(ACE) The LAVERRE Team

The Spectreon had no idea whether to laugh or cry at her offspring’s antics. The tonal shift between the grown up conversations and the children being children were enough to give one whiplash and if she had to choose, she would’ve been a lot more inclined to listen to whatever nonsense Artemis was spouting this second rather than the grim chat she found herself in.

"I don't have much say in it I guess... these guys are the only kids I've had to look after in a long time... but I still remember the grief of losing my parents. It's something that doesn't go away, just lessens overtime." Hide said. "Losing anyone close to you is painful, whether they're a child, parent or... more than just friends."

She followed his gaze to the other Spectreon, feeling a small knot of guilt in her gut. “Sorry to hear,” she forced out, a bit awkwardly. These talks were always so fucking hard for her. It was ridiculous.

Hide continued. "It's not something I want to live through again, that's for sure."

Lazarus cleared her throat softly, then shifted her attention to Pink as she quietly rose to her paws and began padding away with obvious discomfort. An uncomfortable, forced smile crossed her face as she tried to pretend she didn’t see.
Taking accountability for your actions was great. But not when there was a raging dead thing ready to go ghost on your ass and end your second life. Oh no, you pretend that shit NEVER happened.

She eyed Kaneki as he departed to join Pinky and breathed a small sigh she hadn’t realized she was holding.

Artemis on the other hand was in seventh heaven with her new posse. Her eyes couldn’t have possibly gotten wider without rupturing something as she stared at Plant tossing the small object between his hands and vines.
“Friend! Friend!” Artie squealed to the other Eevee - what was his name again!? - “Did you know he could do that! Look how cool! I’m so jelly belly!”

She sat straight up and began wagging her arms furiously at Conan. “Friend, what if we put your arms on me so I could do it too! We’re both the same so it should work right?” She laughed oddly hard at her own idea, then sucked in another breath to continue chattering. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you have them back and you can borrow mine too!”

Lazarus, catching the gist of her offspring’s horrific idea, grimaced visibly in her child’s direction, only to be met with a wide, toothy grin. Have children, they said. You’ll regret it if you don’t, they said.

Alirah stared nowhere with the gaze of a hardened criminal— stony, angry and bordering on malicious intent. How could they be letting her stay?!

Her chest ached with a hollow anger, a violent desire alien to the pacifistic fox. She was angry that the altercation had occurred but even moreso that the blind anger she felt towards Lazarus stooped her to a level of petty violence she thought herself above.

Who am I to have a moral high-ground…

She spat a thick clot of blood on the ground ahead of her with a nauseating wet plop! At this point her blood was spread all over the floor like macabre chalk art, she hardly cared about one more spot. Her tongue ran slowly along her teeth until they hit a brand new gap that wasn’t present before. Fantastic.

Encroaching footsteps brought a sense of comfort and solidarity— she knew from the sound alone it was Kaneki, further confirmed when the Spectreon settled beside her and pressed his calmingly warm pelt against hers, soothing the ever present chill Lazarus brought to her crawling fur. She snuggled into the gesture, sighing heavily and feeling all the negative energy leaving on the breath.

"Alirah? are you okay? I can stay here with you if you want?"

She smiled gratefully at the child, eyes following him with slight amusement as he plopped beside her and began to paw curiously at a small stone.
"Here's a pretty pebble Alirah. Do you like it?" Conan asked.

She hesitated, gears in her mind far from turning well enough to engage with the playful kit. Still, she was grateful for his attempts to cheer her up even if she couldn’t voice it just yet.
Kaneki spoke up. "It's very pretty. How about you go play with the other two, Conan? I'm sure poor Plant needs the reprive from the energy of Artemis. Alirah just needs some rest for now."

His tone shifted to concern as he turned his voice to Alirah. "... are you okay?"

She was quiet for a moment. “One of my teeth are gone.” Alirah rested her chin on outstretched paws, staring just beyond her toes at the settled dust. “Every time I feel that missing tooth… Why does she get to have such a permanent place in my life…”
The pastel fox huffed bitterly. “And worse than that… I’m so angry I could pull her head off, or try at least… and that isn’t me.”

A dull thud and a wet slap interrupted Alirah’s next thought. She moved her eyes to stare at the vaguely defined shape across the room resting in shadow. It sent a chill along her spine, and she wasn’t sure why.

Conan soon heard Kaneki who was also with Alirah. He didn't want to interrupt them but Kaneki asked Conan to go play with the other two. Hopefully he and Plant can make a new fort in case they're in the factory for a while."It's very pretty. How about you go play with the other two, Conan? I'm sure poor Plant needs the reprive from the energy of Artemis. Alirah just needs some rest for now." The eevee nods to Kaneki before walking over to play. That was until Artemis had shouted to him. “Friend! Friend!” Conan forgot to tell her his name but hopefully she'll calm down later on so he can tell her. “Did you know he could do that! Look how cool! I’m so jelly belly!” Oh, she meant Plant able to use his vines and hands. He knew about that when they was in the Boutique. What Artemis said next made Conan very concerned. “Friend, what if we put your arms on me so I could do it too! We’re both the same so it should work right?” The eevee then turned his head and looked at Kaneki with a look that said please help me. Of all the eevees, Artemis might be a tad too hyper for Conan but then again, they're all kids so Conan shook his head getting that image of Artemis' idea out of his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you have them back and you can borrow mine too!” She's a strange one but nevertheless, Conan needed to talk with Plant on what they can do and try to come up with something fun to pass the time.

Looking over to where Shadow was, the eevee wonders how the charizard is able to sleep like that on a hard rocky floor. Didn't he say that he was from the Orre region? Guess he'll have to ask him later but right now, it's time to see what Plant wants to do. Getting closer to Plant, Conan looks at Artemis again and finally says something to her. "I don't think our arms can do that but I knew about what he can do." Conan then looked at Plant and noticed he was feeling a bit awkward but at least he's fairing more better with what he's doing. Looking back at Artemis, the eevee then told her his name. "My name's Conan."

He turns his attention to Plant and talks with him. "You wanna play something fun Plant?" Conan asks the snivy, hopefully they can have fun while the adults are doing stuff. A new fort was on Conan's mind as well despite the one in the boutique was probably knocked over by those crazy meanies that chased them out. "We can make a new pillow fort if there's any pillows here as well. Those meanies won't come take our pillow fort away this time." He said as cheerful as ever. One thing that Conan did think of is what Plant had for ideas. He chose last time so its now Plant's turn.

“Friend! Friend! Did you know he could do that! Look how cool! I’m so jelly belly!” Artemis squealed with an amount of excitement Plant hadn't seen or felt in what seemed like forever. It was energizing and nearly overwhelming as it buzzed about the kids but he did not fight it. Keeping a tense smile upon his snout the Snivy kept his focus on moving tossing the random object about instead. Wrapping a vine around his back he grabbed the item from his other vine in front of himself. The Eevee squeaked something about having the same amount of arms with Conan's help but Plant tried not to picture the specifics she had in mind.

The two Eevee's talked, their chat not involving the grass Pokemon and reigniting that sense of separation. With his free vine he reached into the pocket on his sweater, delicate end feeling the cube inside. Pulling out his rubix cube Plant took it in his hands and set down whatever he had picked up prior. Its colored squares were oddly comforting, the faux smile turning genuine as he started to rotate the sides. His heart hurt for home, the trinket being one of his few remaining connections. Would it see it again, would it make him feel the same way?

"You wanna play something fun Plant?" Conan asks, his question breaking Plant's focus and bringing him back to the present. Fun? This metal chasm did not scream fun to him, and clutching the cube cautiously in his hands he asks back, "Like what?" Exploring didn't strike him as fun,  this place was too disquieting, and hide and seek had been a bust. "We can make a new pillow fort if there's any pillows here as well. Those meanies won't come take our pillow fort away this time." A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of those awful Pokemon rampaging this place too. Would the barrier outside be enough...? They had scaled it with little effort....

Blinking hard for several seconds to push the thoughts away Plant opened them and looked around. "This place doesn't have much soft stuff to make a fort with.." He says dejectedly, smile already faded. Tilting his head he looks toward Artemis instead, hoping she had ideas as he drew a blank. "Is there something fun in here?"

Hide was off in his own little world for a time after he spoke to Lazarus, his eyes on the form of his beau as the other ghost sat with Alirah, watching how the constantly flowing white gas around his neck and ears wavered with the uneasy turmoil of his emotions. He didn't even need to sense the ghost's aura to tell he was worried, and it wasn't hard to guess who he was worried about, considering he stuck to Alirah like velcro. The riolu's tail beat lazily on the cold concrete he sat on as a way to self-soothe his own spiralling emotions, trying his hardest not to slip down into those depressive moods.

He needed to be the strong one right now, he could sort through his emotions about this whole thing later.

