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[Armin lands behind Shiro, gratefully sliding off Hilde's back. He watches Shiro and MC for a moment, before turning his attention to Hilde, stroking her sharp neck carefully.]

While we handle things here, could you go round up the others? They don't need to keep searching now that we've found him.

[Hilde warks, bopping the top of Armin's head with her beak --stay good, soft egg-- before taking off again.

And with that taken care off, Armin steps closer to Shiro, glancing at him, at MC, then at Krieg in the distance, and back at Shiro.]

Should we... go talk to him?

Edited 2018-05-13 21:40 (UTC)

[Murder Chicken's feathers fluff up warmly in response to Haunter's greeting. Hello, friend! He's very glad to see you, and also the friends you brought!

MC gives a sad-sounding little squawk in reply to Shiro's question, his fluffed feathers smoothing back into place as he shrugs and spreads his claws in a very human-like gesture of shit's pretty bad, man.

In response to Armin's question - even though it seemed mostly aimed at Shiro - MC squawks again, a positive, affirmative noise. Please do! Even surrounded by his best monster buddies, Krieg is absolutely miserable, and only really just hanging on because he's afraid to scare Dolly and 'Dora, and he doesn't want to upset Skagbait any further. It would really help to have some human friends who could maybe talk him up and out of his grief.

It's not hard to see where Krieg is sitting from where they're standing currently, but Murder Chicken will still turn and lead the way over to him, the helpful ambassador of goodwill, friendship, and punching sads right in the face with the power of friendship!]

Yeah... yeah, I sort of figured it would be. [He's not MC's trainer, but you'd have to be dead not to be able to read that gesture.] I'm sorry. But I'm glad you guys are here for him.

[Because Krieg wouldn't ... be who they've come to know without them. Krieg admitted as much. He believes in the pokemon, and the man responsible for them, as a result.]

[He looks back and forth between the three of them -- MC, Armin, and Krieg. All right. Then that's what they're going to do.]

Okay. Then that's what we'll do.

[Shiro squares up his shoulders. And starts to approach the big man up the beach.]

[Armin for his part, trails behind Shiro, giving him a bit of room. Shiro is much better at this, the whole talking to people and giving them support and comfort, so he's going to let Shiro take the word. They've all got their strengths, after all.]

[As they approach they'll likely hear Krieg muttering under his breath, a long, quiet litany of grumbled syllables which may or may not be actual words. Skully, now a fully-grown (and very large) Aggron, only moves one bright blue eye to track their approach, all-too aware of her very important job of propping up Krieg, who's leaning heavily against her broad side. Of the three smaller 'mons pressed close around him, only Skagbait the Lucario looks up alertly at the approach of MC and the other two. Krieg doesn't seem to notice, possibly because she's sitting on his blind side, and also possibly because it's pretty apparent all of his attention is focused on the Sylveon in his lap.

Adorababy is beside himself. Although his neat little body is draped loosely and almost carelessly across Krieg's lap, he has two of his ribbon-feelers wrapped tightly around Krieg's left wrist, holding that hand more or less immobile and also in a convenient place for hiding his face. Krieg uses his right hand to very, very gently stroke the long line of the Sylveon's back, the movement slow but deliberate. As long as he focuses on petting Dora, he can lose himself in that simple motion, and not have to think about the reason for it.

Once they're close enough, Murder Chicken squawks, a much quieter, more somber noise than he used to greet Shiro, Armin, and Haunter. Krieg looks up at once with a sharp jerk of his head, stilling the motion of his hand and resting his large palm on Dora's shoulders. He focuses on the Blaziken first, and after a moment seems to register MC's company, his gaze twitching first to Shiro, then to Armin, then to Haunter, before returning to and fixing on Shiro.

He feels like he should be surprised to see them, but somehow, he's not, and that's a weird sensation. He lets his head drop back against Skully's side, as if the effort of holding it up is too much to be bothered with.]

Hey.

Hey, Krieg.

[He keeps his movements steady. Slow. Making it clear where he's moving. How he's moving. He doesn't approach all the way. He stops about three feet from the huddle of Krieg and pokemon, looking Skully up and down, first. She really did get huge. Kind of weird to see an Aggron who isn't Kuro after so long of just being around the big guy. The Lucario isn't one he's seen very often. The one he doesn't quite know how to read.]

[Murder Chicken seemed to think this was best. So he'll give it a shot. Sitting himself on the sand where he was standing. While Haunter waves to the other pokemon in hopes of getting some kind of more cheerful reaction. It's trying its best.]

We heard what happened. And... well. We were worried about you.

[He's just glad he was right about what Krieg would do with the pokemon around. As opposed to what he'd have done on his own. He trusts this man a great deal. And, honestly, hopes Krieg knows that, even just a little.] We've got a bunch of birds...

