl to grip around both Atem's and Giorno's loosely. He can't see yet...but he can put his trust in them both, even if his brain is screaming at him to be cautious.
Pain...? He's used to that. He's not good at handling it, but...he is used to it more and more lately, so Giorno's words don't scare him, he just gives a vaguely affirmative murmur. Yes. He gets it.
When the regenerating begins, he squirms a bit. It doesn't feel great...it feels like something's being changed, but he can't quite put his finger on it.
It's only once the skin starts to stretch and pull itself across Ryou's exposed skull that the discomforted squirming starts to pick up. He whines at first, and his fingers tighten. But as the healing goes on longer, he starts to cry out in pain.
It's at some point around the third minute that his eyes finally regenerate. It's effectively as if someone's turned the light on in his skull.]
S...stop, wait! Wait, it hurts!!
[But deep down, he knows Giorno won't. Because he can't leave the job half done, can he?
Ryou's eyes glow even brighter than normal as the skin stretches tight to his skull, as his hair grows out into an unhealthy, stringy looking mane. It might look better--he might look better--if he didn't feel so dry.
It's like someone's tried tanning his skin like leather for days, the way it looks--unhealthy and taut to his bones...but at least it's covering his head now. And for as much as as he's screaming and carrying on, the worst thing Ryou does is kick his feet and grip the others' hands as tightly as he can, which...admittedly isn't that tight. He's too weak for that.]
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no subject
My logic was that, since shades are weak to water, and their natural state is incorporeal, it wouldn't be an issue.
[Ryou's child-body and his shade-body are so different...why is one of them growing into the other? Why is this so -- physical? When Atem goes on, his voice is slower, quieter.]
I've come back hungry before, but never with the injuries I suffered not healed yet.
[Was this, actually, a terrible mistake? Did Atem needlessly make this regeneration harder than it had to be, because Ryou's healing isn't following the patterns Atem's familiar with?
He admits, in that same tone:]
I don't know why this is different.
no subject
[Slowly, Giorno lowers his hands. As he places them back on his knees, resets his posture, he stares down at Ryou and presses his lips tightly together. He's upset, truthfully. He hates when people hurt more than necessary. He wishes he didn't have to do this — but if it's a choice between the speed at which he can heal and waiting for the Fog to do its work, there's absolutely no question that he needs to.]
[All right. He exhales.]
I don't know how to rehydrate mummified skin, and even if I did, I don't think we'd have time to do that. So this is most likely going to be extremely painful and result in some tearing.
[Tearing. Great?]
Do you think you can keep him calm? He doesn't seem thrilled that I'm here at all.
no subject
There's still blood regenerating within him, at least, and that does help with hydration. Maybe it won't be so bad.
Suddenly, he tenses. For one moment, he could have sworn he could hear. The vibrations had shifted to something he could parse, but only on the side with the actual ear. So, he hears the last thing Giorno says--
"He doesn't seem thrilled that I'm here at all."
--and it puts him on the immediate defensive.]
What--who are you? Wh-who are you?! Where am I? T-tell me!! You're not Atem!
[...Not calm. Definitely not calm.
He tries to pull his hand away, incorrectly assuming the voice goes to the one gripping his fingers and jumping to the immediate conclusion that he's not in a safe place.]
no subject
It's all right! He's a friend! I'm here. You're going to be all right.
[Eventually. On the other side of what promises to be a lot of pain.
If Ryou digs claws into Atem's snout right now, he could do a lot of damage. Atem's eyes are close to sharp-edged, enormous monster hands. But he presses his face into it anyway, giving proof that's hard to fake.]
It's Giorno Giovanna. He came here to help while I was shedding my skin -- remember?
[Please remember.]
no subject
[It's the instinct to freeze catching hold of him again. Even once he realizes what's happening, though, he doesn't move a hair, both for his own safety and for Atem's. The vampire's got things under control, as well as they can be under control. And if worst comes to worst, well—]
[He can always fix Atem's eyeballs, he supposes.]
no subject
The damage is minimal however, for one reason. He can hear, and with Atem this close, asserting that everything's going to be okay...even though it's hard to hear and distinguish the all of the words, like someone's yelling across a room with a screen in front of them...he recognizes the voice.]
O-okay.
[That's all he says. He doesn't apologize for the damage he's done, because he can't see it, and he's too stressed to know that he's cut Atem's cheek at all.]
no subject
The feeling he gets is the crawling guilt of bringing a pet who doesn't understand what's happening to an unpleasant vet visit. What's about to happen is for the best, but Atem can't explain it; it's going to be bad, and it's going to feel like a betrayal.
He pulls the hand from his face, holds it between both of his own.]
It's going to be all right.
[Then, he nods at Giorno. Now's as good a time as ever.]
cw skin gore
[Steve asked him once if he had any senses as a monster that he hadn't had before. It was then that he explained the expansive sense that is Gold Experience, the feeling of being able to feel the pulse of every living thing around him, the push of sap and thrum of blood, the feeling of connection. Being in Ryslig in comparison was like being blind for so long. But now it's just a little easier. Because when he closes his eyes and reaches out for Ryou, there he is. That strange body doing its best to heal and struggling against bindings that were meant to help.]
[Giorno doesn't have to open his eyes to find Ryou's hand, to take hold of it in both of his own, a mirror of Atem's actions on the other side of the shade's prone form. When he speaks, it's for Ryou's benefit in the event that he can truly hear now, and for Atem's in the event that he can't, or that only Atem's reassurances will do anything to calm him.]
I'm going to do this as quickly as possible. Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to. It will hurt, but then you'll feel better.
[So saying, he reaches through the alive-but-not regenerating form of Ryou's body and begins his work. Eyes still closed, brows drawn tight in focus. He takes this so seriously. The process starts uncomfortable rather than painful and doesn't look like much of anything, but that's because of the state of Ryou's skin. It's not right, so Giorno has to change it. It's only once it's a bit more flexible, more elastic, more alive that he's able to slowly but surely coax it to grow over Ryou's exposed skull.]
[And so on from there. He wasn't lying: it hurts. A lot. But he's also very, very efficient. If he's not interrupted, the whole process will take something like five minutes.]
continuing with the gore cw
The fingers of both hands curl to grip around both Atem's and Giorno's loosely. He can't see yet...but he can put his trust in them both, even if his brain is screaming at him to be cautious.
Pain...? He's used to that. He's not good at handling it, but...he is used to it more and more lately, so Giorno's words don't scare him, he just gives a vaguely affirmative murmur. Yes. He gets it.
When the regenerating begins, he squirms a bit. It doesn't feel great...it feels like something's being changed, but he can't quite put his finger on it.
It's only once the skin starts to stretch and pull itself across Ryou's exposed skull that the discomforted squirming starts to pick up. He whines at first, and his fingers tighten. But as the healing goes on longer, he starts to cry out in pain.
It's at some point around the third minute that his eyes finally regenerate. It's effectively as if someone's turned the light on in his skull.]
S...stop, wait! Wait, it hurts!!
[But deep down, he knows Giorno won't. Because he can't leave the job half done, can he?
Ryou's eyes glow even brighter than normal as the skin stretches tight to his skull, as his hair grows out into an unhealthy, stringy looking mane. It might look better--he might look better--if he didn't feel so dry.
It's like someone's tried tanning his skin like leather for days, the way it looks--unhealthy and taut to his bones...but at least it's covering his head now. And for as much as as he's screaming and carrying on, the worst thing Ryou does is kick his feet and grip the others' hands as tightly as he can, which...admittedly isn't that tight. He's too weak for that.]