“Sorry to hear,” Hide's ear twitched and he looked back at Lazarus with a winning smile, easily brushing his former frown and turmoiled thoughts under the rug with a carefully crafted mask of aloofness and cheer. "Oh, there's no reason to be sorry. It's in the past after all. We can lament it all we want, but what's important is looking forward." He commented cheerfully, looking back around the room with an easy smile that hid away the formerly upsetting conversation and how it affected him.

He had always been good at ignoring himself and how he felt for the sake of others. Hide often didn't have the time to look after his own emotions when there were others that needed help more than he needed to feel upset about something. It wasn't that he wasn't aware of his own emotions, Hide was unfortunately very in tune with them, but when it came to acutally focusing on them, often something else important would take point and Hide had no choice but to put himself aside for the sake of others. It became second nature at this point, to push away his worries with a smile in order to make someone believe in something that Hide himself struggled to see.

It wasn't that Hide didn't believe that things would get better of course, he was ever the optimist to Kaneki's pessimism, but he was also very aware of the fact that these days such things as hope were few and far between. Instead of looking forward to the day that things would get better, Hide instead switched his focus to making sure they'd live to see the next day.

It was easier to promise tomorrow than it was to promise forever.

The riolu breathed in deeply, letting it out in a long sigh as he watched the kids interact with a small smile on his face that never quite reached his eyes. He could always focus on himself later, when things were calm and the others were asleep. Kaneki would probably stay awake, he was always cautious like that... but he would probably want to talk to Hide in private then too, so it was the perfect time to get his worries off his chest to someone he knew would listen.

Kaneki himself sat pressed against Alirah's side, listening to the soft breathing of the smaller umbreon to relax himself and reassure him that she was still alive, she was safe. His protective nature bordered on manic sometimes, wanting to keep everyone he held dear and close to himself so they would never get hurt again. At first that bubble had only included Hide, but now that he'd been here in Laverre for such a long time... that bubble had expanded to include Alirah, Plant and Conan. He didn't know Artemis well enough, and his sour mood towards Shadow meant that he doubted he'd ever extend his protection to the charizard.

His dual colored eyes drifted to Lazarus, on the edge of his vision and away from where he sat, the orange fur of Hide by her side. Kaneki didn't know how he felt about the other ghost. He hated her for attacking Alirah, for attacking someone he protected, but her protection of her offspring was unfortunately, something that Kaneki couldn't help but respect. He had the same sort of guarded aura around his circle as well.

And Hide, of course. He knew the riolu didn't like Kaneki's aggressive and unwavering nature towards threats, but Kaneki also trusted Hide's judgement without hesitation. If the riolu didn't see Lazarus as a threat, then Kaneki could not bring himself to see her as one. Unfortunate, really. He would love nothing more than for Hide to agree with him that she was a danger and to let the spectreon remove her... but his eyes drifted back across the floor to Artemis and he heaved a soft sigh to release the tension in his body.

He couldn't fault someone for the same protectiveness Kaneki himself had.

“One of my teeth are gone.” His ear twitched and Alirah had his full attention once again as she spoke, giving a wince in sympathy at the mention of a missing tooth. Kaneki had thankfully never lost one since becoming a spectreon... but he remembered the pain of having something seemingly irreplacable being destroyed. He shifted to stretch his front legs out as phantom pain from when he was still an eevee throbbed from his wrists.

Gods, did he understand how Alirah felt.

“Every time I feel that missing tooth… Why does she get to have such a permanent place in my life…” Kaneki sighed softly and leaned over to gently nudge his nose against Alirah's cheek, eyes squinting slightly in a comforting half-blink. "I'd offer to take one of hers in return if Hide would let me." He replied with an amused hum, gently nudging his shoulder against the umbreon's in solidarity.

"I'm fairly certain when I tackled her I broke some ribs anyway, so it's not as though she doesn't have a painful reminder of what happened." He added with a sigh, looking up to the rafters of the factory as a feeling prickled along his fur and spine, eyes squinting. His hackles raised in caution, the feeling of eyes on him washing over his body like a disgusting oil. Someone could see them... and he didn't like the feeling that came with being watched like that.

“And worse than that… I’m so angry I could pull her head off, or try at least… and that isn’t me.” Pushing the feeling of wrongness to the side for the moment, Kaneki forced his eyes back to Alirah as she spoke, a concerned frown on his face. He was more than familiar with that feeling of rage and want for revenge, it was something that was as settled in his psyche as his need to protect. Death and revenge went hand-in-hand to Kaneki, and the feeling of blood against his four, in his mouth and that scent of fear as something died in his jaws was something he was intimately familiar.

"... it's a slippery slope to go down. Anger has a horrible way of tainting someone, it's easy to slip into the feeling of bloodlust if you've been there before." He started softly, but his next words were interrupted with the wet splat of something falling ahead of him, shrouded in shadow and formless in the darkness ahead of him. That feeling of beinf watched washed over his body again with an icy chill, fur prickling up uneasily and his gaseous mane and tails starting to flicker and crackle like a fire.

Kaneki pulled himself up to his feet to go look at it, one tail swiping gently across Alirah's face to soothe her worries and silently tell her to stay. If this was dangerous he'd want her away from it, she was still injured and that meant that she needed to stay clear of whatever this was. Kaneki paced forward with slow and cautious steps, lowering his head and squinting his eyes in the darkness of the factory.

Within seconds of the object coming into view Kaneki recoiled sharply with enough speed that if he was still living he would've given himself whiplash. Grey and red eyes widened and he stubbornly bit down on his cheek to swallow the sound of horror from escaping, instead only getting out a sharp exhale of surprise. Staring back at him with an almost cruel likeness was the severed head of an eevee. Something had crudely painted its brown fur black and ears white and the eyes in its skull had been scooped out to leave a gruesome hole that gaped back at Kaneki.

Kaneki's chest shuddered as he forced in another breath, head snapping up to the rafters above, trying to look for what had dropped this horrifying jab at the spectreon. He tried valiantly not to look at the painted head, but he found his eyes drawn back to it, swallowing hard as he felt like he was staring at a funhouse mirror. Had he looked like this in Jason's room? Was this what he'd looked like in the seconds after he'd died and before he came back to life?

What's ten minus one? Goddamn it not now. He stood, frozen in place as the cruel laughter sounded in his head, the familiar voice of the pangoro in his mind. What's ten minus one? It demanded again, tone harsh and impatient. His wrists and ankles throbbed with phantom pain, and Kaneki hadn't realized he wasn't breathing until his chest burned, forcing him to suck in a short and shallow breath that barely helped. What's ten minus one, Kaneki? Shut up, shut up, shut up! He sunk his teeth into his cheek to keep himself silent, the familiar taste of pennies on his tongue as he drew blood.

Hide shuddered as a familar feeling washed over him, and his head snapped up suddenly, eyes wide. Turmoil, but one that was horribly known to Hide. "Shit," he breathed out hurriedly, scrambling up to his feet. The riolu glanced at Lazarus breifly, uncertain if he should tell her to stay or not. But another feeling of horror made his mind up as he looked across the room to where Kaneki was shrouded in shadow on his own, looking down at something the riolu couldn't see. What he could see however was the way his mane flickered and writhed like an angry flame, pushing Hide into action.

Setting his pace so he didn't alert the kids to his hurried steps to get across to his beau, Hide crossed the room to come up beside Kaneki, eyes flicking along his body to take stock of him, then looking down at what had gotten his attention--

Hide swore. Of course Kaneki was freaked out, the eevee had been painted to look like him. Hide swallowed hard to get the bile out of his throat and then turned to kick the thing out of the way, offering a silent apology to it. But right now he needed to focus on Kaneki before he went deeper into this state he was in. Hide crouched to be in front of the spectreon's face, taking in his glassed over eyes and the silent but shallow breaths he was taking.

Okay, think Hide. He'd dealt with this before, but it was never fun. And he hoped to god the others didn't freak out about this either. Hide looked back at Alirah and mouthed out the words stay there, I've got him to her, hoping she'd take the hint.

What's ten minus one? God he wouldn't shut up. Kaneki growled softly as he tried to look back at Jason, the floors of the factory replaced with checkerboard and the walls replaced with beams that looked like a birdcage. Something touched his shoulder and he snapped his teeth at it, surprised when he felt fur and flesh in his jaws. The shock that he actually hit something sobered him back to the present and at once the factory and his surroundings came back to him in a rush, the familiar orange of Hide's fur and Hide's scent flooding his nose.

The riolu let out a soft grunt of pain as Kaneki's teeth sank into his arm - fuck those things were sharp - but he held still, reaching his other hand up to press against the spectreon's cheek as awareness flooded back into his beau's eyes. He laughed out softly, giving the ghost a teasing little grin. "I know I'm a treat but don't go sampling buddy." He joked out softly, hissing softly as the spectreon immediately let him go, head jerking back. He quickly followed after the ghost to make sure he didn't tumble right into the loathing pit he knew as coming, hands returning to his cheeks so Kaneki was forced to look at him. "You with me bud?" He asked, getting a nod from the spectreon.

