Confusionshipping (Atem/Bakura Ryo)
. . .
Ryo was sure that therapy was helpful, but at the same time, there was only so much it could do for someone in his situation. "Ah, yes sir, actually, the abusive person I'm speaking about in question was actually literally possessing me. Do you do post-exorcism therapy?"
He laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, an empty sketchbook sitting on his chest.
"You like sketching, right?" his therapist had said. "Okay, how about for this week, you draw a picture of someone or something that makes you feel safe, something you can put up in your room to make you feel safer."
Ryo snorted softly. He didn't remember what it felt like to feel safe anymore. His body had been completely overridden more times than once, it wasn't that his room felt unsafe, it was that everything did. What if he woke up again and didn't know where he was? What if he found himself with blood on his hands again and no memory of where it came from?
Nothing and nowhere is safe anymore, he thought, frustrated. What is supposed to make me feel okay again?
He gripped his hands around the new sketchbook. He had bought it on the way home, thinking a new, blank book would help jog his ideas but…it just seemed to be taunting him with his inability to think of anything to draw for this assignment. His therapist was going to be disappointed…it wasn't like he wasn't trying…
He forced himself to think. What could he draw and tape to his wall to make himself feel a little less sick to his stomach? He had photos of him with Yugi, and Jonouchi, and Honda, and Anzu, and Otogi, and others even, posted on the wall, but they weren't really helping all that much at night when every natural body twitch made him think he was being taken over again. His friends were the best thing he had, but…but they couldn't be here all the time…
His eyes slid over to the photos, counting the faces to try to get his breathing to slow down. Don't think so hard. He had to breathe. Find something to focus on.
Something like…
A thought occurred to him, slowly, like sand dripping down an off center hourglass. He stared at a picture of Yugi in one of his photos, but the face seemed to change in his mind's eye. It became darker skinned, with crimson eyes, and a dazzling, confident smile…
Ryo sat up and opened his sketchbook. He fumbled for the pencil he had let fall beside him, and scribbled out something as fast as he could, trying to remember the exact folds of the purple cloak that had fallen over the edges of the throne, the way the puzzle gleamed heavy at his chest but his posture didn't slip even an inch.
The sketch was a bit wobbly at best when Ryo lifted his pencil, but…but it was clear enough. It was him.
Atem.
It was the same regal bearing, the calm, collected but prideful smile, the way his eyes cut right through you with their intensity. It was him, and for a moment, Ryo's heart fluttered a little.
Atem wasn't…here anymore. He had passed on. Ryo had seen him go.
But…
Ryo tore out the sketch and taped it to the wall in the middle of his photos. The picture of Atem in the throne, watching over him with his quiet smile.
Ryo found himself smiling a little bit.
In Egypt, they say a spirit exists as long as people remember them, he thought. Are you…here right now, Atem? Are you watching over me?
It was only half a surprise when Ryo laid back down again, under the watchful eye of his sketch, and he realized…he did feel a little bit safer.
. . .
A/N: Honestly tho, same, Ryo. Next is Conditionshipping (Mokuba x Gozaburo).