... and I've got Red. If you feel like wrestling. Or we can just sit here with you. It's your call, man.

[Skully sees Haunter's cheerful wave, and the tip of her long, heavy tail wiggles in response. She can see it's doing its best, and she appreciates it! Murder Chicken moves to sit next to Krieg and Dolly, tucking his long legs underneath his slender body. Once he's settled, he blinks peacefully over at Haunter, also acknowledging the ghost's actions. Haunter is a good friend.

Krieg watches Shiro sit down without reacting, and hears him talking, and he lets the sound of his friend's words flow over him while completely failing to to process the meaning behind them. He doesn't need to hear Shiro say why he and Armin are here. He knows. He knows why they came to him, and he knows he's done nothing to deserve their worry or their concern. He's just a monster who hurt his best friend, and her abrupt departure from his life is all he deserves.

He sits quietly for a long time after Shiro stops speaking, alternately staring at the ground and squeezing his eyes tightly shut. Finally, though, the words come, as they always do, sooner or later, and they're...not great. His voice starts off low and gruff, and only barely increases in volume as he goes on - the sound of painful vocal cords raw from screaming protesting further abuse.]

Feed me a lead salad. Open my veins and let the blood salt the earth. Burn my flesh and scar my bones and leave it all out to rot and fester where it belongs, all alone and far, far away from all the things it shouldn't have and doesn't deserve. She should have lived! She was so bright! And now she's gone, gone, gone, back to the death she begged for, smothered into oblivion, strangled by the hands that should have kept her safe--

[He's interrupted by an impossibly quiet wail from the Sylveon still in his lap. He cuts himself off abruptly and leans forward out of his sprawl against Skully to hunch protectively over 'Dora, doing his best to console the inconsolable. He looks back up fairly quickly though, a sharp jerk of his head, and his uncovered eye seeks out Shiro's face.]

It should've been me. I don't wanna wrestle. I want to die.

[Armin's eyes are on Krieg, but the longer he goes on, the more concerned and distressed his expression gets. He glances at Shiro a time or two, just to see if he'll interrupt Krieg or try and talk him out of it.

At that final line, even though Krieg is looking at Shiro, he can't help but pipe up.]

I don't think that is the sort of thing that Angel would want.

[He can see Armin looking at him. But he stays quiet. He lets Krieg speak. Like he's waiting to see if the words will clear the wound. Venting it out instead of holding it inside. His shoulders square up where he sits, his expression intent on Krieg.]

[... realistically, there's no comparing his situation to what Krieg is going through. No comparing what happened to Allura, to Matt, to someone he barely knew. But the words "should have kept her safe" hit home more than they probably should. He wants to say this Angel could come back. It could happen. "Could" doesn't help now.]

[Armin speaks up before he does. And he nods, in agreement.]

She wouldn't. And neither would the pokemon she left you. You're responsible for them, now. Them and your team. You can get through this, Krieg.

[He meets that stare. Saying the words with the same sort of determination and assurance he says it to the rest of his team. To everyone he cares about.]

I lost my entire team here, Krieg. I lost someone I failed, back home. [No, Shiro lost Allura, it should have been him. It should have been me.] I lost Dorian too. I have one pokemon to remember them by. But you can bet I am doing everything I can to make sure that one pokemon lives up to its potential.

You've got to do the same. It doesn't have to be now. But you can't give up on yourself.

[He shifts his gaze when Armin speaks, and the upset, distressed expression on the kid's face does cause him to feel a little pang of guilt. He knows that his death is the last thing Angel would want. That doesn't stop him desiring it, though. If he were dead, he wouldn't have to feel this way anymore, like everything that once had meaning is now meaningless. The literal, physical sun could be snuffed out in the next instant, and the resulting blackness would seem less bleak than facing the void his sun has left behind.

His gaze twitches back to Shiro as the man picks up where Armin left off. He's not telling Krieg anything new - in regard to the monsters, anyway. He knows they look to him for care and support, for love and companionship. They're the only reason he hasn't gone off the metaphorical deep end, the reason he's still grounded and lucid and even capable of having this conversation with the two of them at all.

...That said, Krieg does shake his head when Shiro tell him not to give up on himself, and looks away. That ship sailed long ago, long before he wound up in this wonderful and horrible place. He drops his gaze to the sad pink lump of a Sylveon in his lap. It's easier to look at 'Dora than it is to look at his friends.]

'M not gonna hurt the monsters.

[In any and all meanings of the word "hurt". What he wants doesn't matter as long as they're depending on him. He knows his death would hurt them, just as much as Angel's disappearance has.]

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