Kaneki stared at Hide as the riolu forced his eyes to his face, refusing to let Kaneki see the bite on his arm. His voice soothed his worries and chased the taunting pangoro back into the darkness of his mind, unable to compete with the warmth of the riolu in front of him.

"Hide, y-your arm--"
"Doesn't matter, it was shallow. How about you?"

He frowned as Hide pushed his concern away, but let himself relax into the riolu's hands, eyes slipping closed finally with a heavy sigh out. "Fine. It wasn't as bad as others." He muttered quietly, getting a smile from the riolu in front of him. He hesitantly smiled back, before looking around, pulling his head away from Hide's hands once the fighting type let him. That thing had to still be here. There was no way it'd gotten out in such a short amount of time.

"Go sit down, Kaneki. I'll look." Hide told him, giving the spectreon a frown as he tried to protest. Hide only levelled him with an even stare, getting a resigned grumble instead. "Good. I'll report back once I know what's going on." Hide promised, standing up carefully to look around the area once Kaneki had sat himself down. Something had to be closeby, right?

Lazarus hummed softly to herself to fill the dead air. Her conversation with Hide faded to a somber silence, with any further prodding or discussion feeling forced for the moment.

Silences were okay. In fact they were one of her favorite parts of socializing— no need for chit chat or feigned interest. Just being in the moment, alive, breathing. Here, now, safe… relatively.

Lazarus watched her spawn unblinkingly, both seeing and unseeing at the same time as Artie bubbled over in excitement that hadn’t simmered down in the slightest since she had met the two other children.
"Is there something fun in here?" The Snivy asked. Lazarus perked at the child’s demeanor— so reserved yet polite. Maybe a little sad. The complete opposite of his happy-go-lucky pal… an intriguing dynamic. She briefly wondered how Artemis would fit in with the two but dismissed it just as quickly. Her child had her father’s godforsaken charisma, for better or worse, so she didn’t doubt Artemis would find her place with them if they stayed for any significant period.

“Yeah!! Momma made me a swingset out of some paint buckets and rope. Do you wanna swing?”

A quick wet plop whispered through the Factory, so quiet Artemis completely ignored the sound meanwhile her mother’s alarm bells were ringing full force. Lazarus turned to the Riolu as if expecting their group to be responsible but when the latter looked equally confused Laz felt an unease rise from her belly.

The other Spectreon was the first to rise and saunter to the shrouded object. She kept her eyes fixated on him, as the seconds ticked by his wisps billowed harder and harder like a raging wildfire in a storm. She didn’t need to know the ghost to recognize negative body language.

Suddenly the Riolu cursed underneath his breath and rushed to his partner with urgency. Lazarus rose to her feet and made her way to where Artie swung to and fro in her makeshift play place and gently coaxed her to come down, with much grief from the kit. Something was wrong, and once Artie noticed the anxiety in Lazarus’ shaking paws, she quieted the tantrum. The mother picked the kit up by the scruff, continuing to observe the scene while maintaining her spot near the children.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Lazarus assured with feigned confidence. Chances were the kiddos probably saw her as public enemy… at least three. Come on, at least three… after attacking Pink like that, but regardless her maternal instincts demanded she guard them whether they appreciated it or not.

Hide reached for his distraught companion with a comforting paw— to be met with the creature lashing out violently and sinking fangs into Hide’s arm. Lazarus gasped audibly and inadvertently tightened her grip on Art’s scruff causing a yip. The kit grumbled in irritation at her mother but it fell on deaf ears.

What Lazarus assumed would become a very violent escalation just… didn’t happen? She stared in wide eyed confusion as even though his partner assaulted him, the Riolu did not lash out in retaliation. Even more than that, Hide seemed to soothe Kaneki through whatever emotional eruption caused the outburst.

If Laz wasn’t holding her offspring, her jaw would’ve hung slack in awe at the de-escalation… she shuddered. Her mother had a no nonsense policy regarding disrespect. Imagining how she would’ve reacted was enough to make Laz’s blood pump with adrenaline— even though Mother was dead and gone, as if her ghost would appear and take vengeance on the spirit fox.

The exchange ended with Hide giving assurances to his partner as he padded off to investigate.

Lazarus carefully sat down her kit and whispered softly to stay, giving an affectionate nudge afterwards before departing momentarily. She cautiously approached the small ball lay on the floor that caused Kaneki such distress.

As she neared, she realized it was a small prop, a gross decoration probably from a shitty Halloween store leftover from the good ole days. She scoffed in annoyance at the childish prank, taking a closer look—

Lazarus whipped around on the spot and vomited violently, gasping out repeated “fuck no,” in between exhales. That goddamn smell… the sickly sweet scent of death… oh god.

She stumbled back to Artemis, grasping the kit in an awkward collapsing-hug. “Don’t go over there,” she sobbed. “Don’t go over there, please…”

Alirah’s pelt felt warm with the comforting sensation of Kaneki’s presence, snuggling ever closer in hopes his kind aura would be enough to heal her damaged soul. She could feel all of her senses coming down from primal survival mode back to something similar to normal.

"I'd offer to take one of hers in return if Hide would let me." The Spectreon lamented following an affectionate nuzzle against Ali’s cheek. "I'm fairly certain when I tackled her I broke some ribs anyway, so it's not as though she doesn't have a painful reminder of what happened."

Alirah erupted into a fit of poorly hushed cackles, sounding more akin to a Halloween witch than her usual sweet as honey self. “I shouldn’t laugh at that, but I’m gonna.”

She breathed softly next to her guardian angel, falling into a state of relaxation— or maybe exhaustion— so when something odd began transpiring all too close for comfort, she only noticed when Kaneki rose to his feet and strode forwards. In his mindfulness he brushed against her face slowly as he marched forward with a tail, a soothing gesture towards the smaller fox before she had the chance to thoughtlessly tag behind him.

Alirah watched Kaneki’s shrinking form with unrivaled focus as he made his way closer to something similar to a sphere that she didn’t recall seeing before. Huh. But when the Spectreon recoiled sharply, Alirah began to absolutely feed off the implied panic. She didn’t know what he saw, but Kaneki didn’t show obvious trepidation easily and that was frightening.

His wisps began to lash furiously even as Hide rushed to his side. The Riolu swiftly kicked the sphere off into the shadowy recesses of the factory and the sharp metaly scent she’d carelessly ignored before flooded her nose. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and whispered frightened exclamations to herself under her breath.

Alirah pushed herself up and took a step forwards. Almost as though Hide predicted her drive to help Kaneki however she could, he snapped his head back to her and silently advised her to remain at a distance, which she dutifully obeyed.

She whined softly like a scolded child, displeased at her inability to assist but she would bet dollars to donuts Hide would never steer her wrong, even if she didn’t like his instructions. Abruptly her dismay was interrupted with shock and disbelief as the Ghost- lashed out at his partner and sunk fangs into Hide’s arm. Her paw flew to her mouth to stifle yelling the Spectreon’s name in shock.

The unexpectedly violent scene continued with unheard words between the duo, bringing calm back to the distraught spectre over a few moments until visibly things seemed to have blown over somehow. Was this… normal? She had never ever seen Kaneki so much as breathe angrily at Hide— then he just BIT him!?

Both Lazarus and Hide both began to move: the former slinking off into the shadows where the object had flown, and Hide presumably to investigate the occurrence. It was only a brief moment before Lazarus rushed back towards the group in blatant distress, even going so far as to violently throw up in between assumed curses Alirah couldn’t understand. She watched the female then rush to her offspring and embrace the kit with hushed sobs wracking her body.

What on earth was happening?!

She turned to Kaneki and began to breathe his name but hesitated as the images of him assaulting his beloved Hide came back. With a sigh of defeat and utter confusion she relented to just… observing until something made sense.

"This place doesn't have much soft stuff to make a fort with.." Conan looked around noticing that there are no pillows here after Plant mentions it. "Is there something fun in here?" Since hide and seek was a total flop, maybe it would be better to see what they can do here instead. The Eevee looked at Shadow who is resting a little bit but he was already beginning to stir again. How does he sleep so light? Guess it wasn't something he would understand. “Yeah!! Momma made me a swingset out of some paint buckets and rope. Do you wanna swing?” Swing? That was something they did back home together back before the undead shown up. He missed those days when after a hard day's work of learning and playing, his parents and him would sit on the swing set with the human trainers. It was something he missed doing but now he can do that again. That was until
Artemis' mother came to her in an embrace, collapsed in sobs. What was going on?

Shadow woke up seeing what just happened. What happened and why was Kaneki looking like he was frowning? Regardless Shadow gets back up and smells something not right. "Something's rotting." The charizard looks into the direction of the unexplored factory. Whatever it is, the smell of death isn't one to ignore. He then turns his head to Alirah and Kaneki. He had to ask. Even though he's not on friendly terms with Kaneki, he was still a fellow survivor. "You both okay? Something's got you spooked." Knowing that things hasn't cooled down between them, the chances of a response would be negative. Still, any response would be better than none at all.

Conan smells the air, something stinks. As much as he wanted to say eww, that wasn't the word for what would describe the scent. "Something smells really stinky. Plant, do you think something bad is in here?" The Eevee asked as he looked at both Lazarus and Artemis. A small sense of fear was creeping up on Conan and he wanted to bolt it back to both Kaneki and Alirah with Plant. He wanted to run and tell Shadow that there's something stinky here but he could already tell the charizard already knows as well.

“Yeah!! Momma made me a swingset out of some paint buckets and rope. Do you wanna swing?” Plant's expression brightened a bit with a spark of genuine interest. A swing? Finally, something he knew, something that brought so much joy back at home. If only he could show his own craft to these two and wow them with his handiwork. "Yeah!" Nearly squeaking the word out Plant stuffed his rubix cube back in his pocket for safekeeping and followed the Eevee over to her little plaything. While not made of vines and wood it made the same motion as the one back home, and a look of awe spreads across Plant's face. Though this metal cavern felt stark and unfriendly, enjoyment could still be found here. Artemis seemed just as bubbly as he used to be despite the completely different environment. Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could enjoy this factory too and feel the peace home had brought him so long ago.

Having missed the noise due the toy's distracting aura Lazarus' approach made the small snake flinch in surprise. Gripping Artemis and making her settle down Plant worried they had done something wrong, but it seemed out of place that her own plaything would cause punishment. Being so close to the Spectreon made him feel hot under his scales, an anxious sweat forcing his gaze to floor and further beyond. Only then did he notice Kaneki and Hide had walked away, but it was the negativity in the air that stifled Plant's breath. Something... something was wrong. Clenching his teeth the young Pokemon immediately felt uncomfortable, how had he not noticed before? He wanted away from Laz and near literally anyone else, but his feet felt both heavy and unbalanced while refusing to move.

A quiet had come over them all, as if all breaths were held and waiting. His ginger eyes flick too and fro, looking between all the adults desperately for answers. What was happening?! Then, a yelp of horror squeals out from between his teeth; Kaneki was attacking Hide!! Unable to take his eyes away Plant stared at his friends, mortified as they stood locked together. Was.. was he...? Feeling dizzy and sick the Snivy started taking in quick breaths, and gagged as a taste touched his maw. Throwing his hands over his mouth, both to stifle any noises he may be making and to cover his taste palate Plant desperately tried to hold back his whimpers. Though his sense of smell wasn't the same as these other Pokemon the tastes his mouth picked up were very strong, and the reek of death and twinge of blood were not ones he could ignore even in this gruesome world.

For a blessing, the two did not break into a fight. They came apart with no further wounds, and space was put between them after a calm moment. Lazarus stepped away to investigate, but after another display of horror she hurried back to caress Artemis. “Don’t go over there.” Seeing the tenacious Pokemon, one that attacked sweet Alirah without remorse, so fragile sent a fresh wave of panic and fear throughout Plant. His entire body shook, literally trembling like a leaf as he forced his eyes to stay away from the dark area of the factory. If the confident adults were so shaken-- even the oaks could not help them.

"Something smells really stinky. Plant, do you think something bad is in here?" Conan asks, his ignorance a blessing in itself. Gods, he wanted to scream, wasn't he afraid, couldn't he feel the malcontent?! "Shhh." Is all that can squeeze from his clenched maw, the word coming out as no more than a distressed hiss. Whatever had happened, whatever was here... he no longer felt safe.

Kaneki stayed where Hide had left him, only watching the riolu as he walked away. He knew Hide didn't want the ghost to worry, but he couldn't help it when his eyes followed after his form, then down at the red staining his pretty, vibrant orange fur. Kaneki ran his tongue across his sharp fangs, tilting his head away and bitterly spitting the blood - Hide's blood - from his mouth.

It tasted wrong.

Kaneki was a predator, he was a killer. He'd killed before and he'd tasted blood far too much for the taste to get to him. At some point he'd even started to crave it, crave the taste of copper and pennies on his tongue and see the horror in the eyes of his target as they realized that he wasn't going to let go until they were as dead as he'd been once.

But this was different. This was Hide, his beloved, his best friend, the only person who cared about him and stood by him no matter what. Hide never saw him as a monster, never believed he was a threat even when he watched Kaneki in the deepest grips of the hell in his head. It wasn't the first time he'd accidentally hurt the riolu, and every time Hide brushed his concern under the rug. He understood that Kaneki was volatile, he knew that the ghost reacted without thinking, tried to protect himself on instinct before he had the time to properly think things through.

But the others didn't know that.

Gods, did they think he was a monster? Was he a monster? He'd just injured Hide, one of the closest people to him, they were inseparable. You're nothing but a liability. He looked away from the other pokemon and pinched his eyes shut, heaving out a sharp breath through his nose. Shut up. He bit his tongue to stop his growl coming out audibly, it drew blood.

All you do is hurt. Hurt everyone close to you. His ears fell back, the gaseous wisps slowing their lazy curling to the sky as he cracked his eyes open briefly, looking over at Alirah, only to wish he hadn't The fear, horror in her gaze had him diverting his eyes immediately, looking to the floor. She's scared of you. She should be. His muzzle scrunched up at the thought, trying for anything to prove himself wrong.

The sunlight and warmth from Hide's presence was slowly being overtaken by the cold darkness of his thoughts again, he could hear Jason's laughter again and Rize's soft cooing in his ears, pulsing along with the sound of his heartbeat in his chest.

He was nothing but a monster. He wasn't safe to be around.

Hide paused his walking around the warehouse to look back at Kaneki, he could feel the turmoil radiating from his beau like it was a neon sign. He wanted to look around the warehouse like he'd told Kaneki he would... but he couldn't leave him here like this. He started to slowly pace back over to Kaneki, only taking a moment to stop next to Alirah to rest a hand against her back, offering a smile down at her.

"How're you holding up?" He asked her softly, tail wagging slowly behind him as he walked back over to Kaneki, though his eyes were on Alirah. The riolu wandered back over to Kaneki and raised his hand to the spectreon's cheek, giving him a sad smile as he flinched from the touch at first, opening his arms up welcomingly to him.

No words were needed to pass between them, Kaneki's head pressed against his chest was enough of an invitation that Hide knew he was sorry. Wrapping one arm over Kaneki's shoulders to disappear into the white mist around his chest and neck while the other went to the back of his head to rub behind the whiste wisps of gas that were his ears. Resting his chin atop Kaneki's head as the ghost hid his face in Hide's fur, he smiled over at Alirah as he let Kaneki vent his emotions in a way only the riolu could understand.

Idly he was aware of the others and their reactions, but he was focused on their small three person group first, and Kaneki was so attached to Alirah, he'd never forgive himself if he scared her away with his traumatic reactions when he got scared like this. Awkwardly he shuffled the ghost in his arms over as he we to go stand closer to Alirah so his words could stay private, chuckling softly as Kaneki refused to move his face from Hide's chest though he walked with him blindly, trusting the riolu not to walk him into something.

Kaneki's ears twitched as he heard Hide's voice from above him, though his mind was focused on the slow, calming heartbeat from the riolu's chest as he pressed his face against the fur. "Kaneki didn't mean to bite me," Hide's voice was soft, something that was shared only between the ghost and Alirah, keeping their conversation private so that it wasn't shared how fucked in the head he was. Kaneki's tails lowered to the ground as he pressed his face more insistently into Hide's chest.

"The thing he saw over there... reminded him of bad things that happened in his past." Hide explained, his voice kind but Kaneki knew he was trying to pick his words, he didn't want to share too much without it being invasive on the ghost's traumatic past. "He didn't think it was me. He thought it was bad pokemon, from years ago. He reacted instinctively to what he thought was danger."

That didn't sound any better to Kaneki. It sounded like he didn't know who was friend and who was foe. He grunted softly to voice his displeasure at the wording. Hide chuckled and gently pat his head, the gesture soothing. "It's not the first time he's accidentally bitten me. He never means it, I know. He always feels horrible afterwards." Hide's words made Kaneki's shoulders sag, leaning more heavily against the fighting type.

"You both okay? Something's got you spooked." Shadow's voice had Kaneki ripping his head up out of Hide's hold - getting an indignant snort from the riolu as he did so, turning to look up at Shadow with a glare, eyes squinted heavily. The previously slow swishing of the mist around his body returned to wildfire crackling and he snorted up at the dragon.

"Nothing that you'll need to worry about. If you're concerned, go have a look around and see if anyone's in here that shouldn't be." Kaneki replied back coldly, standing up but turning so he could lean himself against Hide, feeling the riolu's paws stroking slowly across his back, across the white bands at his hips. The sooner Shadow got out of his sight, the sooner he could go back to basking in Hide's warmth, chasing away the demons of his own past that still stuck with him.

((Skip Laz/Arte. Lazarus is currently inconsolable and Artemis is confused but staying still and quiet.))

Alirah stared in a blank eyed haze, interested in both nothing and everything at the same time. Her face was something like a mannequin, and her eyes had been wide and unblinking for so long they felt so, so dry.

As the soft orange form of her friend approached, she practically blinked back into reality to address him with a soft “Hey,” but she couldn’t even tell if the muted word left her lips or if it were a breath vaguely resembling the greeting.

"How're you holding up?" Hide asked, smiling in a way that brought a soft comfort to the Umbreon.

“Um. I guess I’m okay, considering…”

She trailed off as words escaped her, but she had a feeling Hide knew what she couldn’t convey. He moved back to Kaneki’s side and her heart began to thump with concern, and then with anxiety as the duo began to shuffle towards her.

Alirah opened her mouth to greet Kaneki but her words fell short. It was more of an awkward hum as the gravity of everything that just happened stole her voice.

"Kaneki didn't mean to bite me," Hide said softly.
Kaneki opted not to speak and kept his face hidden in Hide’s chest. The action radiated such pain, despite the Spectreon being the aggressor in the situation you could simply tell who had been hurt.
"He didn't think it was me. He thought it was bad pokemon, from years ago. He reacted instinctively to what he thought was danger."

She nodded intently, making an effort to keep her eyes on Hide so as to not make his partner feel like a zoo animal on display.
"It's not the first time he's accidentally bitten me. He never means it, I know. He always feels horrible afterwards."

Alirah saw the ghostly shape of Kaneki somewhat crumple into Hide more. The sight of him so… vulnerable…? Was that the right word? Was a system shock and her heart broke for her dear friend. But also for the hesitation she felt towards him— she wanted to hug him, to show him it’s okay but Kaneki… she knew it wasn’t his fault, but she had a black hole of fear in her chest that maybe he could hurt her too. The wounds wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the pain from such a beloved friend bringing her harm. One hundred beatings from Lazarus would never compare to a single scratch inflicted by Kaneki.

"You both okay? Something's got you spooked."

Shadow peeked in on the trio, nearly causing Alirah to jump out of her pelt. She whined softly in response. His intentions were good but his interactions with Kaneki were tense at best…

"Nothing that you'll need to worry about. If you're concerned, go have a look around and see if anyone's in here that shouldn't be." Kaneki responded curtly.

Alirah frowned, shooting a look to Shadow that said sorry - while his timing was less than stellar, she still liked the company of the Charizard.

She fidgeted her paws in front of her, then shifted to pawing at a pebble. “I’m- uh. A little scared… I don’t want to get hurt. But I don’t think a bite or scratch would hurt me nearly as much as losing you two…”

“Can we… still be okay?” She asked softly, face contorting in poorly restrained upset.

Shadow could hear how cold Kaneki's voice was and something told him that there was little to no trust. "Nothing that you'll need to worry about. If you're concerned, go have a look around and see if anyone's in here that shouldn't be." Was he being elected to search the area? guess he should do some soul searching while he's at it. “I’m- uh. A little scared… I don’t want to get hurt. But I don’t think a bite or scratch would hurt me nearly as much as losing you two…” Alirah replied as well but she was shakened up. It would be best to have the kids ready to call for an adult if trouble occurs. If that Marowak is back, then it has followed them but it fled with a wounded arm. So that was out of the question, so likely there is an intruder not known to them yet inside.

Conan tried to cover his nose in an attempt to get the sickly sweet scent go away. "Shhh." Plant simply replies. Perking his ears up, he couldn't hear anything moving from the direction the smell is coming from. It's silent, too silent. Whether some bad guy is here or if someone died in here, it was not a good sign. Maybe they should stay where they are but make sure they can call for an adult in case something bad happened.

He then assuring her he'll be okay. "I'm going to check out the area. Don't worry, I'll be okay." After that he walks away to where Plant and Conan are. It would be better for them to be by them for their safety. "Can you kids stay here and play? It's better if you remained here." After that he walks past Lazarus and Artemis. Since the two are together, he wouldn't need to say much to them.

The eevee looked at Plant heeding Shadow's words as him telling them to go stay where they are and not go further. "Um, why is he going towards the stinky smell? We'll be safe Plant, as long as we can call for someone in case a bad guy shows up." Right now, playing loudly isn't a good idea so maybe they can play something that doesn't require them to make noise. "Let's play, um... huh, there's not a lot of pebbles here but maybe we can play with the pebbles on the ground?" Conan asked Plant.

The thick, palpable air felt heavy and alive as it pressed down on the small Snivy. The small bit of calm they had recovered was all but gone, the tension in the air quickly nearly choking him as the adults grew quiet and stiff. With his hands already working at each other Plant had no other distraction to keep him busy. Like it or not his ginger eyes seemed to lock in on the eeveelutions some distance away, on Alirah's horrified face and blood coming from Kaneki's maw...

Great firs... what had happened..?

A whine squeezes from his snout, the noise making him so uncomfortable the child stuffs his hands within his mouth to make it stop. The tension was making him dizzy, his body growing weak from clenched muscles. What he wouldn't give for some fresh air, but between his heavy feet and the horrors outside there was no chance Plant was moving from their little zone.
Shadow walked over to them, the dragon's late arrival practically going unnoticed with everything else that had happened. "Can you kids stay here and play? It's better if you remained here." He was being gentle, speaking softly to the frazzled kids, but while Plant had no intention of wandering off there was just something so belittling about being told to play when something awful just happened. How could he think about fun when those sick, horrible Pokemon were outside, and something inside this metal tomb had rattled the entire group?! Kaneki drew blood, Lazarus was inconsolable, Alirah look mortified! Worry welled up in his chest to the point he could not breathe, and pulling his hands from his maw he wanted to wail at the dragon, but he had already walked off and left the children alone.

"Um, why is he going towards the stinky smell?" Conan asks as he watched Shadow patrol the area. "To investigate the bad." Plant suggests while physically turning his body to look away from that direction. Whatever it was, even if he was curious, something told him he did not what to know what it was. This place was spooky enough, but Ali's face reminded him of the horrors they saw on the way to this factory, and good oaks he could go a lifetime without seeing any more of that. "We'll be safe Plant, as long as we can call for someone in case a bad guy shows up." "We don't have to call someone if we stay here with them!" He balked with a squeaky trill, fearing the Eevee wanted to go search for something to do. Admittedly, he didn't have any suggestions to distract them; his wrists felt raw from that lack of busywork already. Tipping his head toward Artemis he wondered if the Eevee had any other play things hiding nearby, but she was a bit too preoccupied with her sobbing mother.

Whether or not Conan took notice of his plight the Eevee had enough sense to seek something close. "Let's play, um... huh, there's not a lot of pebbles here but maybe we can play with the pebbles on the ground?" Pebbles? Looking at the floor Plant see's a few stray stones strewn about. Grabbing one of the pebbles he turned it over in his hand and felt oddly reminiscent. The rough silver-grey rock reminded him vaguely of home, as jagged pebbles like this littered areas were the town's hard ground was broke. It was different than a garden variety rock, and dropping it on the ground it made a lighter thunk than a normal pebble too.

While Plant wouldn't call rock collecting playing it was a welcome distraction, and swiveling his head about he looks for any visible pebbles or stones. "We could collect those we can see from here.. without moving too far from the others." His feet still felt heavy and unsteady, but if they were puttering about in a small circle it might be alright..

It was funny, how hurt seemed to follow him around like it was the real plague in his life. Forget the dead coming back to life, forget all the enemies he had made in his life, Kaneki's true foe was always, always himself. Anyone he was close to got hurt, that was just the fact of his life. He couldn't protect anyone, he was the reason they'd get hurt, every time. He couldn't understand how unwavering Hide was in the face of such a monster, he'd seen Kaneki through some of the worst times of his life, and yet he still stayed.

Kaneki was reminded that he didn't deserve such a friend. He didn't deserve Hide's light, his warmth. Hide would've gone on to do so many better things in his life if it weren't for Kaneki. But because the riolu was so unwaveringly loyal, so kind despite the fact that he didn't deserve it, he was left trailing after Kaneki, picking up the broken pieces scattered behind the ghost in the wake of his violent past and traumatic memories.

Because for every time he fell apart, there was always his beau's soft rays of sunlight to sooth his aches and put him back together.

Kaneki leaned himself against Hide as the fighting type's paws ran across his short black fur, stubby claws scratching at the scarred skin beneath and trailing up to rub slow, soothing circles into the muscle of his shoulders that was buried beneath the wildfire of white mist around his chest and hackles. Depite the fact that not even a few minutes before Hide's hands were in Kaneki's mouth, blood on his tongue, he was completely unafraid to keep that physical contact on the ghost's body, grounding him with that constant feeling of acceptance.

They'd been like this for years, no matter what Hide was always there to show Kaneki that he wasn't afraid of anything he had to show. It was enough sometimes to prove to the ghost that he wasn't as much of a monster that he thought he was. But now everyone else thinks I'll attack them. He drew in a short breath, different colored eyes flicking around the room, the horror and fear in the eyes of the others bringing the crushing weight of shame right back onto his shoulders.

He wanted to explain, to say that he wasn't a danger; but he knew himself that it would be a lie. He couldn't convince others of something that he didn't believe himself. Of course he was a danger - he'd spilled so much blood in his life he could only be called a monster. You don't deserve to be called a protector. Just a wolf in sheep's clothing, liable to snap at any point and show your true colors. He shook his head, trying to get the darkening thoughts in his mind to shut up.

“I’m- uh. A little scared… I don’t want to get hurt. But I don’t think a bite or scratch would hurt me nearly as much as losing you two…” Gods, that broke his heart. Kaneki looked over at Alirah and his brows creased, opening his mouth to respond to her words. She sounded so scared. He never wanted to make her scared - of him no less - he wanted to make sure she stayed safe, to keep that smile on her face and to tell her that everything would be okay, because he was there to protect them.

But now all that was thrown into the flames of the horror that was his life. Nothing was safe with him around, just a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any point and damn anything around him to hell for trying to believe such a monster could be anything else.

He shuddered as Hide's paws against his back ran up through the mist on his shoulders to the base of his skull, the action enough to shock away the spiral he was rolling into, looking up to meet Hide's gaze. He was captured in those gentle chocolate eyes for a moment, his breath caught before he looked away, but the small smile on his face showed the gratitude he needed as thanks to Hide for bringing him down to earth once more.

"I'm going to check out the area. Don't worry, I'll be okay." He watched as Shadow left the three of them again, finally pulling Kaneki out from his silent moodiness as he turned his attention back to Hide more completely, turning himself around in place so that he could rub his face against the riolu's hands, eyes slipping shut with a long sigh outwards. He needed something to ground him as he searched for the words he wanted, trusting his beau to keep him on track for what he needed to say.

Hide watched quietly as Kaneki warred with himself, paws mapping out the familiar topography of his face when the ghost rubbed his face into his hands. The way his cheekbones jutted against his pawpwads, the cross cross of scars that were raised bumps across his palms under dark fur. He'd spent many nights just mapping out where each of his beau's scars were, and promising him that for each one he found, he'd stay by his side to stop it from happening ever again.

The riolu kept his eyes on the ghost that placed his full trust in him wioth a fond smile, the pain from the bite on his hand forgotten - he never really bothered to care about it in the first place - as he loyally helped keep the fragile pieces of the ghost's sanity together. They were as dysfunctional as they were functional, really. Kaneki latched onto Hide like a lifeline to keep himself from becoming the monster he truly believed himself to be, and Hide needed Kaneki's severe pessimism to counteract his unfortunately strong desire to see the best in people, even when they truly didn't deserve it.

Kaneki was jaded to the world in ways that Hide wasn't, he'd seen the worst people had to offer and yet still stayed by Hide's side and only offered a roll of his eyes and a polite shoulder nudge when the riolu fought to make his beau see the better side of something. He stopped Kaneki from toppling into the abyss of darkness within his heart and the ghost stopped Hide from getting himself burned by the cruelty of others that wanted to take advantage of his kindness in return.

His eyes went over to Alirah, watching as she pawed at the pebbles on the ground in front of her. His ears fell down and his tail slowed its swaying, brown eyes looking over pastel pink fur that was still tainted with the faded colors of blood and dust from being thrown around the floor before. His chest grew tight and his fingers tightened a little on Kaneki's fur, though it went unnoticed by the ghost. Poor Alirah didn't deserve this. Unlike himself and Kaneki, Hide didn't think she'd been exposed to such brutality before. She didn't have the unfortunate experience that they both had with the worst of the worst.

Someone with such kindness in their heart like Alirah shouldn't have to deal with this hellish experience, it was no wonder why Kaneki wanted to protect her. He had such a kinship with any eeveelutions, but especially younger children or others that reminded him of his old self, before all the horrible things had happened to him. He wanted to preserve that innocence, that kindness to stop it from being ripped from them like his had been.

“Can we… still be okay?” Hide hummed softly at Alirah's words, forcing his ears to perk upwards though his tail still hung limply behind him to betray his thoughts and inner tumoil. Or course they would still be okay, Kaneki was a lot of things, but he wasn't heartless. He was so thoughtful and he took on so much tha he didn't need to. He believed he was a monster but his actions were anything but. He gently nudged the ghost in his hands to get him to answer. As good as he was with his words, this was something that Kaneki needed to say. He needed to hear it just as much as Alirah did, and it'd hold more weight if he was the one saying the words.

Kaneki sighed softly at Hide's insistence, but he smiled good naturedly up at him and rubbed his cheek lightly against the fighting type's shoulder as thanks. He turned his eyes to Alirah, feeling his chest tighten and his tongue turn to lead in his mouth. He had so much that he wanted to say, to explain to Alirah that he didn't want to hurt her, that he wouldn't hurt her, but he also knew hsi own mind and how he twisted his thoughts sometimes to believing that things would hurt him no matter what. What if that's what Alirah thought of him now?

"I..." he fought to get the words out, swallowing hard around his own doubt that constricted around his throat. "I want everyone to be safe." He decided on, trying to think around the swirling clouds in his mind that were holwing at him like a pack of rabid animals, demanding blood, blood blood. "Hurting you, or anyone else here is the last thing I ever want to do." He continued, looking up at Alirah properly, trying to look her in the eyes and show the sincerity in his gaze.

He hoped to god she couldn't see the fear of losing her in them.

How did he explain to her that he was so fucked up that sometimes he was stuck in his own head? How was he supposed to tell her that her beloved Kaneki was a monster in disguise, a ticking time bomb? He couldn't break her heart like that. "I don't want things to change, I want things to still be okay." He admitted softly, turning to look over at the group that was a distance away, watching the kids as they tried to keep some form of sanity between them. "The kids, you and Hide are... the only people I have. I don't want to scare you away."

Kaneki took in a soft breath, pulling away from Hide to step towards Alirah, hesitating a moment and holding his breath in case she stepped away from him. Was she scared of him? Would she always be scared of him? "I know I'm... a lot, and I can be scary sometimes. But I don't want you to think that I can't be trusted to keep you all safe." He said, looking back at Hide to give the riolu a small smile, tails curling around the fighting type's waist.

Hide's tail started to wag again slowly at the ghost's words, giving him an encouraging smile and then looking over at Alirah. "You don't need to worry about him. I'm stupid enough to get close to him when he's having a bad flashback, and that's my own fault for getting the brunt of that." Hide said with a teasing lilt in his voice, grinning at Kaneki's unimpressed stare that the ghost gave him for his words.

"I'll be aware of Kaneki's bad moods before anyone else I'd think. If you're worried, let me know okay?" He asked Alirah, stepping over to ruffle up Kaneki's cheeks, holding each side of the ghost's face to tilt his head over to the umbreon, giving her a wide, sunshine grin from the side of Kaneki's own unimpressed but endlessly tolerant side-eye to the fighting type's goofy actions.

It was hard to be scared of a ghost eevee that currently had his cheeks squished together up to his nose like some kind of chipmunk. That was Hide's thinking, anyway.

“Momma. Are you crying because you miss Daddy again?”

Lazarus clenched her teeth, fighting back a new flood of tears while her mind jumped to what ifs had her mate been here. His reaction… horrified, but he always had a way of taking charge in the worst situations while she could only blindly panic. Oh, what she would give to have that sense of comfort beside her now…

“… Partly, sweetheart, but also because there’s something really scary over there and… well, you know I get scared a lot without Daddy around.”

Artemis nodded with the apparent wisdom of many generations, completely then disregarding Laz’s earlier instructions not to venture over to the horror that was the… remains. The Spectreon bounded over the Eevee as she skittered towards the dark, cutting off the energetic kit’s plans to do… god could only imagine. With a single paw on Arte’s head, Lazarus reiterated sternly, “I said… do not go over there.”

The Eevee’s demeanor shifted at the harsh and cold tone, now mirroring a scolded dog in time out. She curled into a displeased fluff ball at Laz’s heel, pretending to be asleep but her mother was not unaware of the quiet, angry murmurings muffled by the kit’s excessive fur.

Following Alirah’s question there was something of an overcast silence in the room, even amongst the other sounds she could only hear the lack of words from her friends and it spoke terrifying volumes.

A sad reassurance was on the Umbreon’s lips, that it was okay, that she understood. In her worst case scenario mind, they would have to go. That something was so irreversibly broken by today’s events that the two guiding lights left in her life would shortly be a fond memory. A blip of brilliance in an otherwise overwhelmingly gray existence.

"I..." Kaneki began hesitantly. "I want everyone to be safe."

She nodded knowingly. It was such a him thing to say, and she found comfort in it. Despite his lashing out at Hide, his words were undeniable evidence that Kaneki was still there.

"Hurting you, or anyone else here is the last thing I ever want to do." His eyes finally rose to meet hers properly as he spoke. Alirah’s gut wrenched painfully at the Spectreon’s gaze but she couldn’t quite pinpoint why the sight nearly moved her to tears.

"I don't want things to change, I want things to still be okay." Kaneki said. His eyes drifted to their small band scattered across the factory and she followed his sight. Even the nauseating image of Lazarus wasn’t enough to sour the moment of reflection. She’d known these Pokémon for such a fleeting moment but their presence brought the closest approximation to joy she could imagine in such a nightmare.
"The kids, you and Hide are... the only people I have. I don't want to scare you away."

He took a single step towards her and a jittery paw briefly left the ground in preparation to cautiously move back. She then stamped it back down almost to defy herself.
"I know I'm... a lot, and I can be scary sometimes. But I don't want you to think that I can't be trusted to keep you all safe."

Alirah’s bottom lip trembled softly with a nod. She stood unmoving and silent for a moment before she launched her entire body directly at the Spectreon’s chest for a heartfelt hug that gave an audible thud! on impact. She muttered an apology under her breath as she nuzzled into Kaneki’s fur affectionately and held back tears for the hundredth time today.

"You don't need to worry about him. I'm stupid enough to get close to him when he's having a bad flashback, and that's my own fault for getting the brunt of that."

Alirah pulled away from Kaneki and turned to Hide with a beaming expression, giving an exaggerated and childlike but sincere nod of both acknowledgment and appreciation.

Hide continued. "I'll be aware of Kaneki's bad moods before anyone else I'd think. If you're worried, let me know okay?" The Riolu moved closer to his partner and cupped his cheeks in his palms while moving Kaneki’s head towards Alirah. The explicitly done look on Kaneki’s face paired with the poofy cheeks looking akin to a Patrat that was punched in the face twice was more than enough to send the Umbreon into a fit of giggles that evolved into a full on belly laugh. She made eye contact with Hide whose proud grin took her completely out and sent her tumbling, quite literally rolling on the floor laughing.

She paused for a brief moment, looking to the Riolu with tears of laughter still pooling at the corners of her eyes. “Thanks, Hide.”

OoC)) Skip, Shadow is currently searching the area and Conan is helping Plant with collecting pebbles to play with.

Pebbles, pebbles, pebbles. Plant's tiny feet stamped awkwardly in place as he fidgeted and turned in search of small stones. What were they going to do with them, how would they play with some rocks? He had no idea, heck it was taking every bit of effort to stop himself from listening to the adults. To the sobs, the whispers, the click of claws against the ground as they moved... Yet try as he might little bits of their conversations kept creeping in, kept making his little distraction futile. Pebbles!! He screamed internally, the little voice in his head doing its utmost to drown out the noises but it could not compete with real sounds. Look another pebble!

Even small steps were a struggle, his body feeling heavy and unresponsive. No, no he did not want to move, to hear or see this thing, to change his angle and accidentally know. Spying a stone that laid out of reach his feet refused to move toward and instead he reached for it with a vine. Drawing it to him the child had collected a small armful of different pebbles and a few chips of concrete. Was it enough, how much time had passed, when did he get this many? Tears wet his eyes, making it hard to even count his spoils as he drops them on the ground beside Conan's collection. The rocks and concrete made different tings against the ground, something he'd normally enjoy as a curiosity, but even that musing was not enough to calm his quick breaths.

"...Okay." He nearly gasps on the whispered word, his feet finally giving out and forcing him to sit in a huddled heap. Feeling sick to his stomach the child draws his arms in close and only uses his vines to move the pebbles about. Forcing himself to focus on the pitiful distraction he idly moves the concrete into one stack and the pebbles into another. For their uses they weren't any different, and drawing a pebble close he looks it over to see splatters of white paint coloring it. Had the rock been part of something else at one point? "I used to throw pebbles in the river back one." He reminisced softly while rubbing a sleeved hand against one eye, the happier time a bittersweet distraction as he turned the stone over in his vines. "I played with bigger rocks, but.. I dunno what to do with these."

There was so much he wanted to say, but it was hard to find the words. He'd explained what he coulf but there was still a lot that Kaneki wanted to tell Alirah. But the fear of the unknown and the uncertainty about how she would react kept his voice choked behind his teeth. He'd seen the fearful paw raise when he'd stepped towards her, and though that was quickly overtaken with the powerful tackle she'd hit him with moments later, the doubt and fear it put in his mind was there, digging at him like a knife that was twisted deep in his gut, just waiting to rip free and spill all his dirty secrets to the world like a waterfall of all the worst parts of himself.

She was scared of him, when he wasn't in control of his mind. He didn't know why that hurt as much as it did, but it settled a deep ache in Kaneki's chest that he didn't know how to name. He shouldn't be surprised, not everyone is as thoughtful, as kind and as endlessly tolerant as Hide was. But gods, he didn't want Alirah to be scared of him. You know she'd be safer if she just ran away, and never looked back. But you're selfish. You take and take and kill, without giving back. She'd be safer wherever you're not. He sighed softly at the thoughts in his mind, but instead wore his carnival mask of a pleasant smile, looking down at Alirah as the Umbreon snuggled her face into his short, black fur.

The apology got a squint and lidding of his eyes, gaseous mane and tails wavering and flickering in response. Alriah had nothing to apologize for, she was far too sweet and innocent to be taking the blame for actions that are all entirely his own. He was the problem, he was always the problem. Alirah didn't need to apologize for his poor impulses and lack of control over himself. But here she was, shouldering his burdens like they were her own and casting away Kaneki's guilt for something he wished he could give himself the chance to accept; forgiveness.

Hide was far better at keeping someone's mood from souring than he was, and Kaneki's carnival mask of pleasant smiles and fake happiness melted away to true expressions as his beautiul beau's actions shattered the heavy smoke and mirrors of sadness that weighed down on them like a terminal sentence. Alirah's laughter lifted some of the grief in his heart and he took in an easier breath as the sound met his ears. Even Kaneki himself allowed a few soft chuckles in response to Alirah's full hearted belly laughs, his eyes drifting to the side to see Hide's blindingly bright smile to return to his own more muted, tamed one.

Hide watched as Kaneki's shoulders rolled back and his body slowly loosened from it's tense coil, relaxing in his hands with a slow, relieved breath out. The spectreon was always so wound tight the smallest crack would send him springing outwards like a wire, and Hide tried his best to relieve that tension wherever he could. It was rare to see these times where it was clear he'd relaxed enough to even leave his entire weight supported by Hide, paws scrubbing his short claws along his back in soothing motions.

“Thanks, Hide.” The riolu gave Alirah a wide grin in response, his tail wagging happily as it seemed the tension between their group seemed to have filtered away for the moment. It would always return, and Hide was not naive to believe that it wouldn't. That was always such a constant with them it was always tense, so that just meant he'd have to treasure these times where it was calm and relaxed. They were rare, and often times came right before the fall of something important. The anticipation was anxiety inducing, really.

The riolu sighed out his nervousness with a shake of his head, one hand coming up to run his paw pads across the everstones embedded in his headphones. He should dig those out. He'd decided that though he was more than fine as he is now... the help he could give Kaneki and the others if he evolved outweighed the cons. He would do anything to help Kaneki, no matter what it was. And if that meant changing himself for the better, he would do so in a heartbeat. Kaneki was his everything, his world, and he would do anything to keep him and the people he put under his protection safe.

“I said… do not go over there.” Hide's ears twitched and he looked back over at Lazarus and Artemis, then turning his head around to look back where the head had been kicked away to. Fun was over, they had to figure out what had dropped that here, and what they wanted. Shadow was looking around the area, but it was clear to Hide that Kaneki didn't trust him at all, and he'd probably want to look around himself. Hide sighed softly, resting his paw against Kaneki's shoulder to get his attention.

"We should look around. Come with us, Alirah? Three pairs of eyes will be better than just us, and the kids should be safe where they are." He asked the umbreon, looking over at Kaneki as the spectreon watched him, apprehension in his eyes. He was nervous, that was clear. But Hide had given this some thought; if Kaneki had someone like Alirah around, he'd be more aware, more alert, that meant there was less chance that he'd be pulled back into his horrific spiralling memories if there was someone with him from now to reassure him that he was in the present and not in the prison of his mind.

Kaneki was still unsure about the idea, but he looked at Hide's eyes closely, taking in a slow, measured breath. He trusted Hide, and he trusted his judgement. If the riolu said it'd be okay, then he'd put his whole heart into it. No matter what, his trust in the riolu was blinding, something forged in the fires of trauma and tempered by the years of sticking by his side no matter what. "... we need to look at the rafters. Whatever dropped that... thing, it came from above." He mentioned quietly, tilting his head up to look towards the ceiling, and the beams that crossed over them.

If they were going up there to look, they'd have to climb the boxes around for easy access. He wasn't about to go and run around this whole factory just to get up there, so maybe some jumps would need to be thought up on the fly. "How are you feeling, Alriah? We may need to do some jumps to get up there in good time. You think you can make it?" He asked her, looking back over at the umbreon with a concerned expression. He didn't want her to strain herself, but he also didn't want to leave the umbreon here with Lazarus so close by. He didn't trust the other ghost, and he sure as hell wouldn't leave Alirah alone with her.

Let’s see… physical injury? Check. Emotional damage? Check. What was next on shitty day bingo?

Lazarus prodded the bite sized Eevee with an annoyed but somewhat comforting smile, hoping to diffuse the tiny tantrum before it broke out into full blown tears. Last thing they needed was a screeching toddler while a potential murderer was in their midsts.

The Spectreon nudged Artemis, gradually increasing her persistence until she accidentally pushed the kit with enough force that she began to roll ominously, slowly, limbs tucked in with only the stubbornness a child could manage. The now ball shaped Eevee came to a stop upside down, her gaze at Lazarus unflinchingly bitter despite her less than intimidating posture. Lazarus blinked in surprise despite Arte’s expression looking something like a cheap dollar store toy, then gasped as her child swiftly moved one paw to continue rolling herself away.

The general weirdness of her offspring’s behavior was interrupted by a sudden burst of laughter. Lazarus recognized the sound immediately and despite knowing it was Pinky, she still brought her attention to the trio over there seemingly having the time of their lives… or something. Laz’s face scrunched up in annoyance at the Umbreon’s genuinely pleased demeanor despite the utter shitstorm over the last hour. So obnoxious. Why was she laughing?! Why was she so fucking happy?

Lazarus plopped to the floor with a soft thud, staring daggers for just a moment more before turning her attention back to Arte who had found her way back to the other two kiddos.

Artemis returned to her normal shape, like a roly poly coming undone. “I wanna play too.”

((Skip. Work and holiday is chewing up my time.))

Conan continues to collect pebbles with Plant until he brought up something that was pretty fair. “I played with bigger rocks, but.. I dunno what to do with these.” The snivy said as the eevee looked at him. Huh, what can they do with pebbles. Back home if one was shiny looking, he’d keep it after a hard days work but that was the past. Now days, it’s just entertainment until they move to the next area. True, Conan misses being home. The simple life out in the country, wind blowing across the grass and always swinging on the porch swing. He hoped one day that if they decide to leave Laverre together that they can see his house. 

Shadow continued to look around but the air was getting unusually heavy. The smell of death was all to getting more noticed by the scent alone. Something was watching his every move. Waiting for the right moment to get a single attack in to its latest victim.  The feeling Shadow was getting that there’s something evil here had not subsided in any way. Finally reaching some unusual steel tubs that had lids on them, the smell of death was now extremely strong. Shadow opens one up enough to see what’s inside it. A dead body, completely wrapped up and decomposing from the smell of it had hit the charizard’s nostrils. Something had to have done this. He couldn’t look anymore at this one and closes it back up to block the putrid smell from getting to him more than it did. He moves to the next one. He opens it up and carefully, not wanting to knock over the steel pipes,  seeing it empty. Not a single thing was inside but before he was to close it, whatever was watching him had found the right moment when he had his guard down and attacked him, knocking Shadow out cold. Falling over, he hits the pipes and they came falling to the ground ringing and echoing through the factory. The attacker was a cofagrigus and it grins wickedly as it picks Shadow up and begins to cover the charizard with a sticky substance to hold the bandages in place. Not only was the cofagrigus grin a sign it has its next victim, it was also a sacrifice to satisfy the marowak from claiming more souls.

After Conan picked up a few more pebbles, he looked at Plant and remembered this one game with pebbles. They would need to take turns tossing pebbles but it can’t go past the box line or else it doesn’t count as a point. Now all they need now is some cardboard boxes to make a mat out of. The sizes need to be different to make it where the box size would mean how many points there are, the smaller the box, the bigger the points. At least that’s how he remembered his humans playing it. “We should get some boxes, I seen some by where Alirah and Kaneki was before told me to go play with you.” Just as Conan picked up his last pebble, the sound of something crashing onto the floor was heard. It sounded like pipes hitting the floor. It made him jump a bit puffing out his fur a bit. “Wh-what was that?!” His heart was beating fast. It came from the direction Shadow was going. Then he thought maybe Shadow might have accidentally bumped into some of them while searching for anything that might be a bad guy. Conan calms down and goes back to what they’re doing.

OoC)) If any changes need to be done, let me know.

“I wanna play too.” The request was oddly tempered, the air of the room having settled the Eevee's enthusiasm just enough that Plant gives her a small, amused tilt of his head. Rolling a hand across the stack of pebbles he knocks it over and spreads out the stones with a gentle sweep. A soft smile creases his face, warmed by a new distraction to go with Conan's play and their shared game. "You're welcome to join." He invites the other Eevee, though truthfully their was not much going on. The collecting had been a minor diversion from the discomfort, but now worry cracked his smile as he struggled to keep things going.

Thankfully, Conan was quick to add a new idea to their set up. “We should get some boxes, I saw some by where Alirah and Kaneki were before they told me to go play with you.” Boxes? They could work with that; skipping the pebbles over or into them, flicking the stones onto them, maybe they could make some sort of balancing thing. A light tingle drips along the Snivy's spine, a new hope fluttering inside him as he nods with agreement. Though he still did not want to wander from the immediate area the use of his vines is once again invaluable.

Carefully reaching for and lifting things around them the child searched for small boxes or sheets of cardboard they could use. Nudging a broomstick over, shifting some kind of broken chair, a tattered coat, an empty bag that made a bunch of crinkles. On a normal day the noise would have been invigorating, but right now the excess noise just made him uncomfortable. In the rubbish the Snivy is able to lift out a sheet of cardboard. It wasn't perfectly flat, a box that had been flattened or never set up, and a couple of holes dotted its surface from neglect, but it still worked as a sheet. Dragging it toward them a corner drags and knocks a small tin can from the nearby refuse.
It clanks to the ground and rolls, making a loud, light tinkand a grinding sound as it comes to a painfully slow halt. For a second Plant freezes, alarmed and fearing some sort of punishment, but after a couple heartbeats of quiet hot embarrassment takes its place. Setting the box down Plant his quick to cover himself by snatching the can and bringing it forth. "W-we can use this too!" He says in a hurry, as if collecting the small was intentional. Maybe they could use it as a goal, something to knock pebbles in to, or knock over, but then again rocks would make a lot of noise against--

Something in the distance clattered and crashed, a sound akin to the can but on a much bigger and more ominous scale. The sounds echoed, each thud taping against the child's ribcage as he struggled to draw in his next breath beneath his flinching. With clenched teeth his head unwillingly snaps in the sound's direction, but not even the light of Shadow's flame could be seen at this distance. The weight of the unknown keeps his head in place, eyes wide but unable to catch even a faint idea of who was at play. “Wh-what was that?!” Conan gasps, his much larger ears surely hearing it in better detail. "Something.. something fell over?! " He quickly tried rationalize the noise, "I-Its dark. Maybe someone bumped into so-omething." He knocked over a can on accident that was close by... maybe a bigger Pokemon did the same with a bigger object..? For some reason that thought didn't sit right with him, but with only one adult left with them, and not one he felt comfortable with at that, there is no one he can turn to for answers.

Regretfully Plant turns back to their game, hands shaking like fall leaves as they clutched the can. Snaking his vines behind another metal object he grips something and pulls forward a small box. Yet even as he draws it to them his mind continues to race over the noise. Who, what? The adults  were acting strange, and now a loud noise...? What if someone got hurt?! No, no there was no scream.. With a rough swallow the child smothers his fear as best he can, and desperately continues with their game as he asks, "Are we making goals or something?"

((skip until the morning,ive been absolutely wrecked lately and cant think to type a